Pop

Record producer Jerry Wexler died on August 15. He was 91. Wexler created the careers of some of the greatest musicians of the time, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Harps and Angels, Randy Newman's first album in nine years.

Jo Stafford was a favorite entertainer of soldiers during World War II. Stafford and her husband, pianist Paul Weston, also performed a bad cabaret act as their alter egos, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday. She was 90.

A new "best of" collection, The Soul Years, showcases the soulful vocals and composing skills of soul and R&B singer and composer Bobby Womack — and has become a favorite of many critics.

When Carole King's album Tapestry came out in 1971, it became one of the best-selling albums of all time and marked her as one of pop's most talented songwriters. King's masterpiece has been reissued as a 2-disc Legacy Edition by Sony. Music historian Milo Miles takes a look at the landmark work.

From jazz concerts and cabaret acts to multimedia art installations, Theo Bleckmann has made a name for himself in new York. Now, the vocalist and composer looks back to his native Germany.

Inspired by Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian stars of the '60s and '70s, brothers Zac and Ethan Holzman created a fusion cover band — complete with a former Cambodian pop star who had recently moved to Los Angeles.

Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow performs three songs from her new album, Detours, plus a portion of a song from an early album that she persuaded the record company not to release.

Gnarls Barkley is best known for its massive summer hit "Crazy," from 2006's St. Elsewhere. The duo's follow-up, The Odd Couple, meshes classic R&B with infectious hip-hop grooves and cinematic production. Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse speak with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about crafting their new album.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks at Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Chuck Berry and the career that made him a star. Berry's entire record output from the 1950s was recently released on a four-disc set from Hip-O-Select titled, Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings.

Fresh Air music critic Milo Miles reviews music from Russian rock group Auktyon. The band is currently on tour in the U.S. Auktyon, like some other Russian rock groups, found their footing during the censorship-free period of glasnost in the former Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev.

In the past 20 years, Great Britain has produced a huge quantity of popular music that's gotten very little attention in the U.S. The Brit Box is a four-CD collection of British rock and pop, including songs by The Smiths, Supergrass, and The Boo Radleys.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Sixes & Sevens, the new album from singer-songwriter Adam Green. He co-wrote the song "Anyone Else But You" for the film Juno and co-founded the New York folk group The Moldy Peaches. Sixes & Sevens is his fifth solo album.

Fresh Air's world-music critic reviews The Mande Variations, the new CD from Malian kora player Toumani Diabate. Diabate says he descends from 71 generations of griots, or traditional song-storytellers.

Pop-rock singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow joins Terry Gross in the Fresh Air studios for an interview and live performance. Detours, her new album, is the most politically and personally outspoken record of her career.

Old friends Mick Jones, former lead guitarist of The Clash, and Tony James, once of the Billy Idol-fronted Generation X, have teamed up in a band called Carbon/Silicon. They've been giving away songs for free on their Web site, but their new album, The Last Post, is an official hard-copy CD.

When British musician and record producer Martin Atkins visited Beijing in 2006, he wasn't sure what kind of music scene he'd find. As it turned out, the sounds emerging from the Chinese underground were surprisingly familiar. Milo Miles reports.

Los Zafiros, or The Sapphires, was bigger than The Beatles — in Cuba, anyway. Fresh Air's rock historian reviews a new DVD about the band: Los Zafiros: Music from the Edge of Time.

Fresh Air's rock critic runs down the best pop music of 2007, which he likes to call The Year in Rehabilitation. His picks are:

"Rehab" by Amy Winehouse

"Piece of Me" by Britney Spears

"Closure" by Aly & AJ

"Navy Nurse" by The Fiery Furnaces

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" by Miranda Lambert

"Change of Heart" by Teddy Thompson

Britney Spears has had what you might call a busy year: A child-custody fight, a much-derided MTV Video Music Awards performance, a public meltdown involving an unexpected hairstyling choice.

But she's recently put out a new album — Blackout, her first studio disc since 2003 — and though there's been much comment about how much she's revealing in the seemingly personal songs, the music is what matters, right? Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.