Except for a set of pre-rock pop standards, Smokey Robinson has been largely absent this decade. He returns here with the smooth "quiet storm" vibe he invented on his 1975 album of the same name, duetting with Joss Stone and India.Arie on a pair of wind-chime-romantic ballads and turning in an inspired (if somewhat unnecessary) remake of the J5's "I Want You Back." But when he puts his sterling tenor to the slow-burning funk of "One Time" and the Carlos Santana-assisted "Please Don't Take Your Love," it's clear where young Michael got much of his groove. There's nothing quite so effervescent as, say, "Mickey's Monkey," but how many miracles do you need?

“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."