I saw lightning.
I heard thunder.
I felt the ghost of Hank Williams.
And the Killer-spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis was lurking all over the Savannah Center Monday night thanks to an outrageously combustible performance by Jason D. Williams.
This wasn’t a concert; this was a Holy Ghost rock and roll revival. Williams — whose bloodlines fall somewhere between Jerry Lee Lewis and Lewis’ cousin Jimmy Swaggart — seemed to be belting out tunes in tongues.
Williams, like Jerry Lee, didn’t just play the piano – he attacked it. At times, he bent down on his knees at a piano altar. Then he stood up on the keyboard and played the keys with his boots. If that wasn’t enough, Williams would lie down on top of the piano – like a surfer riding a wave.
Watch video of his electrifying performance here:
Put it all together and the crowd witnessed a blistering night of rock and roll, gospel, jazz and country music.
In other words, Williams did everything but heal the sick and raise the dead.
It wasn’t just Williams. He had plenty of help from his ultra-tight, rockabilly, boogie-woogie band including Jim Davis, bass, Mike Porter, guitar, and Rodney Polk on drums.
These wild-eyed Southern boys sampled everything from the Beatles (“Let It Be”) to Little Richard (“Lucille”); from Louis Jordan (“Caldonia”) to Don Gibson (“I Can’t Stop Loving You”) and Dave Brubeck (“Take Five”) to “Hava Nagila.”
“We never know what Jason is going to play, there is no set list,” Davis said after the first show Monday. “He just plays what comes into his head, and we follow.”
A lot was going on in Williams’ head.
Early on, he did a bluesy, soulful version of Hank Williams’ “Cold Cold Heart.” Then, in keeping tune with an early evening thunder storm, Williams sang “I Get The Blues When It Rains.”
Up next, Williams delivered a scorching version of “Caldonia” by R&B pioneer Louis Jordan. “If y’all go down to Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, y’all will see Louis Jordan,” Williams said.
This was a night for wild rocking but also some joyful, honky-tonk gospel. Williams talked about going to Louisiana to talk with his “cousin” Jimmy Swaggart.
“I met with him just before the congregation was about to come in,” Williams said with his whiskey-soaked El Dorado, Arkansas twang. “Next thing I know, cousin Jimmy sits down at the piano and starts playing, “A Closer Walk With Thee.”
Williams sang that one and then ripped into “I’ll Fly Away.” The piano man was ready to cleanse his rock and roll soul. He was banging the keys and screaming lyrics like a man possessed. He was twisting, turning and contorting his body and head something akin to Linda Blair in “The Exorcist.”
At one point, Williams kicked the stool across the stage, a field-goal boot that would have made old Jerry Lee proud.
Speaking of Mr. Lewis, Williams poured his explosive energy into one of the Killer’s all-time classics: “Breathless.”
“That’s a song my pappy taught me,” Williams said.
He then offered a kind of speed-metal version of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.”
After a couple short riffs on “Hound Dog,” and “Big Boss Man,” Williams invited the Savannah Center crowd to the front of the stage. “I love The Villages,” he said, adding: “Y’all come up here with me.”
The fans obliged and Williams had them stomping and clapping along on a raucous version of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” Williams was cavorting around the stage, jumping up and down, shaking hands and leading cheers before finally exiting.
“That’s what rock and roll is all about,” said Denise Wingard, a former resident of Memphis who now lives in The Villages. She attended the concert with her husband Mike and added: “Jason’s got so much energy and he really makes you feel the music. This is authentic, Memphis rock and roll.”
“He was always that way,” added her husband, Mike. “I remember seeing Jason 35 years ago at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. He was wild then, and he’s wild now. He puts on a great show.”
Carole Millsaps of another former Tennessee resident who lives in The Villages with her husband Dan, agreed.
“He plays great piano, sings and dances all over the stage,” she said. “He talks to people and really appreciates his fans. He’s just a tremendous entertainer.”
