After forty years in the game, Art Garfunkel shows virtually no signs of wear. His tenor soars and croons through Everything Waits to Be Noticed just as it did on his uninterrupted string of gorgeous solo albums in the Seventies, caressing lyrics with a tenderness that never devolves into wimpiness. Most of the classic-pop style pieces on Everything were written with guitarist Buddy Mondlock and/or saxophonist Maia Sharp — while Garfunkel himself, for the first time in his career, contributed lyrics. Simple and heartfelt, songs such as "The Thread" and "Perfect Moment" fill in indelible memories of his hometown for the fans who found solace in Garfunkel's classic "A Heart in New York" after 9/11. If these songs don't quite measure up to his work with the likes of Jimmy Webb and that little Graceland guy, well, it's no sin to fall short of that standard.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."