Customer Reviews

Mean Old Man

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A few years ago, Jerry Lee Lewis released a new album, LAST MAN STANDING that surprised the music world. Some people were surprised that Jerry Lee still had it, but the biggest surprise is how well received the album was by the general public. That album featured Jerry Lee singing a series of duets with other musicians. MEAN OLD MAN follows a similar format with most of the songs on the album consisting of a duet with Jerry Lee and someone else.

The songs on MEAN OLD MAN consist of a wide variety of genres from class rock & roll, country, and even a little bit of gospel. Some of the artists that sing or play along include Kid Rock, Ringo Starr, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, and Tim McGraw. There are no signature Jerry Lee tunes, but the album does end with a Jerry Lee solo, "Miss the Mississippi & You".

Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the musicians that I heard over and over and over when I was a kid. My dad loved his pounding piano playing and the wild spirit he seemed to bring to his performances. Well, the Wild Child of classic rock has aged, but still has it in him and now he's a Mean Old Man.

There are two versions of this album available. Spend the extra three or four dollars and get the deluxe version because it's well worth it.

We clearly need a corrective here to some of the lousy reviews. I don't like to assume what I don't know, but I'll play a hunch that the disappointed here were thrilled with "Last Man Standing" because it flat-out rocked. These are the people who know Jerry Lee Lewis, the flying madman of the Sun years. But there's a whole different set of folks out there who are more country, and know Jerry Lee as the hitmaker for Mercury and Smash, who could take a great country song, like "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye," mine it for every last bit of gold and send it straight into the charts. In those days, the 1960's and early '70s, he was leaning hard on the lyrics, on the stories, his masterful delivery shot straight down into the founding American roots of popular song, Stephen Foster forward into the hills, the bayous, the black joints and the white joints. But the music that enveloped these vocals was often full of layered instruments. This is just how it was done, not lean and raw, but refined and sometimes string-laden. You don't have to worry about strings being here, but people are still having a problem. It's not THEIR Jerry Lee. "Last Man Standing" was rocking Jerry Lee, "Mean Old Man" is grown-up Jerry Lee, and Jim Keltner, the great old session drummer has moved into the producer's chair and crafted one of the best albums of Jerry Lee's long, long career. It is roots rock and country in sharp contrast with the loose-limbs but steely sheen of "Last Man Standing," whose label even boasted about the recording technology. The packaging of "Mean Old Man" couldn't be leaner, with no odes to the Killer's glory. It's all cake and no icing. I'm not saying every one of these songs works. I agree with others who have problems with Tim McGraw. The less Kid Rock, the better, even though their collaboration is scorching. John Fogerty is not cutting it, I'm afraid, but he's not the only one not harmonizing very well. But the rest of this is bluesy, rootsy storytelling, crooning, reeling and rocking ... what used to be country before it became whatever it is today -- plus a couple Rolling Stones nuggets and, to be clear, a barn-burning "Roll Over Beethoven" with Ringo whamming the drums. People knocking the album are bringing in preconceived and limited notions of who and what Jerry Lee Lewis is, and they just plain don't seem to know enough about him, the breadth and scope of his genius and ability to inhabit different vernaculars. This is as fine a record as any 74-year-old could hope to make, and that's not saying you should cut him slack because of his age. He -- and the disc -- don't need your sympathy. He's reminding the youngin's in Nashville how it's done. It's a true country and rock 'n roll album. He clearly loves the Stones, who paid him all that honor years ago, and it's American copied by Brits copied by Americans. That's how music works, the push and the pull. The version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" is weathered and towering. Jerry Lee makes "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" effortlessly his. It's glorious to hear all of this stuff from one of America's greatest. He embodies everything. And, at the end of the disc, when he's just alone there on the piano, singing that old Jimmie Rodgers tune and just starts a-yodelin', Jerry Lee stops seeming any age at all. He channels Jack Teagarden and Jimmie Rodgers and the Bob Dylan of "Twice Told Tales," and, well, he just becomes timeless. The more I play it, the deeper it becomes. I can't begin to say how great, but onward we go.

Let me get right to the point. On this Deluxe Edition CD, you get great sound quality, that is "rich & deep", because, there are many, many, studio, backing muscians, playing all kinds of instruments. The only exception, is on Jerry Lee's solo, of "Miss the Mississippi and You", which simply has Jerry Lee alone, only with his piano.

The guest artists generally, play a lessor role, than the ones that were on the CD/DVD, "Last Man Standing", from a few years back. Jerry Lee sings lead vocals, and plays piano on all tracks. Some of the guest artists play a greater role than others. Some actually co-sing lead vocals with Jerry Lee. Some are only minor, just singing background vocals, or playing the guitar, drums, etc. However, all the music & sound is fantastic.

You do get some of Jerry Lee's unique, "Boogie Woogie", piano playing. Plus, you get crisp, clear, lead vocals, on all the songs.

All the songs are great, but some of my favorites include:

Rock & Roll: "Dead Flowers",/w Mick Jagger
"Mean Old Man",/w Ronnie Wood.
"Rockin' My Life Away", w/Kid Rock/Slash. (Now, this one contains Jerry Lee's signature, "Boogie Woogie", piano playing.)
"Roll Over Beethoven", w/Ringo Starr/John Mayer/Jon Brion.(This one also contains some great "boogie-woogie", piano playing by Jerry Lee.)

