Jerry Lee’s Flamin’ Rockabilly Sis

Linda Gail Lewis wants to kick your ass. Dishing out the same wild-ass, flame throwing style that made her brother famous, she uses her piano and voice to burn her name on the rockabilly wall of fame, living up to the title of her latest release, Hard Rockin’ Woman.

Firing up the keyboard as hot as Jerry Lee, she boogie-woogies her way through “Hard Rockin’ Man,” her piano like a kick in the teeth. With a vocal twang strong enough to rival Wanda Jackson’s, Lewis puts out enough bluster and swagger to stun any ‘billy boy foolish enough to get in her way.

When Lewis backs off the rockabilly, she offers up some retro fare, harmonizing with daughter Annie Marie on the Quentin Jones-penned “Spell Bound,” recalling the sounds of the Poni-Tails’ ’58 hit “Born Too Late.”

Shuffling along on “Love Sick,” Lewis gets a Brenda Lee hiccup working in between bursts of machine gun piano bursts.

Lewis’ backing band is hot stuff, especially the string plucking talents of son-in-law Danny Harvey and Quentin Jones. The duo swap Eddie Cochran licks on the instrumental “Little Baby Baby Rock,” while Lewis wipes down the keyboard from one end to the other, her glidepath tickling all 88 keys.

Linda Gail takes on her brother’s “Rockin’ My Life Away” and runs away with it, socking the keys with a speed and finesse that only a Lewis could manage, growlin ‘and howlin’ like a longer haired version of the Killer.

Although it sounds like it could have come from one of cousin Jimmy Swaggart’s holy ghost camp meeting revivals at altar call time, Quentin Jones penned the gospel tune “And Now I Win.” Lewis wails away like Wilma Lee Cooper, punching out hard core C&W while keeping it churchy.

“What Can I Do” has something for everybody, rockin’ rockabilly countryfied by Lewis’ molasses drenched drawl, Jones snaking along underneath with Harvey’s guitar Cochranin’ along on top.

Everybody from Louis Armstrong to Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Bob Marley has covered “This Train,” which first popped up around1922. Lewis’ version tracks well alongside Hank Thompson’s ’55 rendition, punched up bit more with help from Blair King’s relentless percussive propulsion and Lewis’ piano rattling along the rails at breakneck speed.

For pure kick-ass country, it’s hard to beat “Battle With The Bottle.” Jones switches up from bass to lead guitar on this one, sounding like he’s  plucking strands of barbed wire. “I know I’m not the first but I’m gonna be the last/ to lose a man I love to a girl who has no class,” Lewis tells her philandering man, warning him that shes a pistol- packing mama who’ll battle with the bottle and solve her problems with her gun.

Nobody else is doing this stuff anymore. And even if they were, they’d be hard pressed to keep up with Lewis. Even though her music contains elements of the past, its not retro. It’s a heartfelt homage that works on every level, because of her talent and her sincerity. But most of all it succeeds because Linda Gail Lewis has a rock and roll bloodline she flaunts shamelessly, keeping the voice and the spirit of fiery, balls-to-the wall rockabilly alive and shakin’.