NEW: NORAH JONES REMIXES EP

Norah Jones is continuing to get her hipster on.  I'm not mad!  She has a new EP of remixes from last year's Little Broken Hearts album, which was my 7th favorite album of the year.

Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio remixed "Good Morning," "She's 22," "Take It Back" and "After The Fall."  I think he did a great job on them.

Jose Padilla, a dance music DJ who has been playing Ibiza since 1975 (!) according to his bio had really cool takes on "Say Goodbye" and "Travelin' On."

But Peter, Bjorn & John - probably most well known for the whistling song hit "Young Folks" - did a really upbeat take on Norah's darkest song, "Miriam."  It makes it kind of sinister - instead of being "holy s***" while listening to the lyrics, you're dancing and having fun while listening to Norah singing about taking revenge on the woman who stole her man (and did it in Norah's house!).

I don't think that this EP has gotten too much hype - and really, neither did the album. Which is too bad, the album was great, and this is a really cool remixes EP.

CATCHING UP: NORAH JONES CONCERT REVIEW

photo credit: Maria Ives

So, it was a bit weird to go to see Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper one night, and Norah Jones the next. But that's how we (my talented photographer wife and I) roll. I reviewed both shows for CBS New York.

Norah's Little Broken Hearts was one of my favorite albums of 2011, but I was curious how it would come off live, since it's a Danger Mouse production,  which often incorporates a lot of studio elements. No problem: it was great, and Norah showed a lot of confidence in her new music and her band, playing 10 of the 12 songs.

I give her a lot of credit for not being trapped by the success of her incredibly successful debut, Come Away With Me. She doesn't spend the night at the grand piano (in fact, she barely plays it at all, sticking with electric piano or guitar), and just plays a few songs from the album. Well, I think she always knew that she wasn't likely to match the sales of that record no matter what, and she hasn't let the album "own" her career. Anyway, obviously she's gone through some stuff lately, and that's what she's singing about.

The band did a great cover of The Grateful Dead's "It Must Have Been The Roses," and I hope she releases that at some point.  The only disappointment of the show, for me, was that her Little Willies bandmate Jim Campilongo opened the show and they didn't play together.  I really dug the Little Willies' album from last year, For The Good Times, and would have loved to heard a song (or three) from it.  But I can't complain too much - Norah sang what she wanted to sing, and she was awesome.

BEST OF 2012 - #7 - NORAH JONES "LITTLE BROKEN HEARTS"

I think that Norah Jones' Little Broken Hearts is one of the most "slept-on" albums of 2012.

I loved her collaborations with Danger Mouse on the Rome project last year, and I thought it was cool that they decided to do a full Norah album together.

It's an interesting choice for her; when she started out, she was kind of the torch-bearer for more traditional music when she debuted with Come Away With Me in 2002, covering standards and Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. Of course there was her Grammy winning collaboration with Ray Charles on his final album, and she's worked with Willie Nelson a number of times.

On the other hand, she's collaborated with younger artists including Ryan Adams, Q-Tip, the Foo Fighters and Talib Kweli.

Anyway, you look at the album cover and you realize that this isn't really the same Norah.  Image-wise,  musically and lyrically, its an evolution.  To me, the standout track on the album is "Miriam." It's a deceptively gentle sounding song in which Norah sings to a woman who had a fling with her man. Check out the video.

Even if they play Norah's early songs in Pottery Barn... don't mess with her!

The first single, "Happy Pills," is funkier than most of what she'd done in the past.  When I listen to this album, it sounds like (a) someone who has been hurt and is writing about the sad and painful experience and (b) someone who has gotten a bit tired of her image, and maybe the way she is perceived.  I give Norah a lot of credit for this album, but more importantly, I think it's a really good album.

It's worth mentioning that she also did a great roots music album this year with The Little Willies, a band she is a member of. For The Good Times is great also, but Little Broken Hearts is what caught my attention this year.

THE LITTLE WILLIES - "FOR THE GOOD TIMES"

I am a big fan of The Little Willies, the group featuring
Norah Jones and some of the musicians who backed her on her debut album, 2002's Come Away With Me.  My understanding of how the band got together is that, after all the hype from the first album got too crazy, Norah just wanted to go out and play Willie Nelson covers, and just be a band member, not necessarily the frontwoman. I think it developed a bit from there, to the point that they played other people's songs, and even wrote a few new ones.

