The ultimate rock & roll session man, Leon Russell's long and storied career includes collaborations with a virtual who's who of music icons spanning from Jerry Lee Lewis to Phil Spector to the Rolling Stones. A similar eclecticism and scope also surfaced in his solo work, which couched his charmingly gravelly voice in a rustic yet rich swamp pop fusion of country, blues, and gospel.

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The 1970s produced a peculiar school of singer-songwriters whose narrative-driven lyrics set them apart from their self-reflective peers. Think of David Ackles, Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin and Randy Newman on the fringes, and far nearer the mainstream, the "Captain Jack"-era Billy Joel and earnest-to-the-core Harry Chapin. Chapin first made a splash in 1972 with "Taxi," a claustrophobic little melodrama set in a cab. He made the top 20 two years later with the familial "Cat's in the Cradle." Though he'd never climb so high again, songs such as "W*O*L*D" and "Dance Band on the Titanic," and albums like Verities & Balderdash kept the folk crooner in the spotlight. From there, he championed a variety of social causes until he was killed in a 1981 auto accident. Story of a Life packages three discs of Chapin recordings in one attractive box.

America outsources everything else — why not country music? Like Neil Young, Robbie Robertson and Shania Twain, Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian who crafts music that's often more "American"-tasting than domestic brands. But she's not fronting. On her strongest album yet, she sets a poignant road tale between New York and Ontario ("Buffalo") and pens a fierce, Crazy Horse-ish squall about crack, murder and racism in her own back yard ("O Canada").

After a couple of musical detours — a gospel disc and an arty project with Alison Krauss — Alan Jackson settles back into straight-ahead country as if it were a favorite recliner. On this 17-song collection of ballads, waltzes and honky-tonk shuffles, Jackson sings like a contented middle-aged man taking stock of his life — his youth, his wife, married sex and the death of friends.

It's not quite "Motown 3," but Michael McDonald is certainly taking his time transitioning back to making original music. "Soul Speak" features 11, well, soulful covers from his personal favorites, along with a trio of new songs that hold their own amidst their formidable surroundings. Highlights include a winning, sultry take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and subtle versions of Teddy Pendergrass' "Love TKO" and Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic," while a too-lush treatment of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" is the album's only outright miss. McDonald maintains the soulful mood on the originals, too, with the smooth and quiet "Only God Can Help Me Now," the lusher "Can't Get Over You (Getting Over Me)" and the more forceful "Enemy Within." Soul, it seems, still speaks most convincingly in McDonald's world.

Roger Alan Wade is a singer/songwriter with over 20 years in the business. "You just give him a couple of fifths of Crown Royal, a pack of smokes and a case of beer, put him in front of a four-track, and get out of the way," says Johnny Knoxville on recording his cousin Roger Alan Wade on Wade's debut album "All Likkered Up."