Something of a rarity this weekend; Marvin Gaye, live at Budokan Hall in Tokyo. Recorded by NHK-Japan and broadcast November 13, 1979.

Time to take a Soul break and get back to basics.

I don't have to tell you about Marvin Gaye - you know. And if you don't - you need to check this concert out. One of the true legends of Soul and one of the world's most gifted songwriters.

'Nuff said.

Ending up the week on a high, soulful and moody note.

Bettye Lavette has been going at it since she was 16. In the five decades since, she's hit highs, lows and a lot of neglect in between. Primarily a singles artist, she didn't get her first album released until 1982, which would actually be her second as a first album was recorded by Atlantic in 1972 and shelved until 1997. Between that time there was a lot of bouncing around from label to label and a lot of almost's-but-not-quite's. Same old story - great material, incredible voice but something didn't click. But rather than pack it up and call it day, she persevered and it finally has paid off. In fact, she has released a new album which you are urged to check out. I think it's safe to say she's finally getting the recognition that has eluded her for so long, judging by the positive press she's been getting lately.

But tonight it's a classic she originally recorded for the Cala label. This one, Let Me Down Easy, is a gut-wrenching, brooding masterpiece that did very well on the charts (hitting #20 for R&B) and holds its own even to this day. It's become something of a signature song for her and she's re-recorded it a few times since. But this is the first one.

Like I said, ending the week on a high note.

Continuing Guilty Pleasures week with Eric von Schmidt, a name which wins instant recognition in the Folk Music world, but sadly doesn't register outside of it. As something of a Citizen of The World, Schmidt had an encyclopedic knowledge of Folk and rural Blues (as well as being a painter of note), and he was largely responsible for influencing the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and countless other luminaries in the early 60's folk world, shaping their taste and acting as guiding light in their early careers.

Von Schmidt was also a wildly talented singer-songwriter in his own right and he recorded several albums over the course of his career - most of which are luckily available today as reissues, including tonight's track from his 1970 album 2nd Right, 3rd Row and Loop The Loop.

Like everything about him, it's an eclectic album that may take some getting used to. Sadly, von Schmidt died in 2007, leaving a rich legacy and a lot of grateful people. Here's a taste of what you missed and maybe you can make a re-discovery.

Thankfully there's no such thing as forgotten in music - just collections of notes and points of view, sitting in a corner, waiting to be discovered.

(Despite the overused cliche, he really was the most trusted man in America)

The idea of Walter Cronkite not being among us, even at the age of 92, is a hard concept to grasp. Those of us of a certain age who grew up with him every night, glued to our TV's during every defining moment of our history - hearing the words of calm and conscience, we came to expect he would always be around - maybe not nightly as he was until 1981, but in some form, some presence of the man we trusted - always there, always observing, always the witness.

But life doesn't work that way, and now we're left with moments of time, places in history we associate with Walter Cronkite.

Tributes the past day have been largely flashes of moments in history - the Moon landing, the JFK assassination.

I thought I would add something a little different to the mix - maybe not as earth shattering as a tragedy or a walk on the moon, but the postmortem of an election - November 7, 1968, when Nixon won by a narrow margin. The exhaustion of staying up most of the night to report returns up to the final moment when Nixon was declared winner. It's not a milestone moment, but it was typical of the eloquence, the thoughtful reflection on a night in a troubled time.

Those nights we turned to Walter Cronkite the most.

“There’s a great deal of talk tonight of Richard Nixon, not by his own admission a loveable figure, succeeding without a clear mandate, to the leadership of a divided nation. These, to put it mildly, are negative thoughts. President-elect Nixon has said his first job will be to try and unite the nation. There’s no one who can say tonight, including Richard Nixon, whether he can do that job. Who can restore the hope of the American spirit, to all our people, black and white, rich and poor. But there is one thing that should be abundantly clear, the President-elect, whether it was Nixon or Humphrey or Wallace or the candidate of the Prohibition Party, could not do that job alone. The leaders of the opposition including Dick Gregory in a particularly Statesman-like concession called for unity. Their followers can do no less than to give the new man a chance. This is Walter Cronkite, CBS News election headquarters – good night.”

And that's the way it was.