''Pay the Devil'' is the thirty-second studio album by

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted t ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. It was released in 2006 by Lost Highway. The album features twelve cover versions of American country and western tunes and three original compositions. It debuted at #26 on

The Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists ...

and peaked at #7 on Top Country Albums; it was listed at #10 on Amazon Best of 2006 Editor's Picks in Country in December 2006. A deluxe edition of ''Pay the Devil'' featuring a video of five of the tracks taped during the performance at the Ryman was released on 27 June 2006.

Songs

The songs on the album consist of twelve cover songs and three originals. The cover songs are chosen from old-time country songs recorded during the 1950s and 1960s by well-known country artists such as Hank Williams,

Webb Pierce Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the ...

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

and

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

. Morrison's three originals are written and sung to blend with the classic country cover versions. Erik Hage described Morrison's version of "Till I Gain Control Again" written by

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

: "There's a sense of fragility and defeat, and it is moving in a way that a Van Morrison song rarely moves the listener. The singer sounds utterly broken down and shaken: 'hold me now, hold me now' he unsteadily repeats 'until I gain control again'. Even Morrison's most emotional material in the past never projected such pretty frailty."

Promotion

Morrison previewed some of the ''Pay the Devil'' material at his live shows in the previous year. He promoted the new album with a seven city tour of the US in March 2006. On 7 March 2006, the day of its release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Van Morrison Day was declared in Nashville by the mayor, and Morrison appeared at the historic

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...

that evening for the first time. He continued to promote the album throughout 2006 and appeared at the

Austin City Limits Music Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-base ...

on 15 September 2006 where his performance was listed as one of the top ten of the festival by

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

Track listing

#" There Stands the Glass" (Alize Gresham, Russ Hull, Mary Jane Shurtz) – 2:16 #"

Half as Much "Half as Much" is an American pop standard song written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached number two on the '' Billboard'' Country Singles chart. Hank Williams version ...

" (

Curley Williams Curley Williams (b. Dock Williams, June 3, 1914 – d. September 5, 1970) was an American country and western musician and songwriter from Georgia. His best-known song is "Half As Much". He was admitted to thAtlanta Country Music Hall of Famein ...

) – 2:36 #"Things Have Gone to Pieces" (

Leon Payne Leon Roger Payne (June 15, 1917 – September 11, 1969), "the Blind Balladeer", was an American country music singer and songwriter. Life He was born in Alba, Texas, United States. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight in the other ...

) – 3:11 #"

Big Blue Diamonds "Big Blue Diamonds" is a song written by Earl J. (Kit) Carson in 1950 and published by Lois Music, BMI. It was first recorded by the country singer, Red Perkins, and originally issued as a 78 rpm single on King Records #903 b/w "Rag Man Boogie" ...

" (Earl J. Carson) – 2:56 #"Playhouse" (Morrison) – 4:14 #"

Your Cheatin' Heart "Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancé ...

" ( Hank Williams) – 2:32 #"Don't You Make Me High" (Daniel Barker, Ken Harris) – 2:47 #"

My Bucket's Got a Hole in It "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" is a song widely attributed to Clarence Williams, who obtained a copyright in 1933, although the melody was recorded under various names years earlier. The song became popular performed by Hank Williams for MGM a ...

" ( Clarence Williams) – 2:22 #" Back Street Affair" (Billy Wallace) – 2:49 #"Pay the Devil" (Morrison) – 3:03 #" What Am I Living For?" (Art Harris, Fred Jay) – 3:57 #"This Has Got to Stop" (Morrison) – 4:44 #"

Once a Day "Once a Day" is a song written by Bill Anderson and recorded as the debut single by American country artist Connie Smith. It was produced by Bob Ferguson for her self-titled debut album. The song was released in August 1964, topping the '' Bi ...

" ( Bill Anderson) – 2:52 #" More and More" (

Merle Kilgore Wyatt Merle Kilgore (August 9, 1934 – February 6, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and manager. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. At the time of his death, he was the personal manager of Hank Wi ...

) – 2:46 #"

'Til I Gain Control Again "Till I Gain Control Again" is a country song written by Rodney Crowell and originally recorded by Emmylou Harris in 1975. The song was included on her 1975 studio album ''Elite Hotel''. The song is most known by the No. 1 single version recorded b ...

" (

) – 5:59

DVD track listing (Deluxe Edition)

Filmed at the

on 7 March 2006 #"Playhouse" (Morrison) #"'Till I Gain Control Again" (

) #"Big Blue Diamonds" (Earl J. Carson) #"This Has Got to Stop" (Morrison) #"There Stands the Glass" (Alize Gresham, Russ Hull, Mary Jane Shurtz)

Personnel

– acoustic guitar,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

*Crawford Bell – vocals *Trionagh Moore – vocals *Olwin Bell – vocals *Paul Godden – guitar, steel guitar *

Mick Green Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. Biogra ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Karen Hamill – vocals *

Bobby Irwin Bobby Irwin (23 March 1953 – 8 May 2015) was an English drummer, record producer and songwriter. He is known for working in close collaboration with Nick Lowe as co-songwriter and drummer and as a member of Lowe's band the Cowboy Outfit, as w ...

– drums *Ian Jennings –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

*Bob Loveday –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*Leon McCrum – vocals * Paul Riley –

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

*Johnny Scott – guitar, vocals *Nicky Scott –

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

Fiachra Trench Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench (born 7 September 1941, in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician and composer from Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. Trench first studied Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, before moving on to t ...

– vocals, string arrangements *

Geraint Watkins Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Aine Whelan – vocals * Gavyn Wright – string section leader

Production

*Van Morrison - Producer *Declan Gaffney - Mixing assistant *Jerome King - Assistant engineer *Alastair McMillan - Mixing *Walter Samuel - Engineer, mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

* Hage, Erik (2009). ''The Words and Music of Van Morrison'', Praeger Publishers,

External links

Lost Highway Records-audio samples
Pay the Devil {{Authority control Van Morrison albums 2006 albums Lost Highway Records albums Albums produced by Van Morrison