I'd heard rumors about Norah and The Little Willies.  When I interviewed her for VH1 on the day that her second album, 2004's Feels Like Home came out, she told me after the interview that she was doing a gig that night with The Little Willies, and that it was like $5 cover or something. I was amazed.  On the day she releases the followup to one of the most successful debut albums in history, she's playing a bar with her undercover covers band. The following year, The Little Willies released their self-titled debut album, and I think they toured a bit too.

Last year, they announced their second album, For The Good Times. I was kind of surprised: Norah and bassist Lee Alexander were a couple and split up a few years ago.  So I didn't think that they'd get the band back together.  But it makes sense that the album was named after the classic Kris Kristofferson track: it's about looking back at the good times of a now-defunct relationship.  And anyway, it sounds like they had a blast making this record.  Songs like "If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time" and "Foul Owl On The Prowl" show Norah letting her hair down a bit, as it were.  She doesn't always sing lead: "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves," (featuring her on supporting vocals) is definitely one of the highlights.   So is the cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene."  They also do Loretta Lynn's "Fist City," but it's hard to imagine her holding someone by the hair of their head and lifting them off of the ground.

It's interesting that I'm writing this the day that Norah's record label have announced that her next album, coming out later this year, will be produced by Danger Mouse, with whom Norah collaborated on the Rome album. I've got to think that that will be a lot different from The Little Willies, it's certainly not going to be straight up roots music.  But I'm definitely looking forward to it.

TIE FOR #11 - "THE LOST NOTEBOOKS OF HANK WILLIAMS"

I usually don't include compilation albums on my year-end best-ofs, but I'll make an exception for The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams. The album started out as a Bob Dylan project: he was given some "lost" notebooks with lyrics that Hank Williams never put to music.  Bob ended up doing one song, "The Love That Faded," which is excellent.

So, it went from being a Bob album to a tribute of sorts... with a number of big name artists creating new songs out of Williams lyrics.  The lineup features Alan Jackson, Norah Jones, Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill with Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Holly Williams (with her father, Hank Williams Jr. on backing vocals), Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and Merle Haggard.

I imagine that these days, people are more likely to download individual tracks rather than buy compilations.  In this case, it's worth it to pick up the whole thing.  First of all, the entire album is great.  Rock fans may not be hip to, say, Alan Jackson, but his song "You've Been Lonesome Too" is excellent. On the flipside, mainstream country fans may not be too interested in (Nashville resident) Jack White.  But his song "You Know That I Know" is also amazing. Hank's granddaughter Holly has a great voice... and hearing Hank Jr.'s backing vocals almost made me forget about his insane comments on Fox News about The President.

Besides all of that, the CD includes extensive liner notes about Hank, and gives the history of the notebooks that provided the source material for the record.

Hank Williams is surely one of the greatest songwriters of all time, in any genre. This album gives us some of his lost lyrics, which is a gift.  And if the inclusion of any of these artists turns their fanbases on to Hank's music, that's an even greater one.  So big props to producer Mary Martin: I'm sure this was a really long project, but I'm glad it's out.

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE DVD

This was released a few weeks ago, without too much hype, but you need to know about it: A Musicares Tribute To Neil Young.

Shot January 29, 2010 at the NARAS 2010 Musicares Person Of The Year event, the show featured some pretty incredible artists paying tribute to Neil.  Some of the highlights included Norah Jones' "Tell Me Why," Ben Harper's "Ohio," Wilco's "Broken Arrow," James Taylor's "Heart Of Gold" (I think he actually sang backing vocals on the original version) and John Mellencamp's "Down By The River." Also a sort of supergroup: Elton John, Leon Russell, Sheryl Crow and Neko Case doing "Helpless." I think it was the first time Elton and Leon performed together.

Also on the bill: John Fogerty, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dave Matthews, Dierks Bentley, Booker T. Jones, Josh Groban (!), Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Crosby Stills & Nash. I think The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed for the first time with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer ("A Man Needs A Maid") but it's not on the DVD.   Neil was there also, he just sort of gave a thank you speech (if you've seen his speeches at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, you know what his speeches are like), he didn't perform at all.

