As someone who writes on classic rock, pop, soul and jazz for The Wall Street Journal, I'm the recipient of an enormous amount of CDs, vinyl, music videos and books. The volume is particularly high in the fall, when labels and publishers typically gear up for the holidays. Here are my pop favorites that are ideal gifts for friends, family or yourself this coming season:
Bob Dylan—More Blood, More Tracks, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 (Columbia/Legacy). Given Bob Dylan's voluminous bootleg output from Columbia over the years, one might assume the glorious link between folk and rock never saw the light of day. Towers of rehearsals and outtakes amounting to tons of recorded material. And so much of it staggeringly great. The new Volume 14 is among the finest in the series, though it's hard to feel shortchanged by any of the previous 13 sets. Culled from Dylan's Blood on the Tracks sessions in 1974, the six-CD set holds a treasure trove of Dylan, including the entire New York recording sessions and five Minneapolis recordings. If you think of Dylan's sprawling career as a mountain range with summits, valleys and ridges, this material makes up one of his highest peaks. Thoroughly enjoyable and delightfully tranquilizing as you feel yourself downshifting and listening to lyrics for a change instead of beats and shredding guitars. Go here.
The Beatles—The White Album (Capitol/UMe). While in India in March and April 1968, the Beatles wrote a ton of new music. When they returned to Abbey Road Studios at the end of May, they insisted on recording much of it. Producer George Martin did his best to dissuade them, preferring a single album, but the lads insisted. The result was The White Album, a Montana-sized expanse of varying styles, emotions, melodies, instrumentals, reverbs, layers of vocals, and music. Now Capitol/UMe has released three 50th anniversary White Album sets, including a 6-CD box with a book, a four-LP vinyl set and a smaller CD package. A spectacular journey loaded with surprises in the session outtakes, including the saxy instrumental track for Savoy Truffle, Paul's robust piano and backing vocals on Martha My Dear, Paul's piano track on Lady Madonna recorded before the band left for India, and takes 7 and 14 of John's vocal on I'm So Tired. I was 13 when the album came out in November 1968. An awakening for me. For the super-deluxe package, go here. For the 3-CD package, go here.
John Lennon—Imagine: The Ultimate Collection (Capitol/UMe). If you still aren't sure which Beatle was the more interesting songwriter, John Lennon or Paul McCartney, this deluxe set offers an opportunity to hear Lennon isolated in 1971, a year after the Beatles' breakup. While both Lennon and McCartney had a taste for snarky music hall, Imagine documents Lennon in a liberated phase with wife Yoko Ono. There are hits and misses here, but overall it's a fascinating concept after years of Fab Four dependency. His previous three albums were more experimental. The 61 tracks on the new Imagine box provide an opportunity to hear Lennon developing music free of McCartney and George Martin. Gems include the title track, How, Power to the People, God Save Us, Happy Xmas, Gimme Some Truth and others. Phil Spector co-produced with John and Yoko. For the six-disc set, which includes four CDs and two Blu-Ray discs, go here.
Elvis Presley—68 Comeback Speical (50th Anniversary Edition) (RCA/Legacy). At five CDs and two Blu-ray discs plus an 80-page book, this boxed set is as definitive as it gets short of traveling back in time to NBC studios. All previously released audio and newly restored video from the TV special's taping is now in one place. One of the audio discs features just the sessions recorded with the Wrecking Crew studio musicians, and there are multiple takes of If I Can Dream, the show's dramatic high point. Go here.
Amy Winehouse—Back to Black: The Real Story Behind the Modern Classic (Eagle Rock). Before Lady Gaga, Cardi B. and about 200 other female singers with a bad-girl sneer, there was Amy Winehouse. I discovered her music during a trip to London in 2003, when her first album, Frank, was released there. I heard it at an HMV and bought several copies to give to friends when I returned. Then Back to Black came out in the U.S. in the fall of 2006 and became a massive hit. What we didn't know is that the Winehouse phenomenon was a suicidal opera being played out in real time. She died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 after years of heartbreak, depression, media hounding and drug and alcohol abuse. This Blue-ray/DVD disc gets into the nitty-gritty of the music written and recorded. It's less a bio doc and more studio quarterbacking about what the producers and musicians did to make the album a ska/girl-group opus. An in-depth look at a prophetic masterpiece. Go here.
