Last Man Standing

( 8 )

Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - David McGee
To quote from one of his own songs, Jerry Lee Lewis was at the end of the road -- commercially nowhere, physically decrepit, spiritually threadbare -- when producers Jimmy Rip and Steve Bing cooked up this project. Something happened when he found himself in the studio accompanied by some high-profile rock and country guests: something like a wholesale transformation from fossilized rock 'n' roll pioneer into the Killer, the baddest, most uncompromising, and arguably most gifted artist of his time. This is a great record, one of the year's big surprises, imbued with an energy lacking in most rock 'n' roll and country these days -- salacious, ferocious, heart-tugging, and...
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - David McGee
To quote from one of his own songs, Jerry Lee Lewis was at the end of the road -- commercially nowhere, physically decrepit, spiritually threadbare -- when producers Jimmy Rip and Steve Bing cooked up this project. Something happened when he found himself in the studio accompanied by some high-profile rock and country guests: something like a wholesale transformation from fossilized rock 'n' roll pioneer into the Killer, the baddest, most uncompromising, and arguably most gifted artist of his time. This is a great record, one of the year's big surprises, imbued with an energy lacking in most rock 'n' roll and country these days -- salacious, ferocious, heart-tugging, and swaggering to the hilt. It never ceases to be Jerry Lee's show, even with guests on the order of Bruce Springsteen (contributing a rambunctious "Pink Cadillac"), Mick Jagger (on a boozy gem, "Evening Gown," singing more effectively than he has in ages), or B. B. King (offering some soaring, elegant single-string commentary on "Before the Night Is Over"). Or, for that matter, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, George Jones, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Little Richard, et al. Jerry Lee doesn't even have to try hard to command the spotlight -- he just seizes it by the sheer force of his personality. And wisely, none of the top-drawer drop-ins attempt to upstage him. The producers sometimes employ the old Sun echo on the Killer's vocals, and at other times they go for the clear, clean sound Jerry Kennedy fashioned on Jerry Lee's great Mercury albums. It all works. And in the end, it'll leave you, oooh -- breathless!
All Music Guide - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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 performances; it has the welcome effect of making it sound like there is simply no way to tame Jerry Lee, even though he's now in his seventies. And that doesn't mean that this is merely a hard-rocking record, although "Rock and Roll," "Pink Cadillac," and "Travelin' Band" do indeed rock harder than anything he's done since the '70s -- so hard that they stand proudly next to his classic Sun records, even if they don't have the unbridled fire of those peerless sides. No, this album touches on everything that Jerry Lee has done musically through his career, as the furious rock & roll is balanced by pure hardcore country, piledriving boogie-woogie, rambling blues, old-timey folk songs, and, especially, reinterpretations of familiar songs that are so thoroughly reimagined they seem like they were written specifically for Jerry Lee. And he does this the same way he's always done it: by singing and playing the hell out of the songs. His phrasing remains original and unpredictable, twisting phrases in unexpected ways -- and, yes, throwing his name into the mix frequently, too -- and his piano is equally vigorous and vital. This is a record that stays true to his music, and in doing so, it's not so much a comeback as it is a summation: a final testament from a true American original, one that explains exactly why he's important. But that makes Last Man Standing sound too serious, as if it were one of those self-consciously morbid Johnny Cash records -- no, this is a record that celebrates life, both in its joys and sorrows, and it's hard not to see it as nothing short of inspiring.
Rolling Stone - Gavin Edwards
Despite all the high-powered guests, Lewis stays in charge throughout Last Man Standing -- while his throat is in better shape than you might expect, most of his command now comes from the slamming, swinging passion of his barrelhouse piano.

Despite all the high-powered guests, Lewis stays in charge throughout Last Man Standing -- while his throat is in better shape than you might expect, most of his command now comes from the slamming, swinging passion of his barrelhouse piano.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 9/26/2006
  • Label: Artist First
  • UPC: 878722000123
  • Catalog Number: 20001
  • Sales rank: 7,094