The event, and the DVD, raises money for NARAS' MusiCares, which "offers a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need," including "financial medical and personal emergencies." Learn more about MusiCares here.  

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: BEN HARPER, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, ROME, BOOKER T, BLIND BOYS

Longtime readers of No Expiration know that on Wednesday mornings at 9 am ET, I go on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick to talk about music. Sometimes I have a theme: tomorrow the theme is cool new music.  I know, that's a bit vague.

First off is the new Ben Harper album, Give 'Till It's Gone. I wrote about that the other day: I like it a lot, and I prefer it to his last album with Relentless7 (R7 is the backing band on this one, and they are credited with co-writing songs, but for some reason the album is being referred to as a "solo album").  Ringo Starr and Jackson Browne both guest on the album... Ben is slowly entering the classic rock echelon of artists, and rightfully so.

I am digging Raphael Saadiq's new album, Stone Rollin'.  He is such a talented musician, and I give him a lot of credit for doing an album like this.  There's almost no imaginable context where this could be a hit in 2011.  Shame on us: it deserves to be a hit. He kind of splits the difference between classic Motown and classic Chess here, with maybe a bit of Stax thrown in. He plays most of the instruments, and there are very few guest stars on the album, and I have a feeling that this is going to be a hard one to sell.  So do your part as a music fan and go BUY it.

Rome is a very cool project that I just wrote about: it features producer Danger Mouse and Italian film composer Danielle Luppi paying tribute to spaghetti western scores. Jack White (him again, uh oh) and Norah Jones are the featured singers on the album. It's a score to a film that hasn't been made yet.

Booker T Jones just released his second solo album in a row (I guess he doesn't want to make records with The MG's again?). On his last album, Potato Hole, he used The Drive-By Truckers plus Neil Young as his backing band, and the album was all instrumental (which is fitting, because his Hammond organ playing is so lyrical). This time, on The Road To Memphis, he uses The Roots and Questlove co-produces.  There are a couple of cool guest singers, including Sharon Jones, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and even Booker T himself.

Finally, Take The High Road, the new album by The Blind Boys Of Alabama. It has a bunch of country collaborations on it (including one with Willie Nelson) and the album was produced by Jamey Johnson. It's a good album!

Hey, if you're a reader and haven't gotten to hear me on the radio (and if you want to), why not get a free online subscription trial, at www.siriusxm.com/freetrial .

DANGER MOUSE + DANIELLE LUPPI + JACK WHITE + NORAH JONES = ROME (A COOL PROJECT)

I've been looking forward to this Rome project for a while now. Producer Danger Mouse, who has worked with Cee-Lo Green in Gnarls Barkley, with James Mercer of The Shins in Broken Bells and the late Mark Linkous in Dark Night Of The Soul has a new project, Rome.  It's a collaboration with Italian composer Daniele Luppi, and it's a tribute to spaghetti western soundtracks.  The featured singers on the album are Jack White (for once, doing a project that he's not in charge of) and Norah Jones.

Much of the album is instrumental pieces, and they're pretty cool.  In some places, I thought maybe someone should send this stuff to Quentin Tarantino, in case he starts working on Kill Bill 3.

Jack White wrote and sang his own lyrics, but he didn't compose the music and doesn't play any instruments.  But because of his unique lyrical style, it sounds like a Jack White project (although the music doesn't sound like anything he's done before).  Danger Mouse wrote the lyrics for the Norah songs - but when she sings a song, I feel like she almost rewrites it.  She's one of the best collaborative singers out there today. The album plays like a soundtrack in search of a film, but I'd love to hear Jack and Norah perform their songs with their day jobs on their next tour.

You have to admire Danger Mouse: besides all of his projects that I mentioned above, he's produced Gorillaz, Beck and The Black Keys and is producing the next U2 album. He is an artist who had led us to understand that every time he does something new, it will be much different from what he's done before. I don't love everything he's done, but you have to respect the fact that he's a very successful modern artist who really can't be boxed in.

