As part of NPR's "One-Hit Wonders/Second-Best Songs," Vanderbilt professor Emily Lordi recommends "Woman of the Ghetto" by Marlena Shaw. She's known mostly for her 1969 hit, "California Soul."

Precision isn't the word most associated with the blues, but Romare Bearden's 1974 collage depicts Bessie Smith in a way that illuminates her expressiveness and her high level of artistic control.

In an excerpt of a book dedicated to the classic soul album Donny Hathaway Live, author Emily Lordi looks at the ingredients that make Hathaway's cover of "A Song for You" such an achievement.