Jerry Lee Lewis Readies Star-Studded New Album 'Rock & Roll Time'

The Killer will also release new memoir 'Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story' on the same day this fall


Paul Warner/WireImage

By Kory Grow
June 24, 2014

Rock & roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis is set to have a big year, as the 78-year-old Killer will release Rock & Roll Time, his third album in a decade, and Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, his memoir co-authored with Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, on October 28th.

In advance of the album, his first for Vanguard Records, Lewis is sharing the title track below — what he tells Rolling Stone is the "best one on there" — originally co-written and recorded by Kris Kristofferson in 1974. Lewis' version features an all-star lineup, including guitarists Doyle Bramhall II, Jon Brion and Kenny Lovelace and vocalists Vonda Shepard and Bernard Fowler. Overall, Lewis says the track is emblematic of all of the LP's 11 tracks. "This is a rock & roll record," he says. "That's just the way it came out."

As with Lewis' last two records, 2006's Last Man Standing and 2010's Mean Old Man, Lewis teamed with a who's who of artists he inspired, including the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Ron Wood, Neil Young, former Band guitarist Robbie Robertson, E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, country singer Shelby Lynne and more.

The selection of songs draws from the catalogues of Chuck Berry ("Little Queenie," "Promised Land" ), Bob Dylan ("Stepchild" ), Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Mississippi Kid" ), Jimmie Rodgers ("Blues Like Midnight" ) and even a track by one of his Million Dollar Quartet buddies, Johnny Cash ("Folsom Prison Blues" ), one of two songs that finds him playing guitar. "My wife stepped in and asked me to do that one," he says. "Johnny Cash was just one of the finest people in the world. He's a great guy. I have lots of fond memories of Johnny."

In reverence to his past, the album cover sports a shot of Lewis in front of the old Sun Studios building, located in Memphis about eight minutes from the studio where the Killer recorded most of Rock & Roll Time. "It was all right," he says of visiting his old haunt. "It brought back a lot of memories: Pretty good memories, bad memories, semi memories."

Lewis has been spending a lot of time remembering lately. Over the past two years, he has been sitting for interviews with Bragg, who has written Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story as a third-person recount of the Killer's life. The book will cover the making of Lewis' biggest hits, as well as address the many controversies that have surrounded Lewis' life, from his numerous marriages to his feuds with other rockers.

Lewis calls the book "magnificent" and is quick to say that he "forgot nothing" and remembered everything exactly how it was. "All these other books have come out, and there wasn't no truth in any of them," he says. "I just waited 'til the right time [to do mine]. I just thought I'd set the record straight."

And even though Lewis has these two big releases slated for the end of 2014, he's continuing business as usual with two gigs planned in the U.S. On July 5th, he'll play Harrah's Rincon in Valley Center, California, and on October 30th – two days after the album and book release – he will perform at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill in New York City. "I just get up off my lazy behind and get on with it," he says of performing.

As he looks back on six decades of music and what the future holds, Lewis says he's grateful. "I just think it's a blessing from God that I'm still living," he says, "and I'm still rocking."

Listen > 'Rock & Roll Time'

[www.rollingstone.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-24 22:17 by bye bye johnny.

Sounds great - looking forward to the record!

Sounds great but the last 2 releases were so so

come on, this guy is even older than charlie. calling the records "so so" is kinda admitting to like them. didn't take me more than a week to come to terms with ABB's soso-ness by evaluating the effort that way.

....thanks bye bye johnny



ROCKMAN

[jerryleelewis.com]

Ace pic, BB Johnny, Jerry Lee 's new suede shoes are priceless !

HMN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-25 01:06 by Honestman.

What track are Keef & Ronnie playin' on ????



ROCKMAN

Great! I loved Last man Standing so I can't wait for this one.
How cool is it that he is still recording at 78.

Cheers,
Wuudy

Dude's got good taste, he covered "Evening Gown" WITH our Mick ;-) Glad to see he's still kicking tires, he's been looking mummified on stage for a few years now...