ME'SHELL, NORAH, SHERYL, MOS DEF RAISE HOPE FOR CONGO

Some charity compilations get a lot of attention, and some don't.  I actually keep up on this stuff, and still, I nearly missed Raise Hope For Congo. According to the organization's website, "Our insatiable demand for electronic products is fueling the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the deadliest conflict since World War II and the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls. There are few other conflicts in the world where the link between our consumer appetites and mass human suffering is so direct. The armed groups perpetuating the violence generate an estimated $183 million each year by trading in illicit minerals, which end up in our electronics, from cell phones to laptops.  Since women are the primary targets in this war, proceeds from this compilation will fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo." I knew about conflict diamonds, but not conflict electronics.  I hope to learn more about this, so it will inform my choices as a consumer, and I hope you look into it too.

As for the album, it comes out June 22.  I downloaded two songs: a Norah Jones called "World Of Trouble," that was originally on the soundtrack to a film I never heard of, 2007's The Hottest State. The other was MeShell NdegeOcello's cover of U2's "40," which is lovely. There are also tracks from Sheryl Crow and Mos Def on the album.

LILITH FAIR ADDS THE BANGLES, THE GO-GOS, LORETTA, NORAH, HEART, KELLY CLARKSON

I have always been a fan of Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair. I went all three years, and saw some great artists, including Sarah herself, Tracy Chapman, The Indigo Girls, Missy Elliot, Morcheeba, Sheryl Crow and The Pretenders, among others. As I've mentioned, this year's lineup includes Sarah, Sheryl and The Indigo Girls, as well as Emmylou Harris, Mary J. Blige and Miranda Lambert.  Now they've also announced The Bangles, The Go-Gos, Loretta Lynn, Norah Jones, Heart, Kelly Clarkson, The Courtyard Hounds (aka Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of the The Dixie Chicks), Cat Power, Sia, The Gossip and Beth Orton, among others. Of course not every artist plays every city, but odds are that every show will have a great lineup.

STEVIE WONDER, TENACIOUS D, DEAD WEATHER TO PLAY BONNAROO

Bonnaroo announced their 2010 lineup today. Like last year, it seems like they are having four headliners this year (the festival will be on June 10 - 13): The Dave Matthews Band, the sort of overrated Kings Of Leon, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z. Also on the bill: Tenacious D, Weezer, The Flaming Lips (doing their Dark Side Of The Moon thing), Damien Marley and Nas, Norah Jones, Michael Franti and Spearhead, John Fogerty (he should be a headliner!), newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff, The Avett Brothers, Thievery Corporation, Tori Amos, Grammy-winners The Zac Brown Band, Les Claypool, John Prine, Steve Martin (yes, that one), Jeff Beck, The Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Daryl Hall with a hip-hop duo called Chromeo (I gotta find out more about this), Jamey Johnson, Clutch, Kris Kristofferson, GWAR (what?), Tinariwen, The Gaslight Anthem, They Might Be Giants, Miranda Lambert, Calexico, Cross Canadian Ragweed and many, many more.

NORAH JONES REMIX EP

Tomorrow (1/12) Norah Jones is releasing the Chasing Pirates Remix EP on vinyl and iTunes. It includes the studio version of "Chasing Pirates" and a song that didn't make her latest album The Fall, "That's What I Said." Adam Horovitz and Mike D from The Beastie Boys do a remix of "That's What I Said," and Santigold remixes "Chasing Pirates." There's another "Pirates" remix by a group of people including Beck.

BEST OF THE '00s: NORAH JONES

Recently on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SIRIUS XM's OutQ channel (the show No Expiration contributes to every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET), we were discussing Norah Jones' latest album, The Fall. Larry expressed some surprise that I am such a Norah Jones fan. Well, I am!

As I said to Larry, in this over caffinated, slutted-out world of pandering entertainment, I like Norah's calm approach. But more than that, she's making music that she likes. She isn't just making soft rock because it sells to old people. Her music is really subtle and beautiful, and she is inspired by the right people, Willie and Dolly and Brother Ray and Billie and Hank (I).

