Van Morrison & Linda Gail Lewis – You Win Again

Linda Gail Lewis, never really a star singer in her own right, remembered almost exclusively for duets with her incendiary older sibling Jerry Lee, has been way off the charts in the United States for a long time. But she can pump a mean, mean piano in the Lewis boogie style, and belt rock ‘n’ roll like a banshee. In Europe, she’s quietly been building a following as one growling firecracker of a rockabilly in her own right.

Aware of her vocal limitations, she’d always figured she might pair up again sometime with the kind of singer her brother calls a “stylist” — a Jimmie Rodgers or Al Jolson or Jerry Lee Lewis, as he always lists them. One day in ’93, into a Jerry Lee festival in South Wales walked Van Morrison. Great lightbulbs of fire! They’ve been performing across the U.K. and Europe, and now comes this very unexpected recording, working the Jerry Lee territory between country, rockabilly, boogie and blues, featuring tunes he’s sung. This duo’s music is not from Nashville; it comes from Memphis.

At its ragged best, You Win Again delivers raucous fun. Among the country covers that work out fine are a breakneck “Jambalaya” with Linda Gail slamming that piano and Ned Edwards supplying Berry-esque guitar; an almost conversational “Crazy Arms” that’s slower than the Jerry Lee version and features steel guitar (Paul Godden) and Van’s inescapably soulful vocals. Also of merit are their almost daring take on a Sun-style “Old Black Joe” and a sweet “Why Don’t You love Me Like You Used to Do”.

At times the live recording technique shows; Linda Gail lags behind and we get a sort of unplanned vocal altercation. But as the disc moves to its later stages, outright R&B moves to the fore, infectiously, even on that old British invasion cover chestnut “A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues”.

The disc takes off, ragged still — but right. That Lewis beat cuts across all American boundaries, ties them all together — and rocks. In case you don’t get it, Van and Linda Gail finish off with an utterly successful and greasy boogie doom beat version of John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen”. It’s straight-ahead Detroit blues, and also the best Them record Van Morrison has made in 35 years. Actually, the rhythm section’s way better than that; there’s this wild girl on piano.

There must still be room for records like this, imperfect as it is. ‘Cause at its best, it’s a killer.