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Rock and Roll - Jimmy Page (2:14)
  2. 2 Before the Night Is Over - B.B. King (3:39)
  3. 3 Pink Cadillac - Bruce Springsteen (3:55)
  4. 4 Evening Gown (3:57)
  5. 5 You Don't Have to Go - Neil Young (4:00)
  6. 6 Twilight - Robbie Robertson (2:48)
  7. 7 Travelin' Band (2:01)
  8. 8 That Kind of Fool - Keith Richards (4:14)
  9. 9 Sweet Little Sixteen - Ringo Starr (3:04)
  10. 10 Just a Bummin' Around (2:43)
  11. 11 Honky Tonk Woman - Kid Rock (2:21)
  12. 12 What's Made Milwaukee Famous - Rod Stewart (2:39)
  13. 13 Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age (1:59)
  14. 14 Couple More Years (5:13)
  15. 15 Ol' Glory - Toby Keith (2:05)
  16. 16 Trouble in Mind - Eric Clapton (3:49)
  17. 17 I Saw Her Standing There - Little Richard (2:21)
  18. 18 Lost Highway - Delaney Bramlett (2:59)
  19. 19 Hadacol Boogie - Jerry Lee Lewis & Buddy Guy (3:18)
  20. 20 What Makes the Irish Heart Beat (4:12)
  21. 21 The Pilgrim (3:00)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Jerry Lee Lewis Primary Artist, Organ, Piano, Vocals
Merle Haggard Vocals, Human Whistle
Kris Kristofferson Vocals
Willie Nelson Guitar, Vocals
John Fogerty Vocals
Don Henley Vocals
Mick Jagger Vocals
Little Richard Vocals
Ivan Neville Organ, Hammond Organ
Jimmy Page Guitar
Robbie Robertson Guitar
Bruce Springsteen Vocals
Ringo Starr Vocals
Rod Stewart Vocals
Ron Wood Pedal Steel Guitar
Neil Young Guitar, Vocals
Keith Allison Guitar
Kid Rock Vocals
Delaney Bramlett Vocals
Jim Keltner Percussion, Drums, Finger Snapping
Mickey Raphael Harmonica
Toby Keith Vocals
Eric Clapton Guitar
Phyllis Duncan Background Vocals
Bernard Fowler Background Vocals
James "Hutch" Hutchinson Bass
Jewell Jones Background Vocals
B.B. King Guitar
Kenneth Lovelace Guitar
James Stroud Drums
David Woodford Saxophone
Jimmy Rip Fiddle, Guitar, Percussion, Hand Clapping, Finger Snapping, Foot Stomping
Bill Strom Organ
Brandy Jones Background Vocals
Paddy Maloney Pipe, Human Whistle
Dave Woodruff Saxophone
Bobby Cunningham Bass
Technical Credits
Jimmy Reed Composer
Kris Kristofferson Composer
Shel Silverstein Composer
Chuck Berry Composer
John Fogerty Composer
Mick Jagger Composer
John Lennon Composer
Jerry Lee Lewis Composer
Paul McCartney Composer
Jimmy Page Composer
Robert Plant Composer
Robbie Robertson overdub engineer
Bruce Springsteen Composer
Cindy Walker Composer
Richard M. Jones Composer
John Paul Jones Composer
John Bonham Composer
Lou Bradley overdub engineer
Gary Burden Art Direction
Peter Guralnick Liner Notes
Roland Janes Engineer
Dennis Locorriere Composer
Stephen Marcussen Mastering
Van Morrison Composer
Leo Payne Composer
Keith Richards Composer
Dave Rouze overdub engineer
Toby Scott overdub engineer
Glenn Sutton Composer
Bob Wills Composer
Jimmy Rip Producer, Digital Editing, overdub engineer
Richard Hanson overdub engineer
Dan Leffler overdub engineer
Jaime "Robbie" Robertson Composer
June Murakawa overdub engineer
Bill Nettles Composer
Mack Vickery Composer
James Saez Engineer, overdub engineer
Boo Macleod overdub engineer
Jenice Heo Art Direction, Cover Image
Shelby Darnell Composer
John Saylor overdub engineer
Steve Gamberoni Engineer, overdub engineer
David Cambell String Arrangements
J. Carter Tutwiler overdub engineer
Paul Robert Composer
Steve Bing Producer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 8 )
Rating Distribution

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(8)

4 Star

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Sort by: Showing all of 8 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    The Killer schools them all

    Typically, this sort of collection of duets with an artist whose age and hard-living style have made it look like his career - if not his life - is just about over is a bunch of sad performances of the artist's hits by others. The artist is allowed to mumble a few pathetic lyrics here and there, but it's basically just a cover. In this case, however, Jerry Lee Lewis takes everybody to school. He totally dominates the CD in his inimitable style, sounding just as good and just as technically proficient as ever. Only Mick Jagger, Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Kris Kristofferson can keep up, and that's because they recognize that they're backing up The Killer. Rod Stewart, in particular, embarrasses himself even more than he has on his own releases. This collection doesn't have a bad cut on it, and the production is magnificent. An aside from Ringo Starr says it all: "Your lungs are better than mine, Jerry!"

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Great Album

    This is,by far, the best album I've heard in years. Not a bad song in the entire album.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Absolutely Phenomenal

    Just bought this CD in January (07) and I am awestruck. Please, please, please Jerry Lee don't wait so long to do another one. Love the duet idea, even though Jerry Lee, definitely rules. I'd like to see another duet CD. Of course, I like the rockers even though I'm 64 years old.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Fantastic!

    A great collection. I received this as a gift and love it!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    THE KILLER IS IN THE BUILDING

    IT IS GOOD THAT THE KILLER(LIKE MYSELF) HASN'T STOPPED PLAYING. I HAVE BEEN AT R&R FOR 49 YEARS AND LIKE THE KILLER" STILL ROCKIN MY LIFE AWAY"

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    The Killer Rocks on..........

    Jerry Lee Lewis is the king of rock and roll. All the rest are dead and gone....the only possible exception is Chuck Berry who was probably asked to appear on this album but wouldn't do it for fear of being upstaged. All are great tracks in which JLL makes every song his own as he always has. He is truly the "last man standing."

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    the Killer is BACK

    I have an advance copy and this is a truly great cd of classic rock and roll music. Run don't walk to get it as soon as you can!! Ray

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    JERRY LEE LEWIS LIVES

    Jerry Lee Lewis really delivers in this release, incredibly 50 years since he first began recording. The production is TOP NOTCH in every way, not the Nashville treatment that so often detracted from the Killer's albums in the 1970's & 1980's. This is like stepping back to Memphis in 1956!! Yes, Jerry's voice shows its years of experience, but at age 70 this guy can still kick it!! A must have for any music fan, thanks to Jimmy Rip & Steve Bing for helping get this to the market -- and outstanding work from the guest stars!! Buy 5 and give 4 away to friends!!

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Sort by: Showing all of 8 Customer Reviews