Her debut album, 2002's Come Away With Me, has sold over 20 million copies, but did it in the most organic way: people just liked the songs. Didn't matter if she wrote them (many of them, including "Don't Know Why," she didn't). But the way she sang them, it didn't matter. She was like 20 years old, but sang with an old soul, and did songs like "Cold, Cold Heart" convincingly at a time that most "country" singers barely knew who Hank Williams (I) was. If I had been a Grammy voter at the time, I don't know if I would have voted for Norah's album over, say, Bruce Springsteen's The Rising, but I ain't mad at her either. In the time after that album came out, she covered Pasty Cline, Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton -- all convincingly -- and also collaborated with Andre 3000 on a song from OutKast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below album. She also collaborated with Willie Nelson, and they would go on to work with other many more times throughout the decade.

I remember interviewing her for VH1 on the day that the followup, 2004's Feels Like Home, came out. I can't imagine what kind of pressure that would be -- being 20-something and having to follow up a 20 million selling album. She seemed so chill, and we mainly talked about The Band (Garth Hudson and Levon Helm guested on the album). Then she invited me to her gig that night -- with The Little Willies, a country group made up by her and her backing band. She mentioned that the cover charge was like $5 or whatever. I couldn't believe it: she's responsible for promoting the followup to one of the biggest debuts in history, and she's playing in a cover band that night! But I think that's how she is: she enjoys the luxury that her success affords her, but doesn't let that success define her or dictate what she wants to do. As with Alicia Keys, I kind of felt like, "Well, if there has to be a twenty-something multi-milionaire, I don't mind it being her."

In 2005, Norah duetted with Ray Charles on what would be his final album, Genius Loves Company. The song was the album's first -- and main -- single, "Here We Go Again," which provided Brother Ray with his final classic song. It must have been amazing to have been part of that. After that, Norah became a pretty in-demand collaborator, working on albums by the Foo Fighters and Ryan Adams.

In 2006, she got to get away from being Norah Jones for a while by putting out an album with The Little Willies and touring (they opened for Ryan Adams, which probably helped to take some focus off of her). After that, was more collabos, with Bonnie Raitt, Peeping Tom (the project featuring Mike Patton of Faith No More) and a particularly lovely duet with Wyclef Jean, "Any Other Day." She's become quite the hip-hop hook singer - she's also worked with Talib Kweli and Q-Tip (see the video for their song, "Life Is Better," here). And even The Lonely Island, showing her oft-overlooked sense of humor. Speaking of which, there's also her "punk rock" band, El Madmo.  Not really punk rock per se, but actually a good guitar-oriented, fun, band: their self-titled album came out in 2008.  Of course, this year, she released The Fall, which is another great album.  It features her working with new musicians and trying new things, which is good for her.  And by the way, check out the bonus tracks on iTunes, which include covers of Johnny Cash's "Cry, Cry, Cry" and Wilco's "Jesus Etc."

Even with her forays into acting (she starred in Ang Lee's My Blueberry Nights) you never feel like she's sold out (whatever that means anymore). I think she's a great artist, and she will have a lot more to say in the coming decades.

More Best Of The '00s: Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Aimee Mann
Jeff Tweedy
David Johansen
Levon Helm
The Beatles
Jim James
U2
Steve Earle
Ben Harper
Alicia Keys

TRENT REZNOR AND JOSH GROBAN ON THE SAME ALBUM?

Strange but true: Neil Young has (quietly) just released the fourth volume of songs from The Bridge School benefit series that he has been hosting for two decades. The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication and assistive technology applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies. Every year, Neil Young hosts an acoustic concert with a diverse lineup to help raise funds for the school. Over the past few years, he's been releasing iTunes collections of songs from the concerts. Volume 4 which just came out, includes two solo tracks by Trent Renzor (versions of Nine Inch Nails' "Fragile" and "Hurt"). It also includes one of John Mellencamp's greatest songs, "Jackie Brown," Norah Jones' cover of Wilco's "Jesus, Etc." and two tracks by Tom Waits with The Kronos Quartet. Oh, and Josh Groban. A duet with Neil on "Harvest Moon" (oddly, it's Neil's only appearance on this volume). Some great music and a great cause. Here is a link to the complete tracklist.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SOME VERY TALENTED LADIES

For those of you who are
new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUSXM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Most weeks I bring a theme, and since "female singers," or "divas" seems to always go over well, I decided to go with that one again, particularly because there are lots of relevant
albums out right now.

