Take an American roots musician of great acclaim, active in the '50s/'60s, who has achieved comparitively little contemporary commercial success. Bring Joe Henry in as producer. Choose a batch of juicy tunes to cover. Either pick a few heavyweight musicians to add subtle, tastefully unobtrusive accompaniment or let said roots artist go it completely alone for a stark, unadorned feel. Add water and NPR until album rises.

This formula worked well enough for Solomon Burke and Bettye Lavette. Rick Rubin, from whom Henry adopted the method, didn't fare too poorly with it either, when he applied it to Johnny Cash, Donovan, and Neil Diamond (and soon, according to reports, he'll be trying it with Crosby, Stills & Nash). However, the approach didn't do too much for folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott when he tried following the recipe without the help of either Rubin or Henry on 2006's I Stand Alone, even though it was released on Henry's Anti Records home turf. So this time Elliott's doing it right and calling Henry himself in to produce the still-untitled Anti follow-up. The 77-year-old folk legend, who palled around with Woody Guthrie and inspired Bob Dylan, will be recording a batch of pre-war blues tunes under Henry's auspices, backed by a cast that includes Van Dyke Parks and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo. The album is due out sometime in early '09. Gordon Lightfoot, your moment is nigh...