--------------
IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

The most recent JLL album in 2010 was also a star-studded guest-fest, and in agreement with a poster above it was "so-so"--because of the added involvement. Only one track on the album was great--and that was the track where it was just Jerry Lee rocking at the piano and sounding great, like he did in the 50s. He's still got it, and he should just be aloud to make an album that is pure unadulterated Jerry Lee, rather than the watered-down star treatment that leaves you cold after one listen.

A star-studded guest-fest album is like a tribute album--it has no consistency, and is rather a hodge-podge of different arrangements where each track features a completely different sound because of the different artists. And tribute albums don't stand the test of time, and they're seldom ever worthy of a second listen.

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bye bye johnny
including the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Ron Wood, Neil Young,

I guess I'll never get to see/hear it, but I would love to know the results of a Keith/Neil jam, or even a Ronnie/Neil jam. That it would be interesting is a given. Good is another matter. Can someone make it so?

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Rockman
What track are Keef & Ronnie playin' on ????

'Little Queenie' and 'Promised Land' are mentioned in the article and seem like good possibilities.

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gotdablouse
Dude's got good taste, he covered "Evening Gown" WITH our Mick ;-) Glad to see he's still kicking tires, he's been looking mummified on stage for a few years now...

Exactly!
And personally, I'm a real sucker for "That kinda fool" too - with these truely amazing Keith harmonies on it... Shivers!!

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Kaisan
Sounds great - looking forward to the record!

...ànd that book... Gotta love the guy.

I LOVE the flip-flops in the picture above! Would love to know if anyone involved with the photo shoot considered saying anything about what he's wearing. I almost can't be sure it's not his pajamas. I love the original rock & rollers for their attitudes almost as much as their music!

Peace,
Mr DJA

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Kaisan
Sounds great - looking forward to the record!

so do I
jeroen

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mr_dja
I LOVE the flip-flops in the picture above! Would love to know if anyone involved with the photo shoot considered saying anything about what he's wearing. I almost can't be sure it's not his pajamas. I love the original rock & rollers for their attitudes almost as much as their music!

Peace,
Mr DJA

Just noticed the outfit - what a character! It sure does look like he just took a stroll outside in his PJ's and said, take the damn picture now, I'm ready.

Really looking forward to the CD and the book.

Full size cover photo > [jerryleelewis.com]

Not pajamas...

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bye bye johnny
Full size cover photo > [jerryleelewis.com]

Not pajamas...

I saw that as I was poking around his website. I won't disagree with you but I'm still not 100% convinced that it's not pajamas (unless of course you just haven't meantioned that you were the wardrobe consultant on the photo shoot!). I can't imagine that latebloomer's scenario were true, but I'd love it if it was though! I really can't imagine that he'd actually allow himself to be pictured in pajamas but at the same time, he approved of the flip-flops (which I think are great!).

Regardless of the clothing, like latebloomer, I'm looking forward to the book & cd. Thanks for starting the thread bye bye johnny as I wouldn't have known about it with out this thread.

Peace,
Mr DJA

A windbreaker and pinstriped trousers usually aren't sleepwear.

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bye bye johnny
A windbreaker and pinstriped trousers usually aren't sleepwear.

You've obviously got a better monitor than I do (I can only hope for the day when my corporate office springs for a decent video converter!). On my monitor I can't make out that it's a windbreaker or actual trousers. Add to the fact that I've seen my dad with that kind of collar on the top of his pajamas and pinstripes on his pajama pants and you can probably understand where the confusion began.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Click on the cover photo - that'll enlage it, and put the pajama theory to bed.

<ba dum bump>

'Little Queenie' and 'Promised Land' are mentioned in the article and seem like good possibilities.

Yeah bye bye .... was thinkin' Little Queenie would just about be the No1 candidate



ROCKMAN

I wonder if this is the album produced by T Bone Burnett.

Apparently the Killer was recording with him earlier this year.

