There’s a reason why Robbie Robertson dubbed Van Morrison “The Belfast Cowboy.” For four decades, the Irish soul balladeer has drunk deep from the well of the American South, inspired by the same potent brew of gospel, blues and country that fueled his hero, Ray Charles. So it’s hardly a great leap of faith for him to record a whole album of country classics, just like Charles did back in 1962. The only surprising thing is that it took him so long.

Because Morrison’s voice wraps itself so naturally around twang standards like “Half As Much,” it’s easy to dismiss the album as just a good straight-ahead tribute to Nashville crooners like George Jones. But the Devil is in the details, and repeated spins bring out shades of gray that earn the Belfast Cowboy his spurs. He brings an offhandedness to “Your Cheatin’ Heart” rarely achieved by anyone but Hank, and ratchets up the vibrato on Rodney Crowley’s “Til I Gain Control Again” till he sounds a little – actually, a lot – out of control. “What Am I Living For,” made famous by Conway Twitty, gets the classic Morrison soul treatment, while his jaunty take on “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It” would make Louis Armstrong grin.

Amid these golden nuggets, Morrison’s three originals all hold their own. “Playhouse” is a sly walkin’ blues, while “Pay the Devil” is bound for glory among roadhouse cover bands. But the real keeper, for my money, is “This Has Got to Stop.” It starts out like a standard-issue breakup song, then gradually gets darker as the singer turns into an arsonist: “I came back home/ burned our house down/watched it crumble to the ground.” But that ain’t the end of it. Our long-suffering hero “works hard to build it back up again,” only to have his lover come back and “knock over all my castles in the sand” — which is kind of like having a tornado strike your partially renovated house after Katrina had her way with it. Now that’s country music.