A Londoner of Ugandan descent, Kiwanuka makes no secret of his heroes: Bill Withers, Richie Havens and the Band. Buton this slow-rolling, Dan Auerbach-assisted cut, it's his rich, ragged voice that pulls you in. He sounds like his own man, not an imitator.

Listen To Michael Kiwanuka's "Lasan":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Is It True”

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."