In addition to being the much-beloved writer and poet most of us know him to have been, Shel Silverstein was also a songwriter. His catalog of songs is oft-overlooked, however, which is something that a spankin'-new tribute album to Shel called Twistable, Turnable Man hopes to remedy. It's coming out June 8th, and includes songs by (or inspired by) Shel from artists like Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, half of the Pixies, and Lucinda Williams. Previews of these cool, eclectic tunes are playable here.

To tide you over, here's a vintage performance by Shel and Johnny Cash, who play a few tunes including the classic song that Shel wrote for Johnny -- "A Boy Named Sue." How multi-talented can one guy be?