The last time we heard the name Jerry Lee Lewis in this space was in connection with a rave review of his star-studded concert on DVD and in a CD in New York City in 2006 entitled The Last Man Standing. A couple of paragraphs below are taken from the concert and CD review because they certainly apply to this album which also gets a rave review from these quarters. The last paragraph details some of the highlights of this CD. If you need to go back to the Fifties there are plenty of his compilations to choice from but this one is a good primer. Here goes.

"...Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley. Yes those are the men who created rock and roll, as we know it. However in that list do not forget one Jerry Lee Lewis. Fate dealt him an uneven hand due to the foibles of his personal life (the subject of a movie, Great Balls of Fire, with Dennis Quaid) but his form of rockabilly/boogie woogie piano-driven music and madman presentation must be placed in the mix of influences that drove the best of early rock.

If for no other reason that that he is one of the few `still standing' from that generation it is nice to see what the Killer can do in his 71st year in concert in New York City in 2006 with a host of guests some old, some young. Clearly off these performances he has lost a couple of steps. Hell the kind of energy that Jerry Lee produced in the 1950's definitely had a short shelf life. There are some nice clips from that period intertwined with the concert, by the way."

Of the 18 original hits from the Fifties that are included here are about 16 are must haves in any Jerry Lee compilation. When the Saints Go Marching In and Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee one can pass on (although rapper Kid Rock did an incredible cover version on PBS's American Masters- Sun Records Legacy tribute). Starting with Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On to the salacious Big Legged Woman you get Jerry Lee when he could pound it out all day and all night. Get it.

This album includes original recordings of Lewis' hits. I first learned
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" when it was featured on the show Kidsongs back in the mid 1990s as the kids are singing this song on a rollercoaster. "Great Balls of Fire" is great too, this reminds me of America's Funniest Home Videos where a guy sings this song and the chorus and then his daughter sings the "great balls of fire" part of the song. Lewis also does a good version of "What'd I Say." This is an all-around good album.

I take a back seat to no one in my admiration for Jerry Lee Lewis. I saw him perform in Ottawa not long after the adverse publicity broke in England over his marriage to Myra Gale. In a building that would normally house 9,000 to 10,000 for such an event there were perhaps about 1,500, and I can still see him peeking out from behind the stage curtain from my vantage point just before he went on. But when he came on - WOW. What a performance. You'd think there were 18,000 in the joint. By far the best live R&R show I ever saw in those days - and I saw them all - from Elvis to Cash to Domino to Berry. None could compare.

Having said that, I find this 18-selection CD from Rhino a bit of a misnomer in labelling itself as "18 Original Greatest Hits" for the Sun label.

Missing are: You Win Again - the flip of Great Balls Of Fire and a # 95 on its own early in 1958; Fools LIke Me, the flip of High School Confidential and a # 11 R&B in 1958; both sides of the 1958 double-sided hit Break-Up [# 52]/I'll Make It All Up To You [# 85]; I'll Sail My Ship Alone [# 93 in 1959]; and Sweet Little 16 [# 95 in 1962].

The above six would have been better choices for this album - labeled as it is - than relative obscurities like Matchbox, When The Saints Go Marching In, All Night Long, Big Legged Woman, and Put Me Down.

Also, there are neither liner notes nor discography to at least provide information as to when the non-hits included were recorded and where they appeared for the first time. Typical of the CDs that first hit the market back in 1984.

There are many, many better choices available now.

To an extent I'm disappointed. If all the tracks were originally recorded at Sun which I doubt, surely Rhino would make more of an effort with sleeve details. Instead all you get is a flimsy bit of paper with nothing on it. He is a great performer, I saw him live at Birmingham Town Hall, England with Brenda Lee top of the bill.

Because there are so many compilations out there of Jerry Lee's Sun recordings, and this CD has only 18 songs on it, I'll say this is a fantastic introduction to his classic material. He recorded an enormous amount of material for the Sun label, but this is still a must-have, especially for anyone who doesn't have any of his songs.
You could say that Jerry Lee is the real king of rock'n'roll, certainly one of the founding fathers, and much wilder than Elvis. But really, who cares who the "King" of rock'n'roll is anyway? Yes, Elvis was great and historically important, but so were so many others (many of whom were much more musically talented) including Jerry Lee. The real wild man of Sun Records is still rocking after all these years-a true survivor!