Blues Reviews - Hugh Laurie's Debut Album

It's been some weeks since I've done anything to the blog.  It's unacceptable, and I apologise wholeheatredly.  Things have a habit of getting in the way, but that doesn't mean ideas don't stop coming.  As such, there's a nice backlog of stuff to write about.  Huzzah!

Let's start with an irrefutable fact: Hugh Laurie is awesome - the very definition of awesome.  He's been a national rowing champion, a comic genius, a novelist and a medical-telly miracle, now the highest paid drama actor in the US.  For us mere mortals, to achieve any one of those things would be more than satisfactory.  Laurie's done them all.  Even better, that's not the end of it.  In May this year, he released his debut blues album, Let Them Talk.  For most people, that's a massive career break.  For Hugh Laurie, it's another tick on the List of Casual Excellence.

 

If he put his mind to it, he could solve climate change before breakfast

 This is all very well and good, you might say, but isn't Laurie a former Eton student, and a Cambridge graduate?  What kind of blues can you write with that background?  You've made a valid point, astute reader - Laurie just doesn't seem the sort of person who could sing from the soul about the harder knocks of life.  Indeed, it's hard to think of anyone less suitable outside of the Royals, am I right?

Perhaps.  But this isn't exactly a project from out of the blue (pun intended).  Laurie is a self-declared, lifelong blues fan, and he's always been keen to have a go at an album himself.  If that makes it sound like enthusiasm alone fueled the project (aside from a fat load of cash), allow me to correct you in bullet point form:

     - Laurie's played the piano since he was six

     - He also plays the drums, guitar, harmonica and saxophone

     - He sings and plays keyboard for "Band from TV"

     - He guested on Meat Loaf's 2010 album "If I Can't Have You"

 

Obligatory image contradiction

So there's a musical history there.  A pretty good one for someone who generally qualifies as a "rather busy chap".  But does it pay off in the album?  Why yes, yes it does.  The whole opens with a cover of St. James Infirmary, most famously performed by Louis Armstrong, which is itself introduced by a virtuoso piano solo from Laurie.  From the outset, he's out to prove that he can connect with the blues, in spite of what you might think at first.

With a consistent mixture of classic covers and original songs, I think Laurie does a pretty convincing job, too.  Of course he was never going to have the soul and drive of the blues legends, but it's important to remember that 1) The album's more a tribute to the blues tradition than anything else and 2) This isn't even his day job.  Anyone who's seen 5 seconds of House knew the accent wouldn't be a barrier, and after that the passion for the genre just flows throughout.

The contrast!  It's just too weird!

Let Them Talk succeeds, then, in overcoming some rather drastic cultural boundaries, leaving in its wake raw talent and a passion for blues.  I can't confess to be an expert myself, but I know what I like, and I like what I hear.  For me, it's one of those albums that gets better with every listen, and it was pretty good the first time round.  For those of you still unconvinced, here's a little cover number.

TTFN!