There's a different feel to 2014's
Rock & Roll Time, the third album
Jerry Lee Lewis has made with benefactor and producer
Steve Bing. Once again, superstar drummer
Jim Keltner co-produces (as he did on 2010's
Mean Old Man), and the pair bring the Killer back where he belongs -- right at Sun Studios. In case anybody missed the point,
Jerry Lee is placed directly in front of the old Sun building itself on the cover of
Rock & Roll Time, underscoring a point the music makes perfectly plain:
Jerry Lee is once again singing some of that old-time rock & roll. It's a back-to-basics move, and to that end,
Bing and
Keltner made the canny decision to dial back the superstar cameos that threatened to overwhelm
Lewis on Last Man Standing and
Mean Old Man. Some familiar names join
Jerry Lee in the studio --
Keith Richards and
Ron Wood,
Neil Young,
Robbie Robertson,
Nils Lofgren,
Doyle Bramhall II,
Derek Trucks, and
Jon Brion all are here -- but only
Shelby Lynne shares the microphone with him, which means the album belongs to nobody but the Killer. He sounds his age, as he should at 79, but he still sounds vibrant, whether he's once again singing
Chuck Berry songs he's played countless times before, or laying into
Kris Kristofferson's "Rock & Roll Time,"
Bob Dylan's obscure "Stepchild," or
Mack Vickery's "Keep Me in Mind." The emphasis is on greasy groove, an appropriate move considering the Killer's advanced age, but by placing feel first and foremost, it's possible to pay attention to how
Lewis' vocal phrasing remains sly and supple. Nobody else can sing like
Jerry Lee and it remains a pleasure to hear him sink his teeth into nearly any song, especially when he's supported by a team as sympathetic as he is here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine