By The Newhouse News Service

Ray Davies, “Other People’s Lives”

In the works since the start of the decade, this first official studio solo album from Kinks founding father Ray Davies has been highly anticipated by Brit-rock aficionados.

The project was interrupted several times, most notably in January 2004 when Davies was shot in the leg in New Orleans when he tried to chase down a mugger who had stolen his partner’s purse.

The veteran rocker was in the hospital for several weeks, and at one point the wound reportedly became infected and life-threatening. Fortunately, Davies made it out alive, and it’s good to hear his trademark cynicism and witty ruminations still very much intact on “Other People’s Lives.”

“Things are gonna change, this is the morning after,” are the first words he sings on the reality-biting album opener, and there is a sense of resiliency throughout the disc. But anyone looking for something to match Davies’ best work with the Kinks may be in for a letdown. The songwriter seems to drift here, sometimes nailing the subject at hand and other times wandering into some dark world all his own.

He is a complicated character, after all, and at the age of 61, the guy behind classics like “Sunny Afternoon,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” “Lola,” “A Well Respected Man” and “Tired of Waiting for You” is still keenly observant, if less inclined to turn those observations into pop splendor.

Davies paints some intriguing character portraits on “Next Door Neighbour” and saves some of his best prose for “All She Wrote,” detailing a scathing kiss-off in which the letter writer offers, “I met this person in a disco, he’s really special, reminds me of you.”

Unfortunately, for every strong track like that one, or the catchy “Run Away From Time” or the globe-trotting tale “The Tourist,” there are too many other songs that fail to get beyond the starting gate. “Is There Life After Breakfast,” “Stand Up Comic,” the morose “The Getaway (Lonesome Train)” and even the well-intentioned “Thanksgiving Day” all fall into the latter category.

Davies remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in rock history, a true innovator who paved the way for hundreds if not thousands of acts that were heavily influenced by the Kinks’ sound. This is far from his best work, but it’s still good to have this survivor back in the game.

X X X

Willie Nile, “Streets of New York” (00:02:59) FOUR STARS

The rock ‘n’ roll world is full of forgotten wonders who once seemed sure-shots for stardom, now relegated to playing small clubs, thinking all the while of what might have been – and in the case of Willie Nile, what should have been.

Nile’s 1980 debut disc earned him comparisons to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and other greats. But for countless reasons, the big payday never came. The songwriter slipped into semi-obscurity yet continued to make occasional albums, including his impressive 1999 recording “Beautiful Wreck of the World.”

With “Streets of New York,” Nile sounds like he’s finally lived up to all those early expectations and found his own voice. This 14-song set is exhilarating, passionately performed and highly literate.

He rocks with abandon, like on the infectious “Asking Annie Out,” one of two cuts here featuring the great Larry Campbell on mandolin. He offers a modern day reggae gem in “When One Stands” and turns in a pounding cover of the Eddy Grant-penned “Police on My Back,” which appeared on the Clash’s “Sandinista!”

But Nile’s at his absolute best on four unforgettable songs. The folk-flavored, autobiographical beauty “Back Home” reveals why he originally earned all those comparisons to Dylan, while the reverential “The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square” enchants without falling victim to drumbeat cliches. The punk-fueled “Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead)” offers a raw, stirring, sobering take on the 2004 Madrid train bombings. The disc closes exquisitely with the piano-and-harmonica title track, a perfectly penned homage to the city that never sleeps.

X X X

Ron White, “You Can’t Fix Stupid” (Image) THREE AND A HALF STARS

He rose to comedy stardom touring for three years with the likes of Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy on the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour,” and Ron White hasn’t slowed down one bit since.

The Texas native has a rough-around-the-edges persona that suits him perfectly on this follow-up to his debut disc, “Drunk in Public.” His comedy has a Southern bite, but not as much as some of his contemporaries’. White’s ability to play to all parts of the country has made him a favorite on the Comedy Central cable station, which will be airing this performance beginning March 26.

During the show, which was recorded at the Majestic Theater in Dallas, White is irreverent and stinging, whether taking on topics like drunken bachelorette parties, cosmetic surgery and hilarious tales from his honeymoon cruise, or how he got kicked off his high school debate team.

Available now on CD, this will be released on DVD as well on March 28.

X X

The Derek Trucks Band, “Songlines” (Columbia) FOUR STARS

He’s still best known as the mesmerizing guitarist in the Allman Brothers’ current lineup, but Derek Trucks has also recorded several exceptional albums on his own. “Songlines,” his band’s first new release in nearly four years, continues that tradition of musical mastery and adventure.

Trucks’ organic approach is both soulful and free-floating. With new vocalist Mike Mattison on board, DTB delivers consistently on “Songlines,” starting with the tribal take of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Volunteered Slavery.” The band locks into a solid groove on the organ-churning “I’ll Find My Way” and delves into the blues on “Crow Jane.” But it’s not until a spellbinding, nine-minute-plus, Eastern-tinged version of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Sahib Teri Bandi” that one can sense that something special is going on here.

Trucks and company explore a brilliant array of styles and approach each with a sense of respect and passion that’s rare these days. The man up front, all of 26 years old, is arguably the best guitarist of his generation but never overplays. When Trucks trades off riffs with flute player Kofi Burbridge on “All I Do,” it’s groundbreaking stuff, and when he rips some blazing guitar riffs through “Revolution,” he sounds right at home. It must have something to do with playing out more than 300 nights per year with his two traveling bands. This is a virtuoso in his prime time playing with one supremely talented crew, and they’re not to be missed.

X X X

RARITIES AND REISSUES

Santana, “Santana III (Legacy Edition)” (Columbia/Legacy) FOUR STARS

Expanded editions work only when something exciting is added to the original recording. The expanded “Legacy” edition of “Santana III” from 1971 offers exactly that.

The follow-up to the classic “Abraxas,” this third album from Carlos Santana and his original band sizzles from the start, thanks to radio-friendly Latin rock fare such as “No One to Depend On,” “Everybody’s Everything” and “Everything’s Coming Our Way.” Four bonus tracks have been added to the album, including the 10-minute previously unissued free-for-all “Banbeye.”

But the real wonder starts spinning on the bonus second disc, which features Santana live at the Filmore West on July 4, 1971, as the final act of the legendary venue. Santana’s set is heard here in its entirety for the first time. The band adds depth to Miles Davis’ dream-weaving “In a Silent Way” and pushes its percussive power to the forefront on cuts including “Toussaint L’Overture,” the hard-driving “Incident at Neshabur,” a dynamic “Taboo” and a fiery, twin-guitar-topped take of “Jungle Strut.”

X X X

DVD SPOTLIGHT

Tori Amos, “Fade to Red: Tori Amos Video Collection” (Rhino/Atlantic) TWO AND A HALF STARS

Her defenders would call her mystical, magical and alluring while nonbelievers might steer more toward words like derivative, calculating and ridiculously oblique to describe Tori Amos.

This double DVD will provide plenty of ammunition for both sides. It chronicles 21 of the red-haired pianist’s best-known tracks, filmed between 1992 and 2005.

She’s at her best on “Past the Mission,” her tale of Spanish conquistador Cortez; “1000 Oceans,” in which Amos is seen stuck inside a storefront display window, staring helplessly at the violence outside; and especially on “A Sorta Fairytale.” The last, which co-stars actor Adrien Brody, is a twisted delight thanks to effects that blend the characters’ heads and legs in all sorts of strange contortions. A mini-documentary on the making of that video is included in the package, which is quite elegant.

While the videos often provide eye candy, the music is only semi-satisfying, as Amos frequently gets lost in her own lyrical cleverness and predictable melodies.

The DVD, which is presented in 5.1 audio, also offers an audio commentary option, with the songwriter discussing the making of each video.

PH END O’HARE

(Kevin O’Hare is music writer for The Republican of Springfield, Mass. He can be contacted at kohare(at)repub.com.)

AP-NY-02-17-06 1351EST