With stunning album-length explorations of jazz and 1950s acoustic skiffle and a country-rockabilly collaboration with Linda Gail Lewis behind him, Van Morrison continues exploring classic country with compelling reinterpretations of standards from the 1950s to the 1970s. He reaches back over half a century for Hank Williams Sr.'s "Half As Much," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and Webb Pierce's landmark honky-tonk hits "Back Street Affair," "There Stands the Glass," and "More and More." Moving to the mid-'60s, he capably explores George Jones's "Things Have Gone to Pieces" and Connie Smith's "Once a Day." The 1970s are his limit, however, as he probes Rodney Crowell's "'Til I Gain Control Again." Three Morrison originals blend nicely into this mix, as do two non-country favorites: Chuck Willis's "What Am I Living For" and a gleeful spin on Blue Lu Barker's 1938 jazzy, single-entendre favorite "Don't You Make Me High." Recorded in Ireland with uncluttered hard-country backing, Pay the Devil reiterates Morrison's own musical diversity and flair for making any song his own.
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 There Stands the Glass (2:16)
2 Half as Much (2:35)
3 Things Have Gone to Pieces (3:10)
4 Big Blue Diamonds (2:56)
5 Playhouse (4:13)
6 Your Cheatin' Heart (2:32)
7 Don't You Make Me High (2:46)
8 My Bucket's Got a Hole in It (2:22)
9 Back Street Affair (2:48)
10 Pay the Devil (3:02)
11 What Am I Living For? (3:56)
12 This Has Got to Stop (4:43)
13 Once a Day (2:51)
14 More and More (2:46)
15 Till I Gain Control Again (5:59)
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