Jerry Lee Lewis - I-40 Country (1973) & Odd Man In (1975)
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BGO's 2015 two-fer pairs two mid-'70s albums from Jerry Lee Lewis – 1974's I-40 Country and 1975's Odd Man In – on a single CD. Jerry Lee Lewis didn't get much of a boost out of his 1973 return to rock & roll – a revival arriving on two separate LPs, one recorded in England (The Session) and one back home (Southern Roots) – so he slid back to country, scoring a hit with "Sometimes a Memory Ain't Enough" from the album of the same name. I-40 Country arrived a year later, easing into stores in 1974 under the guise of a truck-driving country LP. While these 11 songs do sound good on the open road, none of them are about big rigs or highways, nor do they roll along to a Bakersfield beat. No, they're straight-ahead barroom weepers punctuated by the very occasional novelty – so occasional, it doesn't extend beyond "Alcohol of Fame."

The opening pair of "Tell Tale Signs" and "He Can't Fill My Shoes" were hits – reaching 18 and eight, respectively – but the attention is often drawn to "Room Full of Roses," a version that coincided with a version his cousin Mickey Gilley turned into a career-making hit. Gilley sounds invested in his version but Jerry Lee sounds as if he's singing through a hangover, a (possible?) affectation that is also the key to the appeal of I-40 Country. Not one of his stronger records, either in terms of content or performance, it nevertheless has a bleary-eyed charm – a record for mornings that arrived too quickly or road trips that are lasting hours too long. Oddly enough, 1975's Odd Man In didn't generate a single hit. Both "A Damn Good Country Song" and "Don't Boogie Woogie" couldn't manage to make it into the Country Top 40, a stumble that maybe could be chalked up to the Mickey Gilley mania that started to sweep the country in 1975 – Andrew McRae argues as much in the liner notes to BGO's two-fer reissue of I-40 Country and Odd Man In – but it's still kind of a shock to realize that a record as lively as this didn't gain much traction upon its release. It's heavy on boogie-woogie but finds plenty of place for ballads, and Lewis seems invested in his performances, too. Maybe this is because he's singing a lot of old standards, twisting them into songs that suit his bleary, defiant mood – "Shake, Rattle & Roll" rolls hard, "Goodnight Irene" and "Crawdad Song" swing, as does "Your Cheatin' Heart" – and he leans into the midtempo barroom country that dominates the record, turning it into something ornery but comforting: cantankerous country from one of the genre's kings.

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Tracklist:
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I-40 Country (1973)

01. He Can't Fill My Shoes
02. Tell Tale Signs
03. A Picture From Life's Other Side
04. I Hate Goodbyes
05. I've Forgot More About You (Than He'll Ever Know)
06. Tomorrow's Taking Baby Away
07. Cold, Cold Morning Light
08. The Alcohol Of Fame
09. Where Would I Be
10. Bluer Words
11. Room Full Of Roses


Odd Man In (1975)

12. Don't Boogie Woogie (When You Say Your Prayers Tonight)
13. Shake, Rattle And Roll
14. You Ought To See My Mind
15. I Don't Want To Be Lonely Tonight
16. That Kind Of Fool
17. Goodnight Irene
18. A Damn Good Country Song
19. Jerry's Place
20. When I Take My Vacation In Heaven
21. Crawdad Song
22. Your Cheatin' Heart

*1973, 1975, 2015 Phonogram Inc. / {BGO Records BGOCD1216 Digitally Remastered rel 2015}


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