"New" oldies music sounds like an oxymoron, but only to those poor benighted souls who think that the blues or rockabilly or classic R&B or country music -- excuse me, authentic country music -- is dead, simply because it doesn't reside at the top of the charts anymore. Actually, a few of these CDs did make the Billboard Top Ten, and since that isn't done without the support of at least some youngsters, it may be sending a message to the Big Three that Gen Y is more diverse and thoughtful than they've been given credit for. In any event, here's my list of the ten best new studio albums made by oldies artists in 2006.

1. Solomon Burke: Nashville

They call him "The King Of Rock N' Soul," but Solomon Burke -- who's never been given the commercial acclaim due him, despite minor Sixties hits like "Cry To Me" and "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Open Arms)" -- has always been a C&W interpreter without peer; only Percy Sledge can define that country-soul so well. So it was only natural that Burke would cut a record in Nashville surrounded by icons like Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Patty Loveless. But what's really special about this CD is the way it transcends labeling and the trendy "duet" nature of its recording.More »

2. Sam Moore: Overnight Sensational

Sam Moore, half of the legendary soul duo Sam and Dave of "Soul Man" and "Hold On! I'm Comin'" fame, made his first attempt at a solo career way back in 1970, when he recorded an album called Plenty Good Lovin'. Unfortunately, it wasn't released for over three decades, making this the first true coming-out party for Moore and his amazing voice. Produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame, it could very well do for his career what Private Dancer did for Tina Turner's. American Idol judge Randy Jackson surrounds Sam with an impressive array of vocal (and instrumental) support.More »

3. Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint: The River In Reverse

Considering this collaboration came about from a chance post-Katrina meeting, "The River In Reverse" works very well indeed. The Toussaint selections are mainly from Lee Dorsey's back catalog, including "Freedom for the Stallion," which Costello began covering live immediately after the storm. They're considerably more lighthearted than the duo's new originals, all of which focus Costello's rage at the Katrina aftermath. The covers tend to work better, but that's more a statement on where these two giants have been. Which is, apparently, everywhere.More »

4. Irma Thomas: After The Rain

Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas, best known for "Wish Someone Would Care," "It's Raining," and the original versions of "Time Is On My Side" and "Breakaway," is about the least gimmicky performer of all time, so she was mindful about this CD not being percieved as some sort of post-Katrina requiem for the city she's so closely identified with. However, there's a pervasive sense of loss and regret in all of Irma's music, and it flows smoother and deeper than ever on this Rounder release, which finds her at the absolute peak of her powers as an interpretive vocalist.More »

5. Smokey Robinson: Timeless Love

For his first non-gospel studio relase in seven years, the former Miracle has chosen a well-traveled path: a baker's dozen of pop standards from the Forties and pre-rock Fifties. These 13 new versions of pop standards were recorded by Smokey and his band in an intimate, "live" jazz setting, with only the Los Angeles strings overdubbed later. It is the former Motown mainstay's first-ever album comprised wholly of covers, but a Great American Songbook cash-in this is not; in fact, it proves that he's still doing far better work than his peers.More »

6. Jerry Lee Lewis: Last Man Standing

For his first all-new studio release since 1995's Young Blood -- and only his second comeback attempt since his country music career fizzled out in the early Eighties -- the Killer has gone the duets route, assembling 21 tracks from all over the rock, blues, and country spectrum and recording them with as many different guest artists. But while that may seem like trend overkill, the results are pure Jerry Lee... and he hasn't sounded this dangerous away from a stage since Nixon's resignation.More »

7. Johnny Cash: American V: A Hundred Highways

When industry vet Rick Rubin, who had produce all of Johnny Cash's "comeback" recordings of the '90s, decided to assemble The Man In Black's first posthumous album, he culled the songs from Cash's last session, in which the weary and nearly-blind singer deals with the loneliness and despair brought on by the death of his wife, June Carter Cash, and his own impending mortality, backed mostly by spare and tasteful arrangements. But Cash's vocal persona is too deep to make this easily dismissed as a recorded funeral. And there's more to be written.More »

8. Ike Turner: Risin' With The Blues

He may have godfathered rock and roll, R&B, and soul, but Ike Turner is still best remembered for what he did to Tina. And he knows it, too, which is why this new release features a gospel number entitled "Jesus Loves Me" that takes his critics to task for not following suit. All that aside, Risin' With The Blues is still one of '06's finest funk-blues records, one that finds Turner revisiting his own "Gimme Back My Wig" as well as Louis Jordan's "Caledonia" and Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years," retitled "Eighteen Long Years" so as to represent the length of his own notorious wedlock.More »

9. Paul Simon: Surprise

Working with Brian Eno, Simon has channeled his natural tendencies into a insular, wise brand of pop-rock; it may take some time to get familiar with the odd song structures and obtuse lyrics, but Simon's restless muse eventually pays off like it hasn't in almost two decades. Simon's never going to conquer the world again, but then, Surprise doesn't try to -- he's merely consolidated everything he does well and taken it to a calm, reflective place. You hear polyrhythms and electronic percussion going on behind the singer, but he no longer calls attention to it; it's now part of him.More »

10. Neil Diamond: 12 Songs

Produced by Rick Rubin (and released late enough in '05 to make the Grammy nominations, and thus, this list), the starkly-titled 12 Songs did for Neil Diamond what Rubin's American series did for Johnny Cash -- reduce him to a man and his songbook, not just to scrape away years of attempted makeovers but to remind us what we all saw in him in the first place. Which, for people looking to reconcile "Cherry, Cherry," "Cracklin' Rosie," "I Am... I Said," and "Heartlight," may prove invaluable. It doesn't hurt that these dozen songs, all originals, are Neil's strongest in over two decades, either.More »