Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Clapton is the latest legend to pay tribute to a hero—in his case, reclusive Oklahoma native Cale, whose songs “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” the British guitar god turned into hits. Clapton has long admired Cale’s slinky, laid-back style and emulated it on his Slowhand album. Here, the veteran musicians combine on shuffling blues like “It’s Easy” and “Any Way the Wind Blows” and Clapton’s tender “Three Little Girls,” about his young daughters. Together, they fit as comfortably as a pair of well-worn slippers.  

The Aussie country crooner could’ve called his latest album Marrying Nicole, Checking into Rehab and Coping with Celebrity, but leave that sort of tawdriness to the tabloids. Urban would rather take the poetic high road and let fans revel in new songs about marital bliss (the upbeat rocker “Once in a Lifetime”), stubbornness (the confessional “Stupid Boy”) and begging for forgiveness (the Celtic-flavored “I Told You So”). How much does he worship Kidman? Just check out the choir-laced opus “God Man Woman.”

Its record label calls Shaye a supergroup, but it’s simply the company consolidating its assets in an age of diminishing returns, with East Coast solo artists Damhnait Doyle, Tara Maclean and Kim Stockwood reinvented as a roots-pop vocal trio. The group’s second album offers more sun-kissed harmonies wrapped in pleasant, radio-friendly production. Although Shaye originals like the upbeat title track and such covers as Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” are hardly adventurous, what do you expect from a manufactured outfit?