THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: SOUL! SOLOMON, SHARON, BETTYE, ERYKAH

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. This week, I'm going to be talking about soul music.

First off, Solomon Burke, one of my favorite artists of the '00s. His comeback following his 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was really inspiring. More important than that, it yielded a bunch of really great records, each different from the one before, largely due to the producers he worked with on each. This time, he worked with Willie Mitchell, who produced all of Al Green's '70s classics. Apparently, Willie and Solmon always wanted to work together, and it finally happened on this album. Willie passed away a few months ago, but this album is a great tribute to him. Not there aren't missteps: the cover of "You Needed Me"... I'm not really into it, but Solomon just about sells it. But a really solid album.

Sharon Jones and The Dapkings have a new album, The Game Gets Old. They are really into a vintage '60s soul sound, and some great songs also. The thing that sounds different about this album is that there's backing singers. I'm surprised that I haven't written about Sharon more: her last album 100 Days, 100 Nights was great (especially the title track). She did a great cover of "This Land Is Your Land" from the Up In The Air soundtrack as well.

Last year, I said that Bettye Lavette 's I've Got My Own Hell To Raise was one of the most underrated albums of the '00s. I think she's just a force of nature. Next month, she releases Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook. The only song I have is her cover of The Stones' "Salt Of The Earth." She does a great job. I think the album was prompted by her version of The Who 's "Love Reign O'er Me" from the December 2008 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.

Finally, Erykah Badu's "Window Seat" from her new album New Amerykah Part 2: Return Of The Ankh. This song is the one she caused a stir over, since she got naked in the video. I like Badu, but I wish she had more catchy songs like "Window Seat."