A HELPING HAND

Abstract

TIME TOUGH" If Adams and reggae icon Toots Hibbert didn't seem to find a sweet spot while harmonizing on the Jamaican shore for the MTV series "Music in High Places," they do just that on 2004's starstudded Toots tribute "True Love," on which Adams nails "Time Tough.

Through an ever-evolving solo career, Ryan Adams has done his best to prove to the world that he can't be tied to one type of music. His copious collaborations have done the same. Here's a peek at some of his best:

"EXCUSE ME WHILE I BREAK MY OWN HEART TONIGHT"

Adams was a nobody when Alejandro Escovedo joined Whiskeytown for this strummy, steel guitar-soaked slice of Americana bliss. Looking back, it seems like a major tipping of the hat. Maybe it was. But by taking the third verse, Escovedo helps turn "Excuse Me" into one of the many jewels from Whiskeytown's sparkling 1997 major-label debut, "Stranger's Almanac."

"SONGBIRD" AND "BLUE HOTEL"

Easily the highlights of the 2006 Adams-produced Willie Nelson disc, "Songbird" was the title track (a cover of the Fleetwood Mac tune lent 10 times the soul) and "Blue hotel" was a then-unreleased Adams original culminating with a broken-sounding Nelson singing, "Go on and rain down on us/I give up," amid swirls of Hammond organ.

"TIME TOUGH"

If Adams and reggae icon Toots Hibbert didn't seem to find a sweet spot while harmonizing on the Jamaican shore for the MTV series "Music in High Places," they do just that on 2004's starstudded Toots tribute "True Love," on which Adams nails "Time Tough." If only to have been a fly on the wall during that recording session.

THE FINGER

Under the pseudonyms Irving Plaza and Warren Peace, Adams and frequent collaborator Jesse Malin delved into their mutual love for hardcore punk for shits and giggles with the under-the-radar Finger project, releasing the sweetly titled "We Are Fuck You." Song titles like "Coma for $$$," "No Roolz" and "Snakes & Scorpions" are apropos for these breakneck rockers.

"CONCRETE SKY"

Considering he's a huge Smiths fan, Adams must have been especially honored to lend vocals and guitar to English singer/songwriter Beth Orton's 2002 single "Concrete Sky," which she co-wrote with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. With its elegant portrait of cautious love, it turned out to be the best track on her album "Daybreaker."

-Wes Orshoski