JERRY LEE LEWIS

JERRY LEE LEWIS: RECOMMENDED LISTENING:

CLASSIC JERRY LEE LEWIS (Bear Family).

Over the years, there have been many releases of "Sun greatest hits" & other compilations of Jerry Lee’s Sun recordings. None of them, however, do justice to Lewis’ greatness & can’t give you an overall picture of the consistent & eclectic work he recorded for the label between 1956 & 1963.
This box set release (or its equivalent Charley set "Ultimate Jerry Lee Lewis") are essential to anyone interested in blues, rock or country music. The highlights include excellent interpretations of R&B standards like Roy Brown’s "Good rockin’ tonight", Joe Turner’s "Honey hush" & "Teenage letter" or Piano Red’s "Rockin’ with Red", gutbucket blues performances like "Big legged woman", "Hello hello baby" or "Ramblin’ Rose", bluesified country & bluegrass standards like "My pretty Quadroon", "When my blue moon turns to gold again" & "Silver threads among the gold" & purer country like "You win again", "I could never be ashamed of you" & "Wild side of life". "Deep Elem blues" is possibly Jerry Lee’s best ever moment on record.
Also featured are Lewis’ biggest rock ‘n’ roll hits like "Great balls of fire", excellent self-written tracks that range from the ragtime boogie of "End of the road" to the bluegrass-flavoured country ballad "Memory of you", country records written especially for him like "I can’t trust me" & definitive versions of hits by others.
If you don’t want to risk buying a box set, the most recommendable releases are Charley’s "Rare & Rockin’ " & Rhino’s "Rare tracks". Beware of others like the dubious "Duets" which feature Lewis’ Sun recordings overdubbed by Elvis imitator Orion (Ellis James) or the inadequate "Rockin’ Rhythm & Blues" (which could’ve contained better examples of R&B & Blues than Chuck Berry & Little Richard covers. However, "C.C Rider" & "Big legged woman" are there - but, so should "Honey hush", "John Henry" & "Hello hello baby".

THE LOCUST YEARS (Bear Family)

There are many who argue that Jerry Lee left his best work behind him after he left Sun in 1963. This box set collection, spanning from 1963 to 1969 proves Lewis’ early Mercury work is as good as his Sun work - but in its own way. Do not compare this music with his Sun work. The style is very different & this period showed the versatility of the Killer. From out & out blues like "Bread & butter man" & "Big boss man" to R&B numbers like "Got you on my mind", "Corrine, Corrina", "Mathilda" & "Skid row" to country-blues like "The hole he said he’d dig for me", Lewis showed he was a master of every style. His R&B & Soul albums like "Soul my way", "Return of rock" & "Memphis beat" Were on a par with Ray Charles & James Brown. "Turn on your love light" & "It’s a hang-up baby" would have anyone believe Lewis was black. Later in that period, Jerry Lee proved he could do country equally as well & the transformation from the blues of "Soul my way" in 1967 to the pure country of the 1968 album "Another place another time" was a move only an artist like Lewis could make. He had major hits in the country charts from 1968 onwards & these commenced with "another place another time", "What’s made Milwaukee famous", "She still comes around" & "To make love sweeter for you". Also included on the box are concerts & an interview. This is a truly amazing set of music.

LIVE AT THE STAR CLUB 1964:

The greatest live album of all time. The greatest rock ‘n’ roll album of all time, period. All the tracks here are major highlights & these include a blues-soaked version the old blues "Matchbox blues", wild bluesy versions of "Mean woman blues", "Lewis boogie" & "Highschool confidential" & a ferocious version of "Money". Jerry Lee at his greatest, without a doubt.

GREATEST LIVE SHOWS ON EARTH (1 & 2) (Bear Family):

Another superb live album from the Killer. This is Lewis at his most eclectic live. Styles covered range from blues ("High heel sneakers", "Who will the next fool be"), country ("How’s my ex treating you", "Green green grass of home" & rock ("Long tall Sally"). Superb collection. Note that this contains 2 live concerts: 1 from 1964 & 1 from 1966.

SOUL MY WAY:

Jerry Lee’s last blues album before his 1968 country comeback is a very under-rated set of material. From the fiery R&B of "Turn on your lovelight", "It’s a hang-up, baby", "Shotgun man" & "I betcha gonna like it" through the gospelly "Just dropped in" to the R&B balladry of "Holdin’ on", this set demonstrates Lewis the bluesman at his most versatile. Other highlights on it contain the fast self-composed gospel blues "He took it like a man", a great version of "Hey baby" & strangely enough a Hank Williams country ballad "Wedding bells".

