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Of all the three-name Texas singer-songwriters, Jerry Jeff Walker has always mystified me. His progressive country recordings are mostly spotty and artistically self-destructive, hobbled by giddiness and a booze-addled delivery. The notorious Viva Terlingua! and Jerry Jeff Walker sound dated today, essential only to students of the hipneck revolution. But

As the '60s ebbed into unease and uncertainty, Eric Andersen cast a deadly, unveiled glance on his own life -- the drugs and the affairs, the dreams and the journeys -- ultimately turning his own spiritual and emotional desolations into an unconscious accounting of the whole decade. "I

As the '60s bled into the '70s, Bob Dylan evinced a growing discomfort with his persona. Whether fueled by the lingering effects of a near-fatal motorcycle accident, an increasing dissatisfaction with the masks of stardom, or a general sentiment in the air, the artist became obsessed with stripping

It's a neat coincidence that this collection arrived on my doorstep just days after I heard that Procter & Gamble, maker of Charmin toilet paper, was going to resurrect Mr. Whipple, the long-retired character who pitched the brand. For those not old enough to remember, Mr. Whipple'