Smokey & friends

"Steven Tyler wails, screeches, and ad libs all over "You Really Got a Hold on Me" while Nicole Scherzinger, a prominent background voice, takes a reverent approach that verges on solemn. Not only is it a poor matchup with Smokey's typically sweet and steady delivery, but it's the song where the recording method -- the vocalists didn't record together -- is most obvious ... Compared to the originals, or even the better covers released during the intervening years, these versions are pleasant if sterile. Had everyone recorded together, the set would have at least benefited from some unforced spontaneity".

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""My Girl," done with Miguel, Aloe Blacc and JC Chasez, stretches out with between-the-sheets smoothness, and James Taylor turns the Smokey-penned Marvin Gaye classic "Ain't That Peculiar" into a light-swinging blues. The most lovable collaboration is "The Tracks of My Tears," with Elton John loosely belting it out at the piano. You can feel the gratitude spanning the decades".

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