Goodness Gracious: The Million Dollar Quartet Returns to Caesars Windsor

Photo by Dan Savoie

Whether you grew up in the 50’s, listening to Blues Suede Shoes or you had a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On in your later life, let’s take you back to the iconic date of December 4, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee. Take a trip down memory lane to Sun Records, where Sam Phillips was always on the hunt for his next big star. The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins) got together for a jam session that reunited everyone for a night of excitement, revelation and of course, rock and roll!

Johnny Cash (Steven Lasiter) definitely gave it his all with hits like Folsom Prison Blues and Walk The Line.  His deep baritone sound gave chills down your spine and he oozed masculinity portraying The Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash.

Carl Perkins (Nathan Burke) gave great vocal performances and played up the manly role to poke fun at the eccentric Jerry Lee any chance he could. A little bit of information that you may not know was that Blue Suede Shoes was written by Carl! Elvis took it a few steps further and had the vocal chops and moves to turn the song into a mega-hit.

Elvis has left the building… Jacob Barton made The King proud with his rendition of Hound Dog, Peace in the Valley and many others. He had the swivelling hips but I couldn’t catch the iconic snarl. With his girlfriend, Dyanne, (Taylor Kraft) stepping up on stage to the mic, her sultry sound singing Fever may have had a lot of audience members a little hot under the collar.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jerry Lee Lewis (Trevor Dorner) stole the show with Great Balls of Fire. His energy from the moment he put his fingers on the piano to the end where we was literally jumping off the piano had the audience cheering him on.  Plus who doesn’t love a quirky performance from someone who exudes that sweet southern charm with a sarcastic bite.

Let’s not forget the Father of Rock N Roll, Sam Phillips (Sean Casey Flanagan) who gave a memorable performance, Jon Rossi who killed it on the drums and bassist Brother Jay (Kroy Presley) who can play the electric and upright bass with ease and poise.

With two incredible encores to finish off the show and sporting some sparkly jackets to finish their individual looks, The Million Dollar Quartet have a bright future ahead and hopefully will be back to Caesars Windsor for more shows in the future – See You Later Alligator!

You can also check out my review at 519 Magazine

Million Dollar Quartet at Caesars Windsor

Friday night, I took Bill's mom to see Million Dollar Quartet! We had a fun night out together, so thank you Caesars Windsor!

My thoughts on the show: Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash were top notch in my view. Carl Perkins was decent. Elvis though....while he had the moves, his voice was odd. Really high-pitched and not very "Elvisy" if you know what I mean. I realize this was back in the starting days of his career, but I didn't feel it at all. All I could keep thinking was "damn, my friend Norm Ackland Jr. (he is an ETA - Elvis Tribute Artist) should have been in this role!" Elvis' girlfriend Dyanne was quite the head-turner with her seductive charm and her sultry vocals during Fever was a nice touch, but I didn't particularly like her voice overall. Lastly, Sam Phillips (the man who initially discovered and launched the early careers of the guys, as well as the founder of Sun Records), he was alright. Definitely had that sleazy record producer vibe down. ;)

Anyhow, still entertaining performance to hear a lot of classic songs to bop along to like Walk The Line, Great Balls of Fire, That's Alright, Brown-Eyed Handsome Man, See You Later Alligator and more!

You can check out all the photos on the Caesars Windsor Facebook page, as there was absolutely no photography/videos allowed!