Before Jack White, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger or Iggy Pop, Detroit's number one rock export was Mitch Ryder. Fronting the Detroit Wheels, Ryder spun out a string of rock 'n' soul hits — "Jenny Take a Ride," "Devil With a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Sock It to Me, Baby" — in the mid-'60s that landed in the charts alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Ryder's new album, The Promise (his first U.S. release in nearly 30 years), due out February 13, 2012 on his own Michigan Broadcasting Corporation label, finds him in prime form. The disc's dozen tracks feature eleven full-bodied originals plus a live cover for the Motown classic "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." Ryder teamed up with acclaimed producer Don Was (a fellow Detroit native) to create a record that's full of soul yet grounded in rock: music that acknowledges the past while looking forward. Ryder says he writes all of his songs from personal experiences. "When I am in the writing mode, I don't listen to other music. I just shut down and draw on what my mind and my soul tell me to do."

The Promise starts off capturing a particularly personal moment with "Thank You Mama." This Motown-esque rocker serves as a eulogy to his parents. Ryder wasn't able to attend either his mother or father's funerals for various reasons (including a promoter who threatened to sue him if he went to this dad's funeral) and he wrote this song, he reveals, "because I needed to get it out of my system. I never got to tell them thank you."

The title track is a deeply soulful number — both through the music and the message. Combining a slow-burning rhythm with incendiary social commentary, this powerful ballad offers an unflinching portrait of a working-class American who is struggling to make ends meet yet holding on to "the promise" of a better tomorrow, when "my child will have doctors and my child will have good schools." The song's gritty quality, with its rock-edged funkiness, also fuels tunes like "One Hair," "The Way We Were" and "Junky Love."

However, it's not a Mitch Ryder album without some party music too. The Latin-flavored "Let's Keep Dancing" shakes up the disc's tempo with a tango. Similarly, the piano-based ballad "Crazy Beautiful" gives Ryder an opportunity to show his vocal range extends beyond that of a belter. This song also provided him a chance to perform with one of his heroes, keyboardist Patrick Leonard. Leonard led the '90s band Toy Matinee, whose sole album, Ryder says, stands as "one of the best pieces of American music I've ever heard." When Was said that Leonard was working in the same studio where they were recording, Ryder went over to meet him. "I was brought to tears during the conversation," Ryder admits. "That's how powerful an impact he had on me."

Ryder was also thrilled to have Was onboard. The two met when the famed producer worked in the studio where Ryder was making his 1980 release Naked But Not Dead. Although they've worked together over the years ("Brokenhearted" comes from one of Was' annual "Concert of Colors" in Detroit), this was the first time they collaborated on an entire album. Ryder reveals that Was didn't ask to see his lyrics before recording the songs and told Ryder that the only other artist similarly treated was Bob Dylan, which Ryder found a high compliment. Ryder also raved how Was was "able to bring the real exact sound of my voice as it exists today without using any gimmicks."

Recording in Los Angeles' historic Henson Studios (formerly A&M Records and originally Charles Chaplin's studios), Was used his team of talented players (keyboardist Jamie Mahuberac, bassist Reggie McBride, guitarist Randy Jacobs and drummer James Gadsen) to give Ryder all that needed — whether it was an explosive guitar solo or a soulful groove. Ryder re-did one of his older songs, "My Heart Belongs To Me," because he realized correctly that this band could give it the proper Stax sound that he wanted.

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