Steve Knopper

Stripped Christina Aguilera The Emancipation of Christina Aguilera is far less interesting than she makes it out to be. The 21-year-old superstar, once a teen-pop commodity controlled by producers and...

CeDell Davis and Friends When Lightnin' Struck the Pine (Fast Horse Recordings) A decade ago, CeDell Davis was a highly experienced but unheralded singer-guitarist content to pack Mississippi Delta juke...

Shemekia Copeland Talking to Strangers (Alligator) Had Shemekia Copeland been 21 years old in the '60s, any number of aggressive R&B record labels, from Chicago's Chess to Memphis' Stax, might...

Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials Heads Up! (Alligator) West Side roadhouse-blues veteran Lil' Ed Williams is so focused on his primary job -- rocking -- that he can't be...

Blind Boys of Alabama Higher Ground (Real World) The Blind Boys of Alabama finally found their commercial formula in 2001 -- combining with smart rock sidemen and setting their beautifully...

Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials Heads Up! (Alligator) West Side roadhouse-blues veteran Lil' Ed Williams is so focused on his primary job -- rocking -- that he can't be...

John Mooney All I Want (Blind Pig) Had New Orleans guitarist John Mooney made this record in the late '60s, he might have been a fresh blues-revival star, someone who...

Ray Charles Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again (CrossOver) Anybody who still feels the steam rising from Ray Charles' original "What'd I Say" is advised to avoid the dead, depressing...

New Ground Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise (Vanguard) Detroit's Robert Bradley, a blind 52-year-old who once performed on the streets, has an amazingly light soul touch and a few good ideas....

In the old days, radio was uncomplicated. A guy in a booth would play a song he liked, or Jack Benny would tell a joke to an audience, and people...