I don’t think I’ve ever said this phrase before, and truly doubt that I ever will again: Thank you Country Music Television!
They’ve posted a streaming feed of Jerry Lee Lewis’ upcoming record Last Man Standing on their website for our listening pleasure:
http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/lewis_jerry_lee/1325636/album.jhtml
I’m listening now, and while I’m not wild about the effects they put on Mr. Lewis’ voice on “Rock and Roll”, it’s fantastic to hear him covering this Zepplin classic with Mr. Jimmy Page, making the song all his own.
So far, my personal favorite so far is “You Don’t Have to Go”; surprise, surprise, the guest on this one is Neil Young. Their voices sound perfect together, somehow. The looseness of and chatter with Ronnie Wood during “Evening Gown” make me hope that some of this recording process was filmed, as the studio noise makes it certainly sound like a helluva good time was had by all (and if it’s all studio tricks, I don’t want to know). And the duet with Willie Nelson on “A Couple More Years” — perfection. One note: Kid Rock, please leave “Honky Tonk Woman” alone in the future. PLEASE.
No matter what, Jerry Lee’s attitude and still-incendiary piano style are the real stars shining through here, despite the frankly unbelievable cast of music luminaries with whom he’s paired. And you know what, this thing is LOUD, just as a JLL record should be.
As a whole, it feels similar in substance to Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up on Me from four years ago, so here’s hoping it enjoys similar success, at the very least.
Real Low Vibe 