Don appears with Jerry Lee Lewis on this new DVD

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Product Description

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock 'n' roll and country music icon - a singer, songwriter, and pianist who's been amazing his audiences with his piano pyrotechnics for half a century. Lewis has never stopped touring, and he still delivers explosive concerts that are unpredictable, exciting, and personal. Following the critically acclaimed release of Last Man Standing in the fall of 2006, Lewis gathered with friends and family to perform at a series of private shows in New York and Los Angeles that were filmed for this DVD. Rock 'n' roll, soul, and country music legends gathered from the world 'round to show their admiration for one of the great original song stylists of all time. Last Man Standing Live is an intimate and unprecedented event in music history. Don't miss it!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19483 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
It's called Last Man Standing, an apt-enough description when you consider that so many of his peers, like Sun Records mentor Sam Phillips and "Million Dollar Quartet" partners Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins, are six feet under. But Jerry Lee Lewis doesn't spend a lot of time on his feet during any portion of this two-hour show, the visual complement to his 2006 CD Last Man Standing: The Duets. Truth is, at 71, the Ferriday (Louisiana) Fireball is fairly rickety; sitting almost immobile at the keyboard, he's a far cry from the rock & roll firebrand who'd leap to his feet, kick away his piano stool, and wail, his golden locks flying. So this meeting between Lewis and about a dozen singing partners, ranging from fellow veterans (Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard) to relative youngsters (Chris Isaak, Norah Jones, Kid Rock), would have been more exciting had it happened, say, 10 years ago. It's still pretty cool. Lewis' piano chops are strong; his singing, while obviously weaker than in his heyday, ain't half bad either; he's got a great band, including guitarists Nils Lofgren and Rolling Stone Ron Wood and drummer Jim Keltner; and both he and his guests (not to mention the studio audience) are having a hellacious good time. Of course, he's still playing "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On," the two rock & roll classics that bookend this 28-song set. But most of the repertoire emphasizes Lewis' country roots: there are Hank Williams chestnuts ("Your Cheatin' Heart" with Jones, "Jambalaya" with Nelson, "You Win Again" with Don Henley), genre classics ("Will the Circle Be Unbroken," with Kristofferson and John Fogerty), country blues ("Hadacol Boogie," with Buddy Guy), country-flavored rock ("Little Queenie" and "Honky Tonk Women" with Rock)... even a country fried version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," with Isaak. It's all a bit tame, but Last Man Standing (which includes some vintage Lewis performance clips, interviews, and a few brief bonus features) is nonetheless a worthy celebration of a national treasure. --Sam Graham

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Customer Reviews

Killer Showcase!
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.

Still the Greatest Rock & Roller
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

Great
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.