Country: "Middle Age Crazy", w/Tim McGraw/Jon Brion.
"Swinging Doors", w/Merle Haggard.
"Whiskey River", w/Willie Nelson.

Roots Music: "You Are My Sunshine", w/Sheryl Crow/Jon Brion (This is an old Gov.
Jimmie Davis song.)
"Will The Circle Be UnBroken", w/Mavis Staples/Robbie Robertson/Nis
Lofgen. (This is an old Carter Family Song.)
"Miss the Mississippi & You", Jerry Lee solo. (This was a big hit for
Jimmy Rodgers, back in 1932, Jerry's Dad, Elmo, was a big fan of
Jimmy Rodgers.)

Gospel Soul: "Railroad to Heaven", w/Soloman Burke on backing vocals.
+ Ivan Neville on B-3 Organ (Even though he's
not listed on the cover. He is in the liner notes.)

An interesting thing about this album, is that there are no "classic 50's", Jerry Lee Rock & Roll songs, such as "Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On", "Great Balls of Fire", etc. But you do get the Jerry Lee "classic", of "Rockin' My Life Away".

Observation note: The song "Sweet Virginia" includes Kris Kristofferson, on back-up vocals, even though it does not list him on the CD back-cover. He's listed in the liner-notes.

Jerry Lee is from my home state of Louisiana. I've visited the Jerry Lewis home, in Ferriday, serveral times, where he was raised. It's a museum now. There's also, the Delta Music Museum, in Ferriday. I've become great friends, with Jerry Lee's sister, Frankie Jean & her daughter Jerry, who operate the JLL museum.

This is a great deluxe album, and I gladly recommend it. You will not be disappointed in this one, for sure. Thanks!!!!

P.S. Soloman Burke died today, Oct.10, 2010, at the age of 70, at an Amsterdam Airport. He was a dear friend of Jerry Lee's, and he was a legend himself, in his own right. He will be greatly missed.

I'm not going to lie to you -- I have loved Jerry Lee Lewis for over 50 years and rejoice that here is a collection of great songs, some new. He is lauded by Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson as he sings their songs, and they accompany him, and by Kid Rock, who calls Jerry "the real deal." Guitar gods Slash, Eric Clapton and James Burton embellish some of the selections here. This EP is a "preview of coming attraction" -- a full CD of new and old songs is due in 2010. He's still got it! If you're a JLL fan, come chat with us at JerryLeeLewisIFC@YahooGroups.com (International Fan Club).
Kay Martin

CD was great.
Mean old Man was the new song and the other four were oldies.
It makes a great addition to your Jerry Lee Lewis collection.

The Killers new album release is an event on itself and I give it all the stars that I can.
As any JLL album this is a must have for all the fans. After listening to the album I tend to think of it as "Last Man Standing 2" with all the cuts that didn't make it in to the 2006 recording. My personal favorites are: Mean Old Man and Roll Over Beethoven. I am glad that this compilation has some of the less known tracks (to the general public, not to the fans) that include such gems as - Middle Age Crazy, Railroad to Heaven and Will the Circle be Unbroken. Why to this day Jerry Lee Lewis is not part of the Country Hall of Fame remains a mystery. After listening to the last track - Miss the Mississippi and You, I realized that all I want is the Killer on the piano, raw and unplugged. This is one of the most original, unique and genius performers that America has ever produced. Long live the Killer.

I received the new JLL album and have played it several times. Here is a track by track review:

