Karl Blau - Introducing Karl Blau (Bella Union)

It's both strange and entirely fitting that Karl Blau's first LP on Bella Union be called Introducing Karl Blau: strange as the Washington-based singer already has 10+ releases under the belt of his rhinestone-encrusted Nudie suit; fitting as, thanks to BU's leg-up, this will be the vast majority of listeners' first exposure to him. It's also slightly odd that an album serving as an introduction to a singer/songwriter would consist entirely of covers.

 

What's not in doubt, however, is the quality of the music here and Blau's melodic gifts as a singer and interpreter of songs. The tracks here are of a 60s and 70s vintage, some familiar ("To Love Somebody", "If I Needed You", The Walker Brothers' "No Regrets"), others new to me (Tom T. Hall's instantly wonderful "That's How I Got Memphis"). Some are performed faithfully, others are taken somewhere entirely new (the majestic, widescreen, 9-minute reading of Link Wray's "Fallin' Rain").

 
One minor gripe: I must confess to being immune to the charms of "Woman (Sensuous Woman)", Blau earnestly delivering lines made famous by Don Gibson such as "many hearts would break if I don't conquer, this lustful spell you've cast over me" - lines which exist only in syrupy 1970s country songs. It's the one corny misstep on a collection of country-soul gold.