Jerry Lee Lewis Last Man Standing CD

Personnel: Jerry Lee Lewis (vocals, piano); Keith Richards, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy (vocals, guitar); Delaney Bramlett, Don Henley, George Jones, John Fogerty, Kid Rock, Little Richard, Merle Haggard, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Toby Keith, Bruce Springsteen (vocals); Jimmy Rip, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Kenny Lovelace, Robbie Robertson (guitar); Ronnie Wood (pedal steel guitar); Ivan Neville (organ); Butch Hutchinson (bass guitar); Jim Keltner (drums).
Around the time of his 71st birthday, rock-&-roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis unveiled LAST MAN STANDING, a celebratory outing that features a stunning cast of guest musicians, ranging from B.B. King and Little Richard to Merle Haggard and Neil Young. Among the many highlights of this album are Lewis's lively collaboration with guitarist Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin's "Rock N' Roll," a rendition that wonderfully plays up the tune's 1950s leanings, and the Killer's honky-tonk spin on Hank Williams's "Lost Highway," which points to his often-overlooked country recordings and features Delaney Bramlett's searing six-string work. Like the latter-day recordings of his old Sun labelmate Johnny Cash, this Lewis collection points to a remarkable legacy, while also displaying his still-formidable talents, resulting in a musical testament to aging impressively well.
It often seems like there are only two ways for rock, country, and blues veterans to launch comebacks when they're senior citizens: confront mortality head on or surround yourself with superstar guests to help carry you through a half-hearted stroll through your back catalog, scattering a few new tunes along the way. At first glance, Jerry Lee Lewis' Last Man Standing seems to fall into both categories: the title suggests that Jerry Lee is in the mood to take a long look back, and certainly the very concept of the album -- pairing Lewis with 21 other stars for a succession of duets, often on material that his guests either wrote or made famous -- seems like a typical superstar duet record. But the Killer has never been predictable, and nowhere is that truer than it is here, where Jerry Lee treats Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Page, and 16 other stars as he treated the Nashville Teens at the Star Club in 1964 -- as game amateurs who have to sprint to keep up with the master. This is the only guest-studded superstar album where all the guests bend to the will of the main act, who dominates the proceedings in every conceivable way. Jerry Lee doesn't just run the guests ragged; he turns their songs inside out, too -- and nowhere is that clearer than on the opening "Rock and Roll," the Led Zeppelin classic that is now stripped of its signature riff and sounds as if it were a lost gem dug out of the Sun vaults. Far from struggling with this, Jimmy Page embraces it, following the Killer as he runs off on his own course -- he turns into support, and the rest of other 20 guests follow suit (with the possible exception of Kid Rock, who sounds like the party guest who won't go home on an otherwise strong version of "Honky Tonk Woman").
The label might sell Last Man Standing on the backs of the duet partners -- after all, it's awful hard to drum up interest in a record by a 71-year-old man no matter how great he is, so you need a hook like superstars -- but the album by no stretch of the imagination belongs to them. This is completely Jerry Lee's show from the second that he calls out, "It's been a long time since I rock & rolled," at the beginning of the record -- and those are true words, since he hasn't rocked on record in a long, long time. Ten years ago he cut the Andy Paley-produced Young Blood, but that was a typically tasteful self-conscious comeback record; it was driven as much by the producer's conception of the artist as it was the artist himself. The opposite is true here, where the production is simple and transparent, never interfering with the perfoRolling Stone (p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Despite all the high-powered guests, Lewis stays in charge throughout LAST MAN STANDING....Most of his command now comes from the slamming, swinging passion of his barrelhouse piano."
Entertainment Weekly (p.80) - "The Killer's first new studio CD in more than a decade finds him in strong form, his iconic voice still recognizable and ivory-tinkling fingers still nimble..."
Q (p.146) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Impressive at any age."
No Depression (p.97) - "Nothing really has been lost on this disc in his fierce and knowing, insinuating vocals, or his pumping rhythm and attack."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.101) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Weighing in at a hefty 21 tracks, and five years in the making, it proves beyond any doubt that the Killer can still whup his rivals after an astonishing half-century of recording."