"Mean old man" - I heard this before. 12 bar blues. Written by Kris Kristofferson but has a striking similarity to older songs like "This train" and "My baby don't allow". Jerry Lee delivers it in a very folksy manner and it sounds similar to Johnny Cash on similar material.
"Rocking my life away" - Originally recorded in 1979 by JLL on his first Elektra album. The song of course is very similar to Moon Mullican's "7 nights to rock" and Bill Haley's "Rock around the clock" in style and sentiment and can be seen as a rock `n' roll revival type song. It has always been a favourite of JLL since he recorded it. On the version here, Jerry Lee sings it very well and Slash plays some great guitar. It's a pity there is so much Kid Rock.
"Dead flowers" - the most modern sounding song on the album, definitely. Written by the Rolling Stones. This is not typical JLL but it shows he can sing any style of music. It is very similar to "Evening gown" from "Last man Standing".
"Middle age crazy" - a 1977 major country hit for JLL. This version here is good until about half way into it where Tim Mc Graw gets too much vocal room. Nothing against Tim, but I prefer it when JLL does all the singing as is the case on most of the other tracks.
"You can have her" - an old blues by R&B legend, Roy Hamilton. Like JLL, Hamilton sang lots of different types of music from uptempo blues like this song to "You'll never walk alone". JLL has always done a great version of this song and this one is one of his best.
"You are my sunshine" - this is certainly one of the best tracks on the CD. Jerry Lee did a country version early on at Sun and did a blues version live and his version here mixes both the country and blues style versions. Jerry Lee probably learned this off of Gene Autry.
"I'll hold you in my heart" - an old Eddy Arnold song that mixes elements of blues and country. As with all JLL's visits to this kind of material, this song does not disappoint. He could easily have reproduced the Arnold version or the Elvis or Slim Whitman covers but he adds a new style instead to the song. Jerry Lee should definitely do a whole album of this kind of material. This is my favourite track from "Mean old man".
"Swinging doors" - Jerry Lee and Merle Haggard do this song very well. JLL did the song in the 1960s and it was released on a 1970s album.
"Roll over Beethoven" - I was expecting that Ringo Starr would be singing on this but he wasn't. This is a good version of a 1950s/1960s standard that was made famous by Chuck Berry and, of course, Ringo's old band, the Beatles. However, the definitive version was JLL's "Return to Rock" version from the mid 1960s.
"Sweet Virginia" - Jerry Lee does a very good arrangement of this that sounds like a cross between Moon Mullican, Ray Charles and George Jones. This is the stylist in JLL at work - he took a modernish rock song and transforms it into something that sounds more 1950s or even 1940s in style.
"Railway to heaven" - although this song, a gospel and bluegrass standard, is familiar to JLL's fans from concerts he has done, I think that this is the first time he did it in studio. At least, a version that was released. This album also featured the first released gospel material since the Mercury years.
"Bad moon rising" - this was the weakest track from JLL's 1973 "Session" album. It was written by John Fogarty but the shadow of Bill Monroe is very visible here as well. "Blue moon of Kentucky" certainly was the source idea for this song. This version here by JLL is far more freewheeling than the 1973 version.
"Release me" - this is a flawless and fantastic recording and more proof why JLL should top the country charts to this day. Made famous in the 1960s by various artists, JLL had recorded it in the 1950s before it was a wellknown standard. JLL could see potential in songs but unfortunately had to watch others make them into hits.
"Whiskey river" - a great performance and great fun but there seems to be only 2 verses with 1 repeated about 5 times! JLL and Willie Nelson make a good team, though.
"I really don't want to know" - another great song. It was made famous by Eddy Arnold in the 1950s and this type of song again represents the kind of material JLL excels on. A mix of country and blues in style.
"Sunday morning coming down" - immortalised by Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash, this version here surely also lies in the top 3 best ever versions. JLL sings it a la Johnny Cash's American recordings and it can be seen as a tribute.
"Will the circle be unbroken" - a major gospel, bluegrass and Appalachian standard. The Carter Family did the definitive early version and JLL did a great version on Sun. The version here is very bluesy and not unlike the John Lee Hooker arrangement.
"Miss the Mississippi and you" - Jimmie Rodgers recorded this late in his career and it was one of his best performances. In 1995, Jerry Lee recorded the definitive latter-day version of the song. This version here is not as good as the 1995 version but it good and has a raw, jam session feel to it.
Comparisons to "Last man Standing" and "Jerry Lee Lewis: 1995 Album":
Like LMS, this is a duets album and many of the same people who were on that were back (Willie, Eric, Merle, Kid Rock, etc.). However, unlike 1995 and LMS, this album emphasises slower, country type songs rather than uptempo ones. The production is much better than 1995 and the arrangements are better than LMS. Like LMS, there are quite a few revisits to earlier material to fit the duet partners' tributes to JLL. While people may complain about this - yes, we'd like 18 new songs! - there are still 7 new songs on the 18 track album. For $10, this is good value - with 7 new songs. Compare that to say JLL's 2nd Elektra album where there were 8 new tracks out of 10. Or the Rocket album from the late 1980s where there was also 10 tracks with 4 or so of them being ones he already did.
This is a great release. Hopefully, a lot more will follow.

"Last Man Standing" was a classic. Couldn't wait for "Mean Old Man" to come out and wasn't disappointed. A little something for everyone. He still puts that special feeling in his music, and it moves me now as it did back in the 50's as a teenager. Hope he does a blues album next.

The Killer is still the Killer. His live shows prove that he's still a unique singer and piano player. His choice of material for his onstage appearances is flawless and often unusual and exciting. He is still a towering presence in Rock 'n' Roll, Country and Gospel. One of the greats. Why don't they let him record an album with just him on vocals and piano plus his band with guitar, bass and drums? He does not need "guest stars" "supporting" him. When I listen to a new Jerry Lee Lewis album, I want maximum Killer, not a crowded room full of guests. If they gave him free reign, he'd still blow all those people out of the water. He needs a less cluttered approach, so that his personality and presence can shine. I would love an album with just him at the piano playing his favorite gospel songs much like Johnny Cash did on "My Mother's Hymn Book". Now that could be a timeless masterpiece!

While it may be true that a little of the strength is gone from his legendary voice, his playing is as strong as ever. This is a definite must own not only for his diehard fans but fans of rock-a-billy or just classic music in general. The cameos themselves are worth the price. The chance to hear artists like Slash and Eric Clapton play some amazing early 50's guitar and just absolutly burn the neck up! There's a reason they named him "The Killer" and he earns it with every track here!!!!!!!!!!