Cut from the same cloth as The Killer’s 2006 duets collection Last Man Standing, Jerry Lee’s second set of superstar collaborations has a decidedly more country bent than its predecessor. Consequently, the laidback and less-rocking material makes fewer demands on the 75-year-old’s voice, which has settled into a sturdy and statesmanlike oaky drawl.
In several instances, his guests have brought their own songs with them; thus, John Fogerty canters along to the two-step of Bad Moon Rising, and Merle Haggard picks up his share of the bar tab on the boozy Swinging Doors. The Rolling Stones turn up mobhanded, Mick Jagger adding a counterpoint to Dead Flowers (though its jolly honky tonk rhythm seems at odds with the morose lyric of “needles and spoons”) and Keith Richards is wonderfully shoddy on Sweet Virginia, which demurely replaces the “shit” of the chorus with “shine”. Ron Wood is restricted to guitar duties on the title track.
This is a genuine legend in party mode, arguably beyond criticism while we’re so busy giving thanks that he’s still with us. Obviously, some tracks work better than others, but the missteps are in the clear minority, and the Solomon Burke-assisted gospel holler of Raiload To Heaven (a song Lewis first sang as a child in church) stands proudly alongside the best of his past glories.
