Big City Cat

As a young man from Meridian, Mississippi, Steve Forbert managed to carve out a niche in New York City's vibrant club scene, playing now-iconic venues like Gerde's Folk City and CBGB's during a time when rootsy rock was fading out and the Ramones, Talking Heads, and other New Wave and punk acts were moving in. That heady period was captured on his first album, Alive on Arrival.

"Now or then," writes Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild, "you would be hard-pressed to find a debut eff...