Paying his respects

Play it: Van Morrison Pay the Devil
Play it: Pay the original devil (Original songs covered by Morrison)

A lot of new music this Tuesday, so I thought I'd get the jump with this new one from Van Morrison (since Rhapsody seems to have gotten the jump as well.)

Pay the Devil is Morrison's homage to American Country music, and it's no great stretch for him to make to excel in this genre. He didn't even have to come to Nashville, as the recordings were all done in Belfast, using his own band. Much like Ray Charles' country tribute (Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music, 1962,) Morrison's voice is still pure soul. He even tackles the same Hank Williams song as Charles, with "Half as Much."

And really, that's the best part of this collection, his taste in songs. While Morrison contributes three of his own songs to the mix, it's the 12 covers that make this collection so desirable. Of course, I can go through it w/o wanting to hear the originals, so I put together a playlist of 'em and thought I'd share 'em with ya. Haven't listened to Webb Pierce in awhile (3 songs here,) so it's worth it just for the reminder of that giant's work. Also, as mentioned, there's some Hank Williams (3 more) along with Rodney Crowell, Carl Perkins, Blue Lu Barker and Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs.

Left out George Jones' great version of "Things Have Gone To Pieces," as all there is Rhapavailable is a live version - which is fine once you get through the two-minutes of chit-chat prior to the song's beginning.

tags: playlist, rhapsody, music, van morrison, webb pierce, hank williams, george jones, ray charles