It was the jam session of a lifetime as the three greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll piano players in the world shared the stage for the first and probably last time. The legendary Fats Domino, Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis all defined the Rock -n’-Roll piano of the 50s. This is music as it is supposed to be played; live, unencumbered, and just for the unadulterated joy of playing the music these musicians love to play. What a night it was!
In the mid 1980s several influential folks had the idea to assemble in one location for one evening, what would be considered a gathering of the three best Rock-n-Roll keyboard players of the 20th century. There was no contest as to who those players were since most would agree Fats Domino, Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis are the perfect choices. But how to get them to appear together in one place, since they all had busy careers and schedules – that was the challenge. Enter Paul Schaffer who is no keyboard slouch in his own right. Paul was selected to sell the artists on the project, select the venue, and serve as the Host and Musical Director. The producers, David McBurnett and Bob Vernon selected the Omega Productions crew to record the concert as part of an HBO television special. They also asked Omega’s President, Paul Christensen, to track and engineer the recording, serve as Audio Producer, and supervise the post-production. Thanks to Pam Irwin, Steve Lowney, David Buell, and all the Omega folks who worked to make the project a success.
The plan was hatched and the resulting concert and television special preserved individual performances and an unforgettable jam of three iconic artists who would never again appear together in concert. In addition, only one venue could do justice to such an unprecedented reunion of three such musical treasures. The schedule was set for New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz and blues, and the historic Storyville Tavern (Storyville Jazz Hall) in the French Quarter.
The evening started with solo performances of each artist after being interviewed by Paul at the bar. Paul, Ron Wood, and the all-star band do a short number as an interlude to the final jam. Finally the night culminated with a spontaneous jam session kicked off with Ray Charles on his venerable Fender Rhodes, picked up by Jerry Lee on his identifiable CP70 keyboard and finally coming round to Fats on the Steinway acoustic piano. The trio jammed through several songs together, each taking unprompted leads, ending with a rousing rendition of Swanee River.
Over 35 years ago, Omega Productions had the pleasure of being part of this historic concert. It was one of the highlights of our 50-year history. As Paul Shaffer was quoted to say, “Finest night of my life.” We couldn’t agree more.