THE KILLER ROCKS ON

Between 1968 & 1972, all Jerry Lee’s albums were almost pure country in style. This excellent 1972 set is a return to blues & rock & the choice of songs include Roy Hamilton’s "You can have her", the Joe South compositions "Walk a mile in my shoes" & "Games people play", Fats Domino’s "I’m walking" & Charlie Rich’s "Lonely weekends". All of these receive a blues soaked interpretation from the Killer. As always, Lewis performed a great version of the old blues "C.C Rider" for this album, too. The album produced 2 No.1 hits in the shape of "Chantilly lace" & a blues version of "Me & Bobby McGee". The album also revived 2 excellent tracks from "Soul my way": "Turn on your love light" & "Shotgun man"|.

KILLER VOLS. 1,2 & 3 (Mercury):

Unlike the Sun era’s many greatest hits compilations, these three Mercury greatest hits reissues are a worthy intro to this Lewis period.
Vol. 1: this covers 1963 to 1968 & is balanced between Lewis’ soul & R&B from 1963 - 1967 & his country records from 1966 & 1968. Highlights include "I’m on fire", "Memphis beat", "Skid row", "Mathilda" (on the R&B side), "Another place another time", "Today I started loving you again" & "Louisiana man" (on the country side).
Vol. 2: this set is far more country-orientated that Vol. 1 & the country highlights include "Home away from home" & "When he walks on you". Also featured are the odd blues ("Since I met you baby") & live performances from Las Vegas like "Flip, flop & Fly" & "Blue suede shoes". Covers the period 1969 - 1972.
Vol. 3: From 1973 to 1977, Lewis recorded blues, boogie & country randomly & excellent interpretations of songs as diverse as Joe Turner’s "Shake rattle & roll", the original boogie "Boogie woogie country man", the old blues "Crawdad song", Leadbelly’s "Goodnight Irene" & a blues version of Billy Swan’s "I can help" are evidence of this.
These 3 excellent sets are the ideal introduction to Lewis’ Mercury years.

ROCKING MY LIFE AWAY

Jerry Lee recorded one of his best ever albums in 1979 - for Elektra. The entire contents of that album plus some tracks off Lewis’ other 2 Elektra albums are featured here.
The blues side of Lewis’ music is evident on outstanding tracks like Chris Kenner’s "I like it like that", the original "Number one lovin’ man" & a gutbucket cover of Johnny Cash’s "Folsom prison blues". This album also springs a few surprises like an excellent interpretation of a Bob Dylan blues tune ("Rita May"), a savage version of the Ray Smith gospel pop novelty "Rockin’ little angel" & an outstanding cover of Arthur Alexander’s "Everyday I have to cry".
Country hits also featured at Elektra & "39 & holding" & "When 2 worlds collide" were 2 of the finest country records Lewis ever cut. "Good time Charlie’s got the blues" was another standout country track with a feel for the blues. The last track on the album is a bluesy version of "Over the rainbow" that brought the song into territory that Bing Crosby, Judy Garland or even Gene Vincent hadn’t.
An excellent set & a must for any fan of Lewis’ music.

OLDTIME ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

Many of Lewis’ best recordings remain on hard to find bootleg albums & some of them turned up on this 1997 collection. The title track & takes of "Hot damn I’m a one woman man" are great examples of Lewis’ rock jams, while alt. Takes of "Lucky old Sun" & others surface from the "Great balls of fire" film soundtrack sessions of 1988. "Lady of Spain" was recorded around the same time & shows Lewis’ mastery of oldtime pop. "Milk cow blues" from 1979 gives us one of Lewis’ best examples of his powerful interpretation of the blues. This great collection is one of the finest releases of Jerry Lee material in recent years.

YOUNG BLOOD

This excellent 1995 album proved Lewis was as great as ever. "High blood pressure" & the title track showed the ‘90s generation what the blues was all about & "Down the road apiece" & "House of blue lights" proved boogie woogie was still alive & well in 1995. On the more country & bluegrass side, we have "Gotta travel on", "Restless heart" & "One of those things we all go through". "Crown Victoria custom ‘51" was one of Lewis’ most powerful R&B rockers ever. This is a superb album & hits harder than every other country or blues album from this decade thus far.

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