You know why so many music lovers love Van Morrison so much? It's because Van Morrison loves music as much as they do.

And not just his own music; lately, the irascible Irish legend seems to spend almost as much time playing other people's songs as his own. Despite being in the midst of a decade-long creative upswing, the 60-year-old singer-songwriter has made a habit of alternating his stellar original albums with pallet-cleansing genre studies and tribute discs.

From jazz and blues to skiffle and old-time rock, he's dabbled in them all.

Now he's paying homage to classic country and western with Pay the Devil. Picking up where he left off with 2000's rootsy Linda Gail Lewis collaboration You Win Again, Van the man lovingly dusts off a slate of honky-tonk chestnuts written or played by the likes of Hank, Jerry Lee, Webb, Possum, Patsy, Willie and Ernest.

From the tear-in-your-beer heartbreak of There Stands the Glass and Your Cheatin' Heart to more lighthearted fare like My Bucket's Got a Hole in It and More and More, every shimmery pedal steel lick, every weeping fiddle note, every tinkly piano chord and every walking bassline is perfectly rendered by Morrison's latest ensemble of crack journeymen.

Even Van's three originals -- the rockabilly-tinged Playhouse, the bluesy title cut and the honkytonkin' This Has Got to Stop -- dovetail seamlessly with the oldies.

Granted, it's not quite as satisfying as last year's stunning Magic Time. But it is another enjoyable little detour on the spiritual journey that is Morrison's career.

And while we wait for his next stellar original album, this will keep the music lovers happily occupied.

Track Listing:

1. There Stands the Glass
2. Half as Much
3. Things Have Gone to Pieces
4. Big Blue Diamonds
5. Playhouse
6. Your Cheatin' Heart
7. Don't You Make Me High
8. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
9. Back Street Affair
10. Pay the Devil
11. What Am I Living For?
12. This Has Got to Stop
13. Once a Day
14. More and More
15. Till I Gain Control Again