Last Man Standing - The Duets

Jerry Lee Lewis

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Artist First
• ASIN: B000GRUQYW
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  DVD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (167 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,741 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
How do you drum up interest in a Jerry Lee Lewis record, since the Ferriday Fireball is 71 and hasn't put out an album since 1996? First, you pair him with 22 of the biggest stars of rock (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards), country (Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard), and blues (Buddy Guy, B.B. King), to show how he put his stamp on nearly every genre. Then, you hire the dean of music chroniclers, Peter Guralnick, to give the liner notes heft. And--oh, yes, you also make sure the piano-pounding pioneer displays the best finger form he's shown in 25 years. Throughout, the Killer crows, struts, and self-mythologizes with the brio of youth, and who could resist him? At times, one may question the wisdom of turning an obvious guitar tune (Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll") into a piano-dominated performance, just as it seems odd to not make the best use of such guests as Toby Keith or Delaney Bramlett. But Lewis never yields the throne for a second, even surrounded by the likes of Robbie Robertson, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton. For that reason, most of these aren't true duets--the star instrumentalists take their solos, and the harmonies of some of the most legendary vocalists (Don Henley, Little Richard) stay too far in the background. But when things really work--as they do with Bruce Springsteen (the rave-up "Pink Cadillac"), Neil Young (a crackling rendition of "You Don't Have To Go"), Kid Rock (an even blacker "Honky Tonk Woman"), George Jones (the novelty-framed "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age"), and Kris Kristofferson (an especially poignant take on "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33"), the rock of ages cleaves for thee and me. Last Man Standing refers to the famous cover of Million Dollar Quartet, on which he's pictured with fellow Sun artists Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins, all now jamming in the great beyond. Yet in a spoken-word reprise at the end of the Kristofferson song--"From the rocking of the cradle / To the rolling of the hearse / The going up was worth the coming down"--the Last Man seems to suggest his own fine epitaph. It's hard to argue with a hellraiser extraordinaire. --Alanna Nash

Product Description
Twenty-two rock and country legends duet with Jerry Lee Lewis on this incredible package, celebrating The Killer's impact on American music. Among the luminaries igniting these all-new recordings of seminal rock 'n' roll are Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Little Richard, Merle Haggard, Neil Young, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer Showcase!, September 26, 2006

By	Soulboogiealex (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Duets album are always tricky endeavors. Very seldom they succeed. The long awaited "Last Man Standing" is a pleasant exception to the rule. The record features no less than 21 collaborations. The song selection is a balanced choice of Jerry Lee classics and "new" material for the Killer. The album rightfully avoids the obvious selections as "Great Balls of Fire", which are well enough left alone. In stead the selections play Jerry Lee's strengths amazingly well. The album opens with a strong rocker featuring Jimmy Page, but leans heavy into Country material, the Killer's main strength.

Some of the "new" songs here as Springsteen's Pink Cadillac sound as if they were written fro Lewis, or at least with Lewis in mind. The "old" material works just as well as when he recorded it first. Though out the album the guest musicians put themselves in service of Jerry Lee and the song, thus avoiding a trap many duets albums fall for, where the guests get too much spotlight and the main star disappears in the shadow. This is a Jerry Lee Lewis album first and foremost. Only when called for the album goes in full duet mode. "Just Bummin' Around", a collaboration with Merle Haggard, one of the albums highlights, sounds like two friends sharing some good times, "Hadacohl Boogie" allows Buddy Guy to rip loose.

Last man standing doesn't really have flaws worth mentioning. The record does Jerry Lee justice and is one of his finest releases in many years. It works almost just as well as a greatest hits package as a showcase of his talents and is certainly a fine addition to such a package. Not to be missed by fan or casual passerby alike. It's a Killer.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Greatest Rock & Roller, March 10, 2007

By	John Carr - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Last Man Standing (DVD)

This wonderful Jerry Lee Lewis live album belongs in the collection of every rock and roller. I've been a Jerry Lee fan since I first heard Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On back in 1958. I've got all of Jerry's rock albums, including the complete Sun Sessions, and the wonderful Bear Family box sets of his Mercury years for the ocassional rock & roll song that would nest like a gem among all the country weepers.

