Jerry Lee Lewis: Last Man Standing Live

This is simply one hour and 45 minutes of outstanding music. I am not kidding when I say I had tears in my eyes on numerous occasion. It was that good! I thought I had died and gone to rock 'n roll heaven.I didn't quite know what to expect with this concert but it wound up being one of the best concert DVDs I've ever seen. Of course, you have to be - like all the guest performers here - big fans of "The Killer," which I have been since the `50s.Yes, Lewis at age 71 is a shock to see at first. This isn't the slim, energetic star we're used to seeing for so many years BUT he still sounds great and plays great....and that's all that matters. His voice is remarkable and nobody quite hits the piano keys like Jerry Lee.Every guest in this show was good, which is a big reason I loved this concert. You would think somebody would be bad, but that wasn't the case and the music varied from boogie-woogie to country to gospel and all with a rock flavor that is 100 percent Jerry Lee Lewis.

About 50 years ago, Sun Records was at the forefront of the beginning of rock and roll, with performers like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. The title of this CD refers to the fact that Jerry Lee Lewis is "the last man standing" among these Sun Records legends, which is pretty amazing when you consider that he probably led the wildest life of all of them. For this album, the 70something year old Killer performs duets with a bunch of other record stars. "Duets" is not quite an accurate description, though, since some guests just perform instruments and some guests sing what amounts to background vocals. But the real star here is of course Jerry Lee himself, who proves that he can still sing and pump the piano better than just about anybody. He handles rock, country and blues songs equally well. The duet partners were probably added to make the album more commercial, but they do manage to add something to the mix, since it gives the album more variety. I suspect that their presence also pushed Jerry Lee to do his best, since he wouldn't want to be outshined on his own album. The Killer can frequently be heard joking around with them, which adds to the fun of the album. This is probably the greatest rock and roll album every recorded by a senior citizen, and it puts to rest the lie that rock music is strictly for young people.

This album was a guilty pleasure for me. Yes I was a big Jerry Lee Lewis fan a hundred years ago. The man was a flat out magician on the piano. That's magician with an `a', not musician with a `u'. To this day, I've never heard anyone make magic on a piano as this country bumkin from Louisiana can and still does. There never was anything subtle about his magic. It wasn't shy. It came right out there and slaps you across the faces and says wake up and Lewis hasn't lost a beat. Amazingly, he may even be better.That's right Jerry Lee, the wild man of the fifties and sixties still has the magic and for his Last Man Standing album he brought along a bevy of guest performers. A virtual Who's Who of blues, rock, rockabilly, country and metal performers from through the ages. Everyone from BB King to Kid Rock.The title - The Last Man Standing is a reference to the only living member of an early Sun Records photo featured prominently in the sweet digipack case. In the photo were future Sun Record stars, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee.Da MusicIt's impossible to sit still. It's impossible to not move your hips, to tap you foot, to bob your head when listening to most of these songs. Many of the songs belong or were recorded by the guest musicians and Jerry Lee manages to put his special twist on the songs. Jerry tends to steal the show and in some cases, you have trouble telling the guests are performing. The songs range from up-tempo boogie woogie, to rock and roll, to low down blues, to rockabilly, to maudlin country ballads.Song Track List1. Rock And Roll (Jimmy Page) 2:142. Before The Night Is Over (B.B. King) 3:393. Pink Cadillac (Bruce Springsteen) 3:554. Evening Gown (Mick Jagger Ronnie Wood) 3:575. You Don't Have To (Neil Young) 4:006. Twilight (Robbie Robertson) 2:487. Travelin' Band (John Fogerty) 2:018. That Kind Of Fool (Keith Richards) 4:149. Sweet Little 16 (Ringo Starr) 3:0410. Just A Bummin' Around (Merle Haggard) 2:4311. Honky Tonk Woman (Kid Rock) 2:2112. What's Made Milwakuee Famous (Rod Stewart) 2:3913. Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age (George Jones) 1:5914. A Couple More Years (Willie Nelson) 5:1315. Old Glory (Tobe Keith) 2:0516. Trouble In Mind (Eric Clapton) 3:3917. I Saw Her Standing There (Little Richard) 2:2118. Lost Highway (Delaney Bramlett) 2:5919. Hadacohl Boogie (Buddy Guy) 3:1820. The Irish Heart Beat (Don Henley) 4:1221. The Pilgrim Ch.33 (Kris Kristofferson) 3:00Total time 66:43SummationProduction - ExcellentVocals - ExcellentMusic - ExcellentComposition - Very goodLyrics - Very goodPackaging - ExcellentConclusionThe packaging is excellent consisting of a digipack case with a sixteen page booklet full of photos, lyrics and a bio. The cover of course contains a standing Jerry Lee Lewis playing his signature flaming grand piano.Even at his advanced age - he must be at least seventy - It must have been quite a sobering for his guests, many of which were or are megastars, to work with Lewis. It must been humbling experience for these stars of music with millions and millions of loyal fans and records sold to receive a lesson. A lesson in Showmanship!Final rating 4.8

Jerry Lee Lewis deserves a monument for what he has done in music andfor what he's still able to do. At 71 he still rocks and plays likeback in 1957. Once he was called the fastest piano player in the worldand I'm sure after listening to this new record (2006) that he stillholds that record. I never expected him to be so rockin' crazy good ashe still is. OK this is offered as a duets album, that means Jerry witha lot of big stars together singing and playing new and old songs. Iwonder what happened, really, because on almost all duets he outsingsand outplays the star that is supposed to sing with him. Jerry stillholds a powerful voice - it's the one you hear all the time - and stillplays the piano like hell so sometimes it seems this is a sole act byJerry. At the end of "Sweet Little Sixteen" you hear Ringo Starr saying"Jerry, your lungs have more capacity than mine". By the way,this ChuckBerry classic is one of the best interpretations of the album. There's a lot ofCountry and good old Rock & Roll, some great blues songs with B.B. King andEric Clapton and a "savage" boogie woogie with Buddy guy which is the mostincredible piece of music on the Last Man Standing CD. Here he definitely shows he'sstill the fastest and best piano player around in all kinds of styles. An incredible achievement indeed!