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"Last Man" opens with The Killer's cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock 'N' Roll." The first thing you hear is the hellacious guitar rip by none other than The Zep's Jimmy Page. And then The Killer, as if across time, like a Golem suddenly awakening, intones "Boy!..that.... Is.... Rock'n'roll!" Then that left handed thunder peels, he and Page weave around each other like Adagio Dancers, and his voice is like the crackle of southern lightening, defiant, challenging, and still without a backward step. Been a long time since I rock'n'rolled..been a long time since I did the stroll. He makes up for that quickly with a pumping piano that might register on a seismograph. "Lemme take you back, lemme take you back.... To Louisiana! Louisiana is not an original lyric, but this is one of the greatest self-promoters of all time. What is truly amazing is Jerry Lee's ownership of whatever he touches. His take on The Stone's "Honky Tonk Woman" redefines this ribald fable both in musical approach as a careening hard rocker and in the clear intent of the lyrics. This woman is his. He even makes his duet partner Kid Rock sound good, which is tantamount to reviving pleasant memories of Richard Nixon. Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" with Bruce himself borders on a masterpiece, and the respect paid Lewis by his younger contemporaries is made clear at the start of the track by Springsteen extolling "Git it Mr, Killer!" Between Bruce's axe, Dave Woodfuff's sax, and The Killer on keyboard and lead vocal, it is stomping, head banging, brand rockin' new. Honey I jes' wondah whut it feels like inna back a yo' pink cadillac, pink cadillac! A very definite reference to be sure, and to which he adds in summation: "The Killer knows your tricks baby." The country stuff is wonderful. Jerry teams up with the great George Jones, and Killer out yodels him, on an old country swing number worthy of Bob Wills, "Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age." "Pink Cadillac" clearly implies that he's not. But the song, the one concession to the years that grabs the heart is "Couple More Years" with Willie Nelson. Those young things there in their arms are slipping away, and all the wisdom of good times, and bad can't hold them. You got to fly 'cause you're hearin' those young eagles call. I got a couple more years on you baby, that's all. The bitter sweetness of more behind than ahead is delivered on Jerry and Willie's shared from the gut vocal, a wise and knowing piano, a loving, wistful guitar, and a celebration of those lines in their faces and how they got there. But the entire collection is riveting and, his guests rising to meet him, Jerry Lee has never sounded more inspired. As the last notes of "Rock 'N' Roll" fade, out of an echo, rambunctious and mischievous The Killer queries Y'all remember me dont'cha'? Damn right. Jerry Lee Lewis is on tour again, and if he's in your neighborhood and you make his show, don't expect the Brooklyn Paramount. That would be hard and, frankly, unnecessary. He doesn't have to do that, although seeing him work, rarely leaving the bench, seems to belie the album. But not really, for while he's thick in the middle a bit, and there are jowls like a southern colonel, he knows damn well who he is. No surrender. As he works, he looks with fearless intensity out over the '88, still gazing at that next horizon. That curled lip, power like a rolling earthquake, deliberate, no holds barred. A long way from when Elmo and Nadine bought their big, blond, baby boy that first piano. Towards the end of the show, he may rise suddenly, and he still knows how to get rid of the bench. He'll pound the keys, and we'll all smile, and you'd be surprised how the ladies are still stirred. Like the song goes, "He's just tryin' to prove he still can." And he does. When he is done with the road, Jerry Lee Lewis will go home and put his boots up at his Mississippi farm. He lives there with his daughter Phoebe and the many dogs roaming the place. It's a quiet life. The house is less than an hour from Memphis, which keeps him close to his business and not too far from the casinos. Even closer is the Mississippi River. In their own way both Jerry Lee and the Mississippi are emblematic of the south, eternal and undefeated. The wind is like a hymn through the juniper trees along the banks, providing accompaniment to the green and brown rolling river of history, as it pours into the Gulf which merges with the Atlantic which turns The Cape of Good Hope to join with all the oceans of time in their embrace of the world. And the Earth turns. And the sun rises and sets and rises again. And The Killer rocks on. Steven Robert Wollenberg is an actor and free-lance writer living in Los Angeles who has also worked for ESPN and CBS Radio Sports. He co-stars in the British-French co-produced film "The Pet" due for release in November 2006. Wollenberg is currently appearing in Ray Bradbury's play "Autumn People" in Los Angeles.
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