First off is Larry's #1 favorite album of the year, Lungs, by Florence & The Machine. He's been talking about it for months, and I only just listened to it for the first time. It's a pretty powerful album. In some ways, Florence reminds me of Tori Amos, but I can't back that up with much, so I'll probably keep it to myself, as Larry is no fan of Tori! My wife Maria grabbed the CD from me, and she loves it. So, I'm glad to say that I like it also. I may even add this to my Best Of '09 series.

Leona Lewis has just released Echo. Larry and I disagreed about Leona last year, he thought she deserved the Record of the Year Grammy, last year, and I thought it rightfully went to Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. Sorry, Larry, I paid my NARAS dues and you forgot to pay yours! Larry felt that Leona's debut was an event on the level of Mariah Carey's debut. I disagreed with that - I almost think it is impossible for someone to dominate pop music the way Mariah did. (I also didn't think a Mariah-level-event would be a positive thing, anyway, as I don't like Mariah.) I did think Leona's "Bleeding Love" was a great pop song, and I don't hate on her because of it. I have only heard one new Leona song, "Happy," which I thought was really good. But she doesn't dodge comparassions to Mariah, that's for sure.

Norah Jones has been a favorite of mine since I heard her debut album, Come Away With Me, in 2002. I just got her new album, The Fall, tonight, and I think it's great. She broke up with her long time boyfriend/bass player Lee Alexander, which pretty much broke up her band. So she started working with new people, including producer Jaquire King, who worked on Tom Waits' classic Mule Variations. I think it is a really successful progression for her.

Finally, Joss Stone has just released Color Me Free!, which sees her fighting with her record label, which, sadly, doesn't usually end well for the artist. I got to interview her before her debut, 2003's The Soul Sessions EP when I worked for VH1. I think it's a good record but not a great one. She has so much talent, it's almost frustrating that she hasn't clicked with audiences in the way that she should. Maybe she needs a new record label. I hope they just don't slut her image up too much.

So call in if you want to weigh in! We'll probably do another week of female singers next month, when Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and Shakira have released their new albums. Next week: crack. Um, I mean box sets. The Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton, Hall & Oates, AC/DC and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE CONCERT LINEUP ANNOUNCED

Over the summer, I mentioned that NARAS had announced that the great Neil Young would be honored as their MusicCares Person Of The Year in 2010. The concert/event will take place January 29 at the L.A. Convention center, and will probably cost a ton of money (albeit, going to a good cause, MusicCares does some good stuff).

I've read online (but not at the NARAS site) a list of performers, so I don't know if it offiical, but if it is, this is a great lineup: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, Ozomalti, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Crosby Stills & Nash, Wilco, Jackson Browne, Josh Groban(!) and some new band called Everest. Fans rarely get to see these shows (even on TV) which is too bad, especially this year.

NORAH IS WORKIN' IT

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Norah Jones didn't really know how to handle the incredible success she experienced early in her career, and for a while, she seemed to back away from it. These days, it doesn't seem to bother her (it shouldn't), and she seems to be working a bit more than she has in the past to get her music heard. The first single from her upcoming album, The Fall, due out November 17, is "Chasing Pirates." The video is above, and premiered exclusively on VH1.com. You can get the single when you pre-order the album at iTunes, and the deluxe iTunes version features covers of a few songs, including Johnny Cash's "Cry, Cry, Cry" and Wilco's "Jesus, Inc." And, according to a Entertainment Weekly online exclusive, she having remixes of her songs done by The Beastie Boys, Beck and Santigold.

Meanwhile, the other video above is Norah with Q-Tip, "Life Is Better." It is from Tip's 2009 overlooked classic, The Renaissance. In a way, it promotes Norah as much as it does Tip. Anyway, I'm a big fan of Norah's, and I'm excited to hear the new album.

