Hooking up with the jam-band scene may have been the worst thing Robert Randolph could have done. Though amazing live, he has never recorded a great album — until now. Randolph puts overcooked funk on the back burner and offers up his specialty: pure gospel spiced with steel guitar. Producer T Bone Burnett works subtly, using old samples of standards like "Traveling Shoes" as segues into Randolph's songs, and Randolph finds the sweet, soulful spot covering tunes by three rock legends: Bob Dylan ("Shot of Love"), Prince ("Walk Don't Walk") and John Lennon ("I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama").

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.