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Let no one ever accuse Carly Simon of jumping on the current standards bandwagon. Though Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald beat her to the punch, Simon was still way ahead of the curve for the rock generation. Torch, the singer-songwriter's first album of songs from the American songbook, came out back in 1981, well before not only Rod Stewart's but Linda Ronstadt's too. And while it may be hard to argue that nobody does it better, Simon demonstrates on her fourth album of standards that she remains an assured and expressive stylist, quite comfortable with the exquisite melodic and lyrical subtleties of material like "All the Things You Are," "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "Moonglow." Moonlight Serenade also marks Simon's reunion with producer Richard Perry, who was behind the boards for Simon's earliest triumphs, like "You're So Vain" and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain." It's nice to see these two back together and still holding themselves to a high standard.

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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