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Fresh Air's resident rock historian remembers soul singer Lorraine Ellison, who recorded a handful of albums and dozens of singles in the '60s and '70s; though she charted a few R&B hits, she never quite broke through to stardom. Her biggest success was with the string-saturated ballad "Stay With Me," which topped out at No. 11 on the R&B charts and has since been covered by everyone from Bette Midler to teenybopper idol Rex Smith.

Forty years ago, Allan Sherman topped the pop charts by replacing the lyrics of folk songs with satires of Jewish American life. And in doing that, he offered a perfect snapshot of what it meant to assimilate.

Christopher O'Riley, host of NPR's From the Top, considers Elliott Smith to be one America's greatest songwriters. Smith died in 2003 before ever achieving massive fame. O'Riley's latest release, Home to Oblivion, is a classical translation of Smith's work.

For America's daily papers, the news hasn't been good: For nearly two decades, newspapers have been losing paid subscribers. And a new report illustrates that circulation is now dropping more quickly than ever.

In 1959, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck topped the pop charts and shook up the notion of rhythm in jazz with an odd-metered song called "Take Five." On the occasion of its golden anniversary and a new reissue of Time Out, Brubeck explains why it was such a hit.

"Colors" is the buoy that floats to the top of Smith's new record: It's an up-tempo jaunt that illustrates one side of a long-distance relationship, not lamenting the isolation but instead looking fixedly to the future. Both a plea for the separation to end and a promise to remain steadfast, "Colors" is at least as much a ballad of heartfelt yearning as it is a stomp-and-swagger jam.

At first, "Roll Your Dice" sounds like a typical Top 40 song of longing. Then comes a sound infrequently heard in popular music: a percussive arpeggio on a 36-string Veracruz harp. The stringed instrument serves as the centerpiece of "Roll Your Dice," by the multicultural quartet Rey Fresco — Spanish for "King Cool."

For all its success, Death Cab for Cutie hasn't lost track of the accessible emotions that first attracted a devoted following. Ben Gibbard's vocals, always faintly familiar in a boy-next-door way, observe love and life with a resigned delicacy, and the band's songs are poetic and yearning but never over-the-top. Hear the band perform a session on World Cafe.

Twenty-four albums into her career, Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Carly Simon remains a venerable and popular icon. Opener Yael Naim, fresh off a prominent appearance in a commercial, just became the first Israeli-born solo singer to chart in the Top 10. Hear them perform a concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live.

The Donkeys' lazy, country-tinged Americana sound is a perfect match for the band's San Diego home. The group's second album, Living on the Other Side, is a simple and soothing summer set — music for driving with the top down, sunbathing in the sand and napping in a hammock.

President Bush's top getaway, his ranch in Crawford, Texas, is also the place where Laura Bush seems to find the most solace. NPR's Ketzel Levine gets a rare tour of the ranch with the first lady, who discusses her efforts to restore native grasses and plants to the 1,600-acre property. See photos of wildflowers at the Bush ranch.

Judi Dench has won major acting awards on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Oscar, the Tony and six Oliviers (England's top theatrical honor). The British actress is famous for Shakespearean roles, but she's also played spy chief M in James Bond films and currently appears in the Vin Diesel science fiction action flick The Chronicles of Riddick. NPR's Susan Stamberg interviews Dench about the art of acting.

http://66.225.205.104/LM20100902.mp3Charlotte Jewish Day School is in a tight race for a $500,000 contribution from the department store Kohl's. Kohl's…

http://66.225.205.104/JR20110308.mp3As Duke Energy digs deeper into its email archive, it has uncovered more evidence that its top executives were having…

Spanish artists lead the list of nominees, with Alejandro Sanz and Rosalia topping the list — though urbano artists didn't make a big impression.

Johnson was formerly the Pentagon's top lawyer. He has said that working for the Obama administration has been the "highlight" of his professional life.

"It would not make sense" for the federal government to make prosecuting recreational users in states that have decriminalized marijuana a top priority, the president tells ABC News.

The Indianapolis International Airport was named the Best Airport in North America by the Airports Council International. The annual Airport Service Quality awards are determined by year-round passenger satisfaction surveys. Other winners include Cape Town International Airport, deemed Best in Africa. In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi won the top honor.

Forbes magazine is out with its yearly list of the 400 richest Americans. Their combined net worth increased 13 percent since last year. The top of the list contains the usual suspects: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, the Koch brothers and the children of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

We can't help thinking that the dirty, tank-top-wearing hero looks like somebody we followed around Nakatomi Plaza once.