I am a huge fan of jam sessions. My friends back home are all magically and incredibly musically gifted. I, despite being a pretty hardcore music lover, am not. I've tried piano, I've tried violin, I've tried guitar, and I bought a banjo (which is laying on the floor in my bedroom back in DC), but every venture has been catastrophic. So whenever my prodigious friends have any sort of desire to do something musical, I wholeheartedly support them, preferably if it means I get to listen in.
I am now a huge fan of four-man, 1956, Memphis jam sessions.
Tonight, I saw Million Dollar Quartet.
Damn. In case I wasn't enough of a Johnny Cash/Elvis Presley/Jerry Lee Lewis/Carl Perkins fan before, this musical took me through the roof.
Million Dollar Quartet documents the most kick-ass jam session in history, involving the aforementioned musicians, taking place on Dec. 4, 1956, at the Sun Records recording studio, Memphis, TN. The story line isn't riveting -- there's some conflict over Johnny Baby signing a contract with Columbia Records, and there's some boo-hoo from Car-Car about being neglected by Sun Records head honcho Sam Phillips, Elvis is emo and confused, and there's some inter-group conflict because Jerry Lee is so damn rascally. But who cares. I didn't buy a ticket to this show because of the story. I came because I knew I'd love the music. And I did.
Blue Suede Shoes, Sixteen Tons, Long Tall Sally, Folsom Prison Blues, My Babe (a song Carl Perkins stole from another one of my favorite musicians, Little Walter), Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, That's All Right... they literally sing every song you want them to sing. And they're not faking it, either. Not only are they singing and acting in a particular historic character (characters that are like, astronomically famous), but they're also playing their respective instruments. I'll break it down: Johnny Cash held and played his guitar like Johnny Baby. Elvis had what I can only describe as a raging case of Restless Leg (total lower body) Syndrome. Car-Car had blue suede shoes and a rockin' hairdo. And my boy Jerry Lee played the meanest piano I've ever heard.
(Note: Hunter Foster played Sam Phillips. Hunter Foster is awesome. I've seen him in both The Producers and Little Shop of Horrors. But something with him in this didn't click for me. Every time he tried to speak with his faux Southern accent [a guitar is now a GEE-pause-tarrrrrr], all I could think was Seymour-Krelborn-Seymour-Krelborn-Seymour-Krelborn...)
Hands down the best actor (and character) in the show was Levi Kreis' Jerry Lee Lewis. And oh, he won a Tony award for his portrayal. So bam.
The show keeps getting better and better, until you think it can't possibly get more awesome. But then it does. The cast take its bow, and the characters leave. OH SIKE. They come back on again, and the set pulls away to reveal a rock-and-roll stage, and glitter, Liberace-like tuxedo jackets (how Mamma Mia! of them) descend from the sky. The characters dress. Car-Car (in a sparkly blue), Johnny Baby (in Johnny Cash black), and Elvis (in banana yellow?! I expected better, Elvis) do another solo song. They leave again. DID THE SHOW JUST END WITHOUT A FINAL JERRY LEE SONG? OH SIKE AGAIN. Jerry Lee starts Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On. Jerry Lee gets so intense that he rips off his (red sequined) jacket, jumps on the top of his upright piano, and plays it backwards. The creepy standing bass player lays on his instrument while playing. Car-Car climbs on top of the bass while blasting out a guitar solo. Johnny Cash stays cool. Elvis still has Restless Leg Syndrome.
I was sitting there, clapping my hands and singing along to the songs, completely unaware that this was just a staging of an event, not the actual event.
Who cares?
This was my jam session fantasy. Thanks, boys.
-Lida
-Lida
(The Million Dollar Quartet. Photo taken by Sam Phillips. Dec. 4th, 1956. Memphis, TN.)
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