Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano?

Summary

Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano...Think About It, Darlin' is an album by Jerry Lee Lewis that was released on Mercury Records in 1972.

Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano?
Studio album by
Released1972
GenreCountry
Length33:59
LabelMercury
ProducerJerry Kennedy
Jerry Lee Lewis chronology
The Killer Rocks On
(1972)
Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano?
(1972)
The Session...Recorded in London with Great Artists
(1973)

Recording edit

Lewis's second album of 1972 not only had a different sound from its predecessor, The Killer Rocks On, but also from the country albums like Another Place, Another Time and She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left Of Me) that had ushered in his comeback; unlike those records, which possess a stripped down, "hardcore" sound, Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano...Think About It, Darlin' is far more in tune with the smoother, countrypolitan sound that began dominating country radio in the early seventies.[citation needed] "She's Reaching for My Mind", "Too Many Rivers", and "No Traffic Out of Abilene" all contain strings and an array of background vocalists as producer Jerry Kennedy attempted to give the tracks as contemporary a feel as possible.[citation needed]

Although the album did reach number three on the Billboard country albums chart[citation needed], it signified the beginning of the end as far as Lewis's incredible run on the singles chart was concerned, with the Dixieland-infused title track stalling at number 14.[citation needed] Although he would continue to have the odd hit country single, they would come at a more infrequent rate, as songwriters began providing Lewis with material so tailor-made that they began verging on self-parody. In his 2014 authorized biography, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, Rick Bragg comments that eager tune-smiths "obliged with a slew of new material that fit perfectly with his voice and leather-worn persona. Some of them actually were created for him - like 'Think About It, Darlin',' written to capitalize on one of his catchphrases."[citation needed] Lewis was likely inspired to record "Walls Around Heaven" because of his mother's death the previous year. The song, in which the singer condemns his own sinful ways, also reflects Lewis's ongoing struggle to come to terms with his faith and his lifestyle which, by all accounts, got more and more out of control as the decade wore on.[citation needed]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano?"Ray Griff3:21
2."She's Reachin' for My Mind"2:41
3."Too Many Rivers"Harlan Howard3:02
4."We Both Know Which One of Us Went Wrong"
  • Frazier
  • Owens
3:37
5."Wall Around Heaven"
  • Cecil Harrelson
  • Carmen Holland
  • Jerry Lee Lewis
3:08
6."No More Hanging On"Jerry Chesnut3:15
7."Think About It, Darlin'"
  • Jerry Foster
  • Bill Rice
2:34
8."Bottom Dollar"
3:02
9."No Traffic Out of Abilene"Woodrow Webb2:46
10."Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow"3:01
11."The Mercy of a Letter"
  • Foster
  • Rice
3:32
Total length:33:59

Personnel edit

  • Jerry Lee Lewis - vocals, piano
  • Chip Young, Dale Sellers, Harold Bradley, Jerry Kennedy, Pete Wade, Ray Edenton - guitar
  • Pete Drake - steel guitar
  • Kenny Lovelace - fiddle
  • Bob Moore - bass
  • Bill Strom - organ
  • Buddy Harman - drums
  • Bob Phillips - trumpet
  • Wayne Butler - trombone
  • Stephen Sefsik - clarinet
  • Carol Montgomery, Dolores Edgin, Hurshel Wiginton, Joe Babcock, Millie Kirkham, Rickie Page, Trish Williams - vocal accompaniment
  • Cam Mullins - arrangements