First and only caveat: Jerry looks bad, old -- it shook my wife up. Considering the life he's led, the hell raisin', the drugs, the drinkin', the fighting... Well, next to Keith Richards he's been #2 on the Next Rock Star To Die List since the the 1970s, and he almost did die more than once. And it shows, but Jerry can still play the keys off a piano; by the end of the concert he's rockin' up a storm with the best version of Roll Over Beethoven I've ever heard! That song alone is worth the price of this inexpensive DVD. It's a long concert too, running 1 hour and 42 minutes and some. The bonus features are short and sweet, but who cares with all that great music.

Also, the tributes from Tom Jones through Kid Rock are touching, and sincere. The Killer is the Man! As always, Jerry dominates every collaboration. Only John Fogerty sings a solo and that's on Good Golly Miss Molly, a version that's comparable to Little Richard himself at his best, and is one of the highlights of this great concert DVD.

There are a lot more country weepers than I like, but I found myself entranced by the performances, and the respect and love given by Jerry's peers. The DVD shows excellent picture quality and the sound is great -- a 10 for both! This is not a budget production, like too many of the Killer's shows in the past; first class all the way.

Jerry opens with Great Balls of Fire and it's a little shaky. Things pick up with Chantilly Lace, and End of the Road with Tom Jones. Hadacol Boogie with Buddy Guy just cooks and if I had any complaint it's that they didn't jam for another five minutes! Buddy just shreds on guitar and Jerry's piano playing is really starting to cook.

Chris Isaak and Jerry do a nice version of Over the Rainbow, which Jerry did for Electra back in the 1970s on one of his comeback trails... Chris is obviously touched at being on stage with Jerry Lee and says some very nice things about the Killer. Jerry does one of his better renditions of Rockin' My Life Away with Ron Wood soloing. The backup band is all star and they kick. Ron Wood plays rythmn and lead, as does Kenny Lovelace and Nils Lofgren. Ian Neville plays keyboards, and the drummer is hot! Jerry is startin' to really wail, and does one of the best live versions of Lewis Boogie I've heard.

There's a killer version of What'd I Say with Ivan Neville; it should have been on the album it was so good. Jerry and John Fogerty do a mid-tempo kick-up of the blues standard CC Rider. Kid Rock, who I really did not like on "The Last Man Standing" CD, really impressed me live. They did a version of Little Queenie that Chuck only wishes he could do these days... And, they cooked on Honky Tonk Women; I thought the album version was weak, but it came together live and I really enjoyed it. I'm a big Stones fan so I feel pain when someone messes up one of their classics. Even Ron Wood was taken aback!

The finale consisted of a great acoustic take on That Lucky Old Sun, a kick-out-the-jams version of Roll Over Beethoven and an amazing (Jerry Lee just kept gettin' stronger; he's the Killer, man!) version of Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on. All in all a great concert memento of one of the Top Three 1950's Greatest Rock & Rollers of all time -- the other two being Elvis and Chuck Berry. I'm glad Jerry Lee finally got some of the aclaim he's deserved for the last 50 years, while he is still alive to enjoy it! Hell, he looked ten years younger by the end of the concert --Hats off to Jerry Lee Lewis!!!

Now, maybe "The Last Man Standing" will herald a new era for Jerry Lee Lewis live recordings and we'll see more of his fabulous concerts slip out of the record company vaults -- well, we can hope!

John Carr

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, March 6, 2007

By	Clare "Clare" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Man Standing (DVD)

This is a wonderful DVD. Jerry's piano playing is great, the song selections are diverse, from rock to blues to gospel. His and Kid Rock's rendition of Honky Tonk Woman is memorable. I have just one complaint. The echo is up way high on his microphone. It doesn't matter on most of the songs but on his duets with Kris Kristopherson and Merle Haggard you can hardly hear them above Jerry. However, if you go to the Bonus Features and catch his echoless microphone you will hear a great, great rendition of Goodnight Irene with Merle. Buy this DVD. You will not be disappointed.