Let Them Talk

by Hugh Laurie

Overview

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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	05/05/2011
Label:	Warner Bros. / Wea
UPC:	0825646729425
Rank:	35247

Tracks

Disc 1

1. St. James Infirmary
2. You Don't Know My Mind
3. Six Cold Feet
4. Buddy Bolden's Blues
5. Battle of Jericho
6. After You've Gone
7. Swanee River

Disc 2

8. The Whale Has Swallowed Me
9. John Henry
10. Police Dog Blues
11. Tipitina
12. Whinin' Boy Blues
13. They're Red Hot
14. Baby Please Make a Change
15. Let Them Talk

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hugh Laurie   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Percussion
Dr. John   Primary Artist,Vocals
Tom Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals
Irma Thomas   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Patrick Warren   Harp,Organ,Accordion,Keyboards
Jean McClain   Vocals (Background)
Clarence Johnson III   Saxophone,Sax (Alto)
Greg Leisz   Guitar,Mandola
David Piltch   Double Bass
Craig Eastman   Violin
Brian "Breeze" Cayolle   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Baritone)
Kevin Breit   Guitar,Mandolin
Jay Bellerose   Drums,Percussion
Allen Toussaint   Horn,Conductor
Robby Marshall   Clarinet
Levon Henry   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Tracy Griffin   Trumpet
Big Sam Williams   Trombone
Gennine Jackson   Vocals (Background)
Jo Green   Handclapping

Technical Credits

Turner Layton   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Ray Charles   Composer
J.B. Lenoir   Composer
Cosimo Matassa   Composer
Chuck Seals   Composer
Stephen Foster   Composer
Erwin King   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Leroy Carr   Composer
Sam Gray   Composer
Robert Leroy Johnson   Composer
Peter Chatman   Arranger
Jelly Roll Morton   Composer
Ralph Mooney   Composer
Roy Byrd   Composer
Jimmie Rodgers   Composer
Onzy Matthews   Arranger
Harry Carlson   Composer
Henry Creamer   Composer
Blind Blake   Composer
Clarence Williams   Composer
Joe Primrose   Arranger
Virginia Liston   Composer
Lew Douglas   Composer
Robert Johnson   Composer
Stephen Collins Foster   Composer
Allen Toussaint   Horn Arrangements
Hank Thompson   Arranger
Arthur Phelps   Composer
Dorothy Heyward   Composer
Alonzo Lonnie Chatmon   Composer
Armenta Bo Carter Chatmon   Composer
Ferdinand Morton   Composer