Artist: Jerry Lee Lewis
Title: Young Blood
Label: Sire
Release Date: 1995
Format: flac
Review:
On Young Blood Lewis straddles rock & roll and country as easily as he does his piano bench. Whether reclaiming Hank Williams' wry "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" or bragging about his hot rod – or is it his woman? – on "Crown Victoria Custom '51," Lewis is in high gear. He revels in the signatures of his fine madness, tossing random glissandi from his piano and shouting lyrics in a voice scuffed yet steel tipped.
These 14 songs are mostly chestnuts, but they're roasting. James Burton, who defined rock lead guitar, and ex-NRBQ fret burner Al Anderson get their licks in, and Lewis works like a demon – hammering a fanged solo into a racing overhaul of "Poison Love," turning loose his best Professor Longhair on "High Blood Pressure," spraying hot boogie-woogie all over "Down the Road a Piece."
In a nod to Lewis' Sun years, producer Andy Paley – who also aided Brian Wilson's resurrection – gets a little heavy-handed with reverb. Its slavered-on antiquity is occasionally distracting (hey, pal, Sun is a museum now). But that's nitpicking. With just one sentimental ballad, this is a party album – and Lewis remains one hell of a host. TED DROZDOWSKI
Recorded at Your Place Or Mine, Glendale, California; House Of Blues Studio, Memphis, Tennessee; Sunset Sound Factory, Los Angeles, California; Bluejay, Carlisle, Massachusetts; The Lewis Ranch, Nesbit, Mississippi.
Track List:
01. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive
02. Goosebumps
03. Things
04. Miss The Mississippi And You
05. Young Blood
06. Crown Victoria Custom '51
07. High Blood Pressure
08. Restless Heart
09. Gotta Travel On
10. Down The Road A Piece
11. It Was The Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)
12. Poison Love
13. One Of Them Old Things
14. House Of Blue Lights
Personnel:
Jerry Lee Lewis - vocals, piano
Kenny Lovelace - guitar, fiddle, strings
Mike Kernan - guitar, background vocals
Elliot Easton, Bobby Keyes, Don Baer, James Burton, Al Anderson - guitar
Robby Turner - steel guitar
Bob Glaub, Joey Spampinato, Jonathan Paley, Dave Roe Rorick, J.R. Byrd -bass
Dan Weinstein - fiddle, strings, reeds, horns
Yoshira Arita, John Curtis, Matt Glaser - fiddle, strings
Mike Turk - harmonica
Frank Marocco - accordion
Frank Macchia, Craig Ball, Stan Watkins, Stuart Aptekar, Bob Efford, Dave Whitney - reeds, horns
Andy Paley - drums,background vocals
Glen Colson, Don Allen, Tom Ardolino, Buddy Harman - drums
Mike Kernon, Billy West - background vocals