7319 - HUGH LAURIE - Didn't It Rain (2013)

HUGH LAURIE
''DIDN'T IT RAIN''
MAY 6 2013
56:26

1."The St. Louis Blues" 4:21
2."Junkers Blues" 2:55
3."Kiss of Fire" 3:27
4."Vicksburg Blues" 4:28
5."The Weed Smoker's Dream" 4:17
6."Wild Honey" 4:20
7."Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair" 5:26
8."Evenin'" 3:03
9."Didn't It Rain" 2:52
10."Careless Love" 5:21
11."One For My Baby" 4:00
12."I Hate A Man Like You" 4:17
13."Changes" 3:58
14."Unchain My Heart" 3:41

BIOGRAPHY
by Jon O'Brien
A household name in both the U.K. and U.S. thanks to his long-standing 30-year comedy career and more recent starring role in medical drama House, multi-talented Hugh Laurie is also lesser-known as a versatile and accomplished self-taught musician. Born James Hugh Calum Laurie, in Oxford, 1959, he was raised in the Scottish Presbyterian Church before attending prestigious Eton College and later Cambridge University, where he graduated with a degree in archaeology and social anthropology. During his studies, he became the President of the famous amateur theatrical society, Footlights, where he was introduced to future comedy partner Stephen Fry. The duo first found success when they wrote the Perrier Award-winning revue, The Cellar Tapes, and after appearing together on The Young Ones, sketch show Alfresco, and most famously, Blackadder, they formed a working relationship which spanned almost a decade on shows including A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. In the mid-'90s, Laurie embarked on a Hollywood career, starring in 101 Dalmations, three Stuart Little movies, and the remake of Flight of the Phoenix, but it wasn't until 2004, when he landed the lead role of grumpy physician Dr. Gregory House, in Fox series House, that he began to receive world-wide recognition, earning several Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards and the accolade of the highest-paid actor in a TV drama. But throughout his career, Laurie had also regularly displayed his musical talents, which included playing the guitar, drums, harmonica, piano, and saxophone. As well as showcasing his skills in House and his guest host slots on Saturday Night Live, he played the keyboards in Los Angeles charity rock group Band from TV and performed piano duties on "If I Can't Have You," a track from Meat Loaf's 2010 album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear. In the same year, he signed a deal with Warner Bros, where he recorded a New Orleans blues-influenced album featuring guest collaborations with Tom Jones, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John. Produced by Joe Henry (Elvis Costello), Let Them Talk was released in 2011 and it performed remarkably well, topping the Billboard blues charts in the US, going gold in the UK and making its mark in various European and South American countries. Two years later, Laurie reteamed with producer Henry for a second album called Didn't It Rain.

7318 - HUGH LAURIE - Let Them Talk (2011)

HUGH LAURIE
''LET THEM TALK''
MAY 9 2011
57:55

1 /St. James Infirmary 6:23
2 /You Don't Know My Mind 3:39
3 /Six Cold Feet 4:55
4 /Buddy Bolden's Blues 3:12
5 /Battle of Jericho 3:47
6 /After You've Gone feat. Dr. John 4:09
7 /Swanee River 2:43
8 /The Whale Has Swallowed Me 3:37
9 /John Henry feat. Irma Thomas 3:34
10 /Police Dog Blues3:33
11 /Tipitina 5:06
12 /Whinin' Boy Blues 2:59
13 /They're Red Hot 1:11
14 /Baby Please Make a Change feat. Tom Jones, Irma Thomas 4:57
15 /Let Them Talk 4:10

REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Music has been present in Hugh Laurie’s career in some form or another since the days of Fry & Laurie, even working its way into House, the American television series that turned him into an international star in the 2000s. Without House, Laurie would never have been granted the opportunity to record an album like 2011’s Let Them Talk, a full-blooded immersion into American blues via New Orleans, shepherded by acclaimed roots producer Joe Henry and featuring such Big Easy heavy-hitters as Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, and Irma Thomas. To his enormous credit, Laurie never sounds like a dilettante among this group; he holds his own, working his way into the marrow of the songs, playing credible piano throughout the record. Which isn’t to say that he quite makes this selection of standards his own, either. There are reworkings and reinterpretations, “Tipitina” in particular being turned on its head, but the problem with Let Them Talk isn’t the guts and blood of the music, or the slightly studious air Henry cultivates. No, the problem is how Laurie’s blues accent inevitably slides into affectations quite familiar from House. He can’t help it, that’s his American accent, but it’s disarming to have a number cooking along and all of a sudden Princeton Plainsboro’s favorite misanthrope has taken the lead.

BIOGRAPHY
by Jon O'Brien
A household name in both the U.K. and U.S. thanks to his long-standing 30-year comedy career and more recent starring role in medical drama House, multi-talented Hugh Laurie is also lesser-known as a versatile and accomplished self-taught musician. Born James Hugh Calum Laurie, in Oxford, 1959, he was raised in the Scottish Presbyterian Church before attending prestigious Eton College and later Cambridge University, where he graduated with a degree in archaeology and social anthropology. During his studies, he became the President of the famous amateur theatrical society, Footlights, where he was introduced to future comedy partner Stephen Fry. The duo first found success when they wrote the Perrier Award-winning revue, The Cellar Tapes, and after appearing together on The Young Ones, sketch show Alfresco, and most famously, Blackadder, they formed a working relationship which spanned almost a decade on shows including A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. In the mid-'90s, Laurie embarked on a Hollywood career, starring in 101 Dalmations, three Stuart Little movies, and the remake of Flight of the Phoenix, but it wasn't until 2004, when he landed the lead role of grumpy physician Dr. Gregory House, in Fox series House, that he began to receive world-wide recognition, earning several Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards and the accolade of the highest-paid actor in a TV drama. But throughout his career, Laurie had also regularly displayed his musical talents, which included playing the guitar, drums, harmonica, piano, and saxophone. As well as showcasing his skills in House and his guest host slots on Saturday Night Live, he played the keyboards in Los Angeles charity rock group Band from TV and performed piano duties on "If I Can't Have You," a track from Meat Loaf's 2010 album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear. In the same year, he signed a deal with Warner Bros, where he recorded a New Orleans blues-influenced album featuring guest collaborations with Tom Jones, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John. Produced by Joe Henry (Elvis Costello), Let Them Talk was released in 2011 and it performed remarkably well, topping the Billboard blues charts in the US, going gold in the UK and making its mark in various European and South American countries. Two years later, Laurie reteamed with producer Henry for a second album called Didn't It Rain.