Over the last few months, I set aside 16 new box sets and albums to feature in a JazzWax holiday gift-giving post. There's no rhyme or reason for the albums selected below other than they are seriously cool and feature terrific music and fidelity. Great as gifts for you or for those you love:
The Beatles: Red and Blue Albums (Apple)—In 1973, three years after Paul McCartney announced the Beatles breakup, Apple released what has become known as the Red and Blue Albums. These were the popular compilations simply named 1962-1966 and 1967-1970. Or more widely known as the double albums with the Fab Four looking down from a stair landing at London's EMI House. The one from 1962 that appeared on the Red cover was originally used for their Please Please Me album release. The Blue Album featured a photo of the Beatles in 1969 in the same location and position for their planned Get Back album, later renamed Let It Be. Twenty-one songs have been added to the original two albums, which were remastered and are available as a digital download, a double-CD or a three vinyl-LP set. Both also have been combined into a singular boxed set—1962-1970—that contains all the material and is available as a four-CD or six-vinyl LP box. The new and so-called final Beatles song Now and Then was added to the Blue Album. The fidelity is fabulous. (Go here, here or here).
What a Groovy Day: The British Sunshine Pop Sound (Grapefruit)—This three-CD