'Rock & Roll Time' Tracklisting:

1. ROCK & ROLL TIME (with Doyle Bramhall II and Jon Brion)
2. LITTLE QUEENIE (with Keith Richards and Ron Wood)
3. STEPCHILD (with Daniel Lanois and Doyle Bramhall II)
4. SICK AND TIRED (with Jon Brion)
5. BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY (with Neil Young and Ivan Neville)
6. FOLSOM PRISON BLUES (with Robbie Robertson and Nils Lofgren)
7. KEEP ME IN MIND (with Jon Brion)
8. MISSISSIPPI KID (with Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II)
9. BLUES LIKE MIDNIGHT (with Robbie Robertson)
10. HERE COMES THAT RAINBOW AGAIN (with Shelby Lynne)
11. PROMISED LAND (with Doyle Bramhall II)

[www.keyboardmag.com]

Jerry Lee fansite's Facebook has some info on 'Rock & Roll Time':

"Most of the album songs are not recently recorded, most of these songs got recorded during the sessions for Mean Old Man & Last Man Standing albums."

Cover photo is by Jim Marshall, so it's also not recent. Marshall passed away in 2010.

[www.facebook.com]

Exclusive Stream: “Little Queenie” by Jerry Lee Lewis

August 25, 2014 | By Jennifer V. Cole


Photo by Tony R. Phipps / Getty Images

Some people were just born to be larger than life. As a child, even before he put fingers to ivories, Jerry Lee Lewis lived life more enthusiastically than anything Concordia Parish, Louisiana, had ever seen. And after he got his hands on his own piano, a wood-paneled upright from P.A. Starck Piano Co., The Killer was unstoppable. This is the artist Sam Phillips of Sun Records—the man who discovered Elvis—called “the most talented man I ever worked with, black or white. One of the most talented human beings to walk on God’s earth.”

And with his new album, Rock & Roll Time, Jerry Lee shows he’s still got a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on. He recorded the album in Memphis in collaboration with a roll call of musical greats, including Ron Wood, Neil Young, and Ivan Neville. But don’t expect a series of simple duets. On this production, the genre’s “first great wild man” comes through front and center. The rest of the rock royalty effectively backs him—and lets him do his thing. In his track-by-track backstory for the album, Jerry Lee says, “Chuck Berry’s ‘Little Queenie’ was always a great song, and like all great songs, it still is one. So I played it here, and having Keith Richards and Ron Wood play with me is pretty cool.”

“Little Queenie”
Written by — Chuck Berry
Arc Music (BMI)
Isalee Music Publishing (BMI)
Guitar — Keith Richards
Guitar — Ron Wood
Guitar — Waddy Wachtel
Guitar — Kenny Lovelace
Bass — Rick Rosas
Drums, Percussion — Jim Keltner

Listen > 'Little Queenie'

[thedailysouth.southernliving.com]

About the Book

The greatest Southern storyteller of our time, New York Times bestselling author Rick Bragg, tracks down the greatest rock and roller of all time, Jerry Lee Lewis—and gets his own story, from the source, for the very first time.

A monumental figure on the American landscape, Jerry Lee Lewis spent his childhood raising hell in Ferriday, Louisiana, and Natchez, Mississippi; galvanized the world with hit records like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” that gave rock and roll its devil’s edge; caused riots and boycotts with his incendiary performances; nearly scuttled his career by marrying his thirteen-year-old second cousin—his third wife of seven; ran a decades-long marathon of drugs, drinking, and women; nearly met his maker, twice; suffered the deaths of two sons and two wives, and the indignity of an IRS raid that left him with nothing but the broken-down piano he started with; performed with everyone from Elvis Presley to Keith Richards to Bruce Springsteen to Kid Rock—and survived it all to be hailed as “one of the most creative and important figures in American popular culture and a paradigm of the Southern experience.”

Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story is the Killer’s life as he lived it, and as he shared it over two years with our greatest bard of Southern life: Rick Bragg. Rich with Lewis’s own words, framed by Bragg’s richly atmospheric narrative, , this is the last great untold rock-and-roll story, come to life on the page.

[www.harpercollins.com]

This man can sing......