For You Are Not Alone, gospel-soul legend Mavis Staples found an unlikely collaborator: Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. As producer, Tweedy uses the template of Rick Rubin's work with Johnny Cash: Get the star back to basics, remake a few old favorites and find some covers. Staples' voice is a rich, liquid wonder, and Tweedy's production — thick with guitar tremolo — is faithful (sometimes too much so) to her funk and gospel work with the Staples Singers. The highlights are Wilco-ish moments like "Creep Along, Moses," a traditional tune doused in guitar noise. Staples isn't just a survivor. She's a great singer who is best when she gets to press onward.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.