What's Unavoidable, Unmissable and Uncovered This Fall

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The King of Rock, Soul and Restraint UNMISSABLE In 2001 Solomon Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Mary J. Blige. Imagine Al Pacino receiving an Oscar from Juliette Lewis, and you have some idea of the moment's hoo-ah! scenery-chewing potential. Burke, known to the soul-music cult as the King of Rock and Soul, once held every note as if it were his last, and on his mid-career albums you might have believed it to be yours too. At 65, he has lost a little breath but gained restraint, and Nashville, Burke's album of country covers (out Sept. 26) finds him undersinging and inhabiting songs (Tom T. Hall's That's How I Got to Memphis, Patty Griffin's Up the Mountain) in ways he never did at his vocal peak. The aging musician doing his best work is a modern cliché, as is a collaboration with contemporary artists as a form of tribute. But Nashville is a great way to discover a legendary voice, and Burke's guests--Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris--know their job is to pay tribute to the songs, not the man.

Don't Snooze on Sleepy Brown UNCOVERED

Patrick (Sleepy) Brown has been making other people famous for more than a decade. He has co-written dozens of hits (including Waterfalls for TLC) and spiced up a handful of others (that's him singing the chorus of OutKast's The Way You Move) with his super-smooth vocals. On Mr. Brown, out Sept. 26, Sleepy finally gets his chance to shine with an R&B album that has more than just bedroom eyes and the requisite guest spots (Big Boi, Pharrell). It also has lots of humor and a refreshingly non-exploitative view of women.