This year it may be difficult to choose the perfect gift for the music fan on your list. The problem isn't a shortage of viable options. It's exactly the opposite dilemma. In recent years, record companies seemed to be running short on worthy box set ideas. But the class of 2001 has brought a bumper crop of selections, headlined by the mammoth collections devoted to Billie Holiday and the Grateful Dead.
To help guide you through the many choices, here is a look at my suggestions for gift giving.
Genre Collections
· Various Artists -- Say It Loud! A Celebration of Black Music in America (Rhino).
The most ambitious box set subject this year is this six-CD compilation. Actually this set could just as easily be called A Celebration of American Contemporary Music, considering that with the exception of Country, virtually every style of American popular music was pioneered by African Americans.
The genres are all represented here -- Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Doo Wop, Motown, Soul, Rock and Rap. In fact, this package probably could have used a couple of additional CDs. As it is, the compilers have done an admirable job presenting a cross-section of important artists in just six discs. Only Hip Hop of the '90s gets the short shrift. As it is, Say It Loud! is a highly entertaining and instructive collection that demonstrates the enormous impact on modern music by African Americans ranging from Duke Ellington to Chuck Berry to Muddy Waters to Run-D.M.C.
· Various Artists -- Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience (Rhino).
If you thought Soul music faded out at the end of the 1960s after stars like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett hit their peaks, this set will make you rethink that notion. Not only does Can You Dig It? assemble enduring classics of the period -- such as "War" by Edwin Starr, "Respect Yourself" by the Staple Singers, "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green and "Love Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players, along with many other familiar hits -- it features dozens of excellent tunes that didn't fare quite as well on the charts. Eventually '70s Soul gave way to the formulaic dreck that was Disco, but this set is a stellar collection that showcases the tightly crafted, emotionally charged and frequently socially relevant music that typified the best of '70s Soul. Can you dig it? Sho 'nuff!
· Various Artists -- Nuggets II (Rhino).
This four-CD set highlights some of the best tracks from overlooked 1960s British Pop bands. There are some clunkers, but this sequel to the original Nuggets collection shows how vibrant that era truly was.
· Various Artists -- Philadelphia Folk Festival 40th Anniversary (Sliced Bread).
For four decades this festival has hosted a who's who of Folk, Blues and Rock. This 58-track, four-CD set features mostly acoustic live performances by everyone from Phil Ochs and Richard Thompson to Taj Mahal and Bonnie Raitt.
Rock & Pop
· The Grateful Dead -- The Golden Road (1965-1973) (Warner Bros./Rhino).
The crown jewel of this year's box sets. Weighing in with 12 discs -- over 15 hours of music -- it features all nine of the band's Warner Bros. albums as a centerpiece. Each of these original albums is supplemented with a generous helping of unissued live and studio tracks. In addition, The Golden Road also includes a two-disc set, Birth of The Dead, which features one disc of studio tracks and one disc of live material recorded in 1965 and 1966 when The Dead were known as The Warlocks. There's also a bonus disc of live cuts. The price tag on the set is hefty, but justified. Put simply, The Golden Road is a must-own collection for any serious Grateful Dead fan.
· Buffalo Springfield -- Buffalo Springfield Box Set (Atco/Elektra/Rhino).
For years, Buffalo Springfield fans have undoubtedly clamored for a complete document of the band's career, and this year they get it. As its size suggests -- four CDs, nearly half of which are made up of unreleased material -- the vaults were teeming with outtakes awaiting the light of day. Gems abound, including Neil Young's tender solo demo of "One More Sign," a superior alternate take of the early Stephen Stills-written single, "Baby Don't Scold Me," Richie Furay's unreleased chunky pop-rocker, "My Kind of Love," and a rawer alternate version of Young's "Mr. Soul." Buffalo Springfield's three original albums were vital enough. Their mix of rootsy Country-tinged Rock, Soul and Pop influenced a legion of bands. But Box Set, with its treasure trove of unreleased material, shows just how little of the Buffalo Springfield story had been told before now.
· Creedence Clearwater Revival -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
(Fantasy).
Usually, boxed sets are a good source for unissued songs, alternative outtakes and previously unreleased live music. This new six-CD set doesn't offer any unreleased CCR material. But don't blame Fantasy Records. As band leader John Fogerty has said, everything CCR recorded was released on the band's albums. So what this set features is remastered versions of all seven studio records and both live albums CCR recorded, which in itself makes the set well worth owning, especially if you don't already have the original albums. The bonus is that the set also includes a full disc of material recorded before the group was renamed Creedence Clearwater Revival: four tunes from Tom Fogerty & The Blue Velvets and 21 songs from The Golliwogs. Those recordings include some decent tunes, but mostly reveal a band trying to fit in with the trends of the early and mid-1960s. It's only with the song "Tell Me," recorded in 1967, that Fogerty and his bandmates show strong signs of discovering the rootsy swamp-boogie sound that would soon make Creedence one of the most distinctive -- and best -- bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The songs on this first disc may be largely unexceptional, but they do enable Creedence Clearwater Revival to offer the complete portrait of CCR that this box set was intended to provide.
· The Monkees -- Music Box (Rhino).
The Monkees may seem like an odd group to get the box set treatment, if only because they were brought together to act on a TV series as much as for their ability to sing and perform as a musical group. What made The Monkees different -- and better -- than any latter-day assembled band (think New Kids On The Block or 'NSync) was the music. So in a sense, this box set pays tribute to Tommy Boyce and Richard Hart, Neil Diamond, Carole King and Gerry Goffin and other songwriters who supplied The Monkees with their material. The songs of The Monkees were rarely innovative or deep, and any attempts at more substantial music (such as the experimental album Head) were hit and miss. But the songs were catchy and fun. And Music Box does a good job of providing a comprehensive overview of the music and the phenomenon that was The Monkees.
· Simon & Garfunkel -- The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970) (Columbia/Legacy).
This set collects expanded editions of all five Simon & Garfunkel studio albums and is actually more complete than the Old Friend box set issued in 1997.
· Various Artists -- Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones (Rhino).
This four-CD set provides a good overview of the amazingly diverse music produced and/or written by Jones over his career as one of the most influential figures in music.
Jazz
· Billie Holiday -- Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944) (Columbia/Legacy).
One of the preeminent vocalists in Jazz, Billie Holiday was at her best during a prolific 11-year stint with Columbia Records. Now that period gets a comprehensive airing with this set. At 10 discs and 230 tracks -- including 35 that haven't been released in the United States -- this lavish set may be more music than anyone but devoted Holiday fans will want. But Holiday merits this in-depth treatment. Although she wasn't blessed with the natural talent of some singers -- her vocal range was actually fairly limited -- Holiday, as this set proves, had an uncanny ability to use vocal nuance and her sheer honesty to convey the emotions and meanings of a lyric. The expansive book that accompanies this set provides great insight into Holiday's artistry and each song included on the 10 discs. Between the music itself and the liner notes, Lady Day offers the best portrait yet of one of music's greatest singers as she reached the peak of her powers.
· Miles Davis -- The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (Columbia/Legacy).
Miles Davis' 1969 album, In A Silent Way, marked a major transition in the great Jazz trumpeter's career, as he began to shift from acoustic to electric instrumentation and embrace elements of Rock music. Not only does this three-CD set include the original In a Silent Way album, but eight tracks that had been unissued, including the meditative 26-minute piece, "The Ghetto Walk," and several tracks that surfaced in the 1970s and 1980s on other Davis albums. The compositions -- with their sparse instrumentation, deep grooves and inventive solos -- found Davis once again putting a whole new imprint on Jazz. By including all of the music recorded in the six months of sessions that produced the album, this set offers important -- and enjoyable -- insights into Davis' creative methods at this crucial point in his career.
Anything Else?
For kids (or the kid in all of us), there's That's All Folks, a 2-CD set collecting music from the cartoons of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Warner Bros. shows. Jazz fans may want the three CD collection from Thelonious Monk, The Columbia Years ('62-'68), which highlights an often-overlooked period of his career. The four-CD set, Elvis: Live in Las Vegas covers a period of Elvis Presley's career that's largely worth forgetting. Still there are some gems mixed in with the King's often questionable choice of covers and often-overblown performances of his familiar hits. ©
