Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks 80th Birthday In Times Square
The immortal artist rolled into BB Kings Blues Club & Grill last Wednesday, December 18th, 2015, about ten weeks after his 80th birthday and played a show that surpassed my very high expectations. He killed!
What a thrill to be able to sit down with the man backstage before the show. Pardon me, I should have typed THE MAN. The one with a piano shaped swimming pool, the one who flipped a Rolls Royce, the one whose feet John Lennon kissed when they met, the one who can play a piano with his foot, and the one who recorded Live At The Star Club in 1964 that still appears on most critics’ lists of the greatest live albums of all time… among other things.
In order to get a feel for what he considered to be his most essential work, I asked him what albums he might recommend to a person just getting introduced to his music. He suggested throwing a dart.
Last year’s Rock and Roll Time completed a trilogy of duet albums that began in 2007 with Last Man Standing and continued with Mean Old Man in 2010. A parade of artists jumped at the chance to work with Lewis including Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Buddy Guy. He promises a new album in the Spring which he told me will be the best album he’s had in ‘quite a while.’ That would be no small feat but I wouldn’t put it past The Killer…