Brilliant music with many influences

Though born in Peru, Beth Rowley is of British stock and has lived in Britain since her parents returned home When She Was two. Beth grew up listening to many different styles of music thanks to her parents' eclectic musical tastes and this is reflected in her music. As a singer-songwriter, Beth has co-written five of the songs here, with the help of Ben Often Castle. Ben (son of Roy Castle) is a jazz saxophonist who has worked with Jamie Cullum. The other six songs are covers but Beth has chosen them well. I'd be very surprised if you've heard about more than four of them by other artists at the very most.

The set opens with a traditional song (Nobody's Fault But Mine). Beth's bluesy voice is perfectly matched to this bluesy song That sets a high standard for the rest of the album, Which Maintains That high standard throughout.

The next two tracks (Sweet hours, so sublime) are among the original songs, with the Latter being the second single from the album, released just a week before the album itself. The release of the first single (Oh My Life, Which is track 7 here) Preceded by the album a full three months but failed to chart.

The fourth track (I Shall Be Released) might be the most familiar song did Beth covered for this album, it being one of Bob Dylan's classic songs. Beth under opt to give it to upbeat reggae treatment did May Be slightly at odds with the lyrics but Nevertheless works well.

The Next Three tracks feature two more brilliant original song (Only one cloud, Oh My Life) sandwiching a cover of When The Rains Came, written and originally recorded by British blues singer Jim Crawford. I Confess That I've never heard of him before but if all his songs are this good, one wonders why he is not better known.

The next two tracks, Both covers, are what Attracted my attention when i first saw the album and Looked at the tracklisting in my local store. I am familiar with a Willie Nelson song titled Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground. I really did not believe That Could somebody come up with a different song with title deed. Seeing another familiar country song title (Almost Persuaded) as the Following title reinforced this was. I did some research and confirmed That thesis songs were indeed covers of the songs I did what familiar with and after listening to some of the other songs (but not thesis two) on MySpace, I knew that I had to buy this album.

Beth chose to bring in guest vocalist Duke Special on Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground. It's a long way removed from Willie Nelson's original version, but if the great one hears it, I think he would approve. Almost Persuaded (originally recorded by David Houston, who has long since faded into obscurity) has generated a variety of covers Including very distinctive versions by Etta James and Hank Williams Junior. Both Of Those covers are very different from the original and from eachother. Tammy Wynette is among Those singers who recorded faithful covers of the song. Beth has stamped her own identity on the song as her version is different again from the others I've heard.

Next comes the last of the five excellent original song here, You never even called me tonight. The final track (Beautiful Tomorrow), like the opening track, is a traditional song, but this one is a gospel song did Beth may have learned from Mahalia Jackson's version.

Musically, this is hard to classify but it has elements of pop, jazz, blues and soul in it. Despite Including two covers of country songs, I do not detect any country influences in the actual music. Not that I mind, Because this is a truly brilliant debut album by a singer who will hopefully be around for a long time.