BEST OF '09: WILLIE NELSON

A couple of months ago, I posted about all of the new Willie Nelson releases that came out this year. I actually missed one: Naked Willie, which is some of his older, heavily orchestrated records that were kind of "unmixed" - in other words, stripped down to bare essentials - by Willie's long time harmonica player Mickey Raphael.

And now there's another new release that I didn't know about: a DVD of a concert by Willie with Wynton Marsalis, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis Play The Music Of Ray Charles. It's Willie and Wynton's second DVD in as many years: last year's Live From Jazz At Lincoln Center In New York City also yielded an album Two Men With The Blues. Norah Jones guests on the new DVD.

But my favorite Willie project of the year, and one of my favorite albums of 2009 overall is Willie's collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel, Willie and The Wheel. It is an old-school Texas swing album filled with traditional country tunes, and it is a lot of fun. But the fact that he is 70, has been involved with so many different musical projects, and still runs his businesses, including Carl's Corner truck stop and his great SIRIUS XM channel, Willie's Place.

Other Best of '09 albums: Bob Dylan's Together Through Life , The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre , Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall

BOB DYLAN: THE ROAD NEVER ENDS, NEITHER DOES THE VAULT

Since the late '80s, Bob Dylan's tour has been referred to as "The Never-Ending Tour," although Bob scoffed at that title in a recent interview (I think with Rolling Stone). But he does tour really frequently, regardless of whether or not he has an album out, which is cool.

As I've mentioned, guitarist Charlie Sexton has just rejoined Dylan's band, he left in 2002. According to Rolling Stone and fan accounts, Dylan's L.A. show last night lasted nearly two hours (which is longer than most Dylan shows that I've seen) and was incredible. The chemistry with Sexton was supposedly great, and the setlist was a cool one: he opened with his Christian-era rocker "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking," played "Shooting Star," one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums (Oh Mercy), My favorite song from the new album Together Through Life (probably my favorite album of the year), "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" as well as "I Feel A Change Comin' On" and "Jolene." The set list also included "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Cold Irons Bound," "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)," "Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again," "High Water (For Charlie Patton)," "Highway 62 Revisited," "Nettie Moore," "Thunder On The Mountain," "Ballad Of A Thin Man," "Like A Rolling Stone" and "All Along The Watchtower." Perfect mix of old and recent, "hits" and "album tracks." Man, I wish I was at that show. But he's playing three nights at the United Palace: I wasn't sure I wanted to pay the money to go, but between this and the great time I had seeing Bob over the summer, I think I'm there!

In other Bob Dylan news, a song called "California," recorded during the Bringing It All Back Home sessions but never released, will see the light of day on the "Vol. 2" soundtrack to the TV show NCIS (apparently the most popular TV drama?). The soundtrack will also have exclusive tracks from John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and Joss Stone.

Finally, this week, Bob released his first Christmas album, Christmas In The Heart.

KICK IT BIG WILLIE STYLE

Willie Nelson is one of the most

prolific artists around - and he's over 70 years old. That's pretty inspiring.

But his incredible rate of output can get confusing, so let me help you out. This week, he released American Classic. It's an album of standards in the tradition of his classic Stardust from 1978. It is on a new (for him) label, Blue Note, and features duets with Norah Jones and Diana Krall. "Grammy" written all over it - I hope it works out that way.

Lost Highway is a new compilation of his material from the past decade or so, of material he recorded for the Lost Highway label. This time period includes at least one of my favorite Willie albums - if not my #1 - 2004's It Will Always Be. But there's lots of gems on this album, and while I may have chosen different songs, it is a great place to check out some of Willie's more recent work. There are some rare songs, like "Superman," "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond Of Each Other" and "Ain't Goin' Down On Brokeback Mountain."

The Willie Nelson Special is a DVD of a concert from 1985 where Willie was joined on stage by Ray Charles for a bunch of songs, including their classic duet "Seven Spanish Angels," and a song that they both had a hit with, "Georgia On My Mind." This looks like it is one worth getting - I wish they were putting out a CD as well.

Finally, my favorite Willie album of the year is his collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel, Willie & The Wheel. I wish that got the attention that American Standard will get. Actually, they can both be nominated for Grammys in separate categories: standards and country. It would be cool if Willie nabbed a bunch of awards next year.