The Lost Beatles Photographs and The Lost Rolling Stones Photographs (The Bob Bonis Archive, 1964-1966) (Dey St.). When the Beatles and Rolling Stones hit the States for tours between 1964 and '66, Bob Bonis was the one who met them at the airport. Bonis was the go-to road manager for both groups, providing transportation, logistics and security. Fortunately, Bonis always carried his camera and he wasn't shy. These two books are loaded with color and black-and-white candid images of Britain's two leading super-groups. Artists at play, artists at rest and artists behaving badly. It's all here, providing insights into musicians in their 20s who were at the top of the world and paving the way for everyone who would come after them. Text in both books by Larry Marion. Go here and here.
Stax '68: A Memphis Story (Craft Recordings). This explosive, action-packed five-CD box virtually jumps up and down. The box features the Stax label's music starting in 1968 after the plane-crash death of Otis Redding in December 1967. In 1968, Stax not only lost its biggest-selling artist but also parted ways with Atlantic, which owned the rights to its pre-1967 material and had distributed its records. On its own, Stax, under the direction of Al Bell, re-invented soul with a funkier, big-beat socially conscious sound. No matter where you double-click on this set, the music is all action and pure joy. There's no fat or wheel-spinning. Go here.
David Bowie—Loving the Alien (1983-1988) (Parlophone). This set of 11 CDs/15 vinyl LPs is the fourth in a series of boxes spanning the singer-songwriter's career. The new box includes the remastered albums Let's Dance, Serious Moonlight (Live '83), Tonight, Never Let Me Down, a new 2018 previously unreleased version of Never Let Me Down, Glass Spider (Live Montreal '87), Dance and Re: Call 4 (a collection of singles remixes and rare sides). Go here.
Jimi Hendrix—Electric Ladyland Deluxe Edition 50th Anniversary Box Set (Sony/Legacy). Electric Ladyland was the third and final album by the band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The result was one of hard rock's turning points. Released in October 1968, the double-album produced by Hendrix included Gypsy Eyes (more than 50 takes were recorded), House Burning Down and All Along the Watchtower. This set features three CDs and a Blu-ray video. The first CD is the original album remastered; the second CD are early takes; and the third is The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl. Everything your ears want to hear if you dig Hendrix. Go here.
Rolling Stones—Voodoo Lounge Uncut (Eagle Rock). The Rolling Stones released Voodoo Lounge in July 1994 and then went out on tour. In November '94, the Stones were professionally and officially filmed performing in Miami. This set features the restored, remixed and remastered film, 10 previously unreleased performances from Giants Stadium in New Jersey, and an audio CD of the concert. Guest appearances by Sheryl Crow, Robert Cray and Bo Diddley. Go here.
Gary Giddins—Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star, the War Years (1940-1946) (Little, Brown). Bing Crosby, the recording artist, is largely forgotten today. The only time he surfaces is when you're flying through the channels on your TV set and Crosby appears on a variety show from the 1960s or '70s, or there's some dopey movie airing with him and Bob Hope. But during World War II, Crosby's relaxed sound and soft swing steadied the country's nerves. Giddins, a masterful jazz writer, takes on Crosby's professional and personal life during these crucial years, when his buttermilk sound ended the operatic pop style of most male vocalists and paved the way for the easy ethnic confidence of Frank Sinatra. Go here.
Tony Bennett: Onstage and in the Studio (Sterling). This coffee-table book written by Dick Golden is loaded with never-before seen color and black-and-white images. Great to read while Tony's albums are spinning. Go here.
