Eighties stuff!

This is a great Jerry Lee record! The songs are picked from two or three LPs recorded in mid-eighties and almost every one of them is a winner!

Most likely Jerry Lee isn't very sober on this one, but he's in control anyway. Backing band is pretty good and everything cooks... Jerry improvises lyrics loosely, just the way he does at his best, slightly drunk.. There is some real highlights, "My Fingers Do The Talking" is a brilliant fast rocker, so is also his driving rock'n'roll version of an old song "Why You Been Gone So Long"... .."Teenage Queen" starts lazily, but somehow he manages a hell out of it, smell of whisky comes through the speakers... "Rock'n'Roll Money" is a great forgotten classic, he really makes it his own... A late classic, his anthem "I Am What I Am" is also included... Great fun is his version of a funky B.B.King hit "Better Not Look Down"... On the ballad side, there's a fantastic, relaxed honky tonk-weeper version of "Only You"... ..You'll never need to hear the Platters original after this one..

If you are a Jerry Lee fan, this is a must, and if you're a beginner, this one is a good place to start!

Still great after 30 years

When this album was recorded, Jerry Lee was on MCA records in the 1980s. Music had changed since 1954 (when JLL originally recorded) but Jerry Lee remained consistent.

While his original MCA albums featured some rather dull musicians that took away from JLL's own performance, this album takes these musicians off and replaces them. I am not a big fan of overdubbing but in this case it works very well and, well, is necessary.

The material here is very revealing. "Better not look down" is a rather unusual choice for Jerry Lee - although, strange as it seems, this was originally a country song that was covered (and made famous) by soul legend BB King. JLL's version perhaps brings the song back to its country beginnings, but remaining soulful and funky at the same time. JLL made some great soul recordings in the 1960s and 1970s and proved he can still do that. On the other hand, "Circumstantial evidence" and "I'm looking under a skirt" reveal that JLL preceded Richie Kavanagh by a decade. The more serious "I'm looking over a 4 leaf clover" is a very inventive version of the old Al Jolson classic and shows the affinity that JLL has with Jolson's music. "Only you" is another great version of an older jazz tune, while "Rock and roll money", the title track and "My fingers do the talking" all give JLL room to do the boogie. Perhaps the best track of all is "Why you been gone so long", an oldtimey country-style track written by Mickey Newbury. JLL works well with Newbury's songs and this is his best version of a Newbury-penned song since "She even woke me up to say goodbye".

This music is what today's country acts SHOULD be doing and so often try - but fail - to emulate. JLL here both sounds up to date, relevant and yet rootsy. This is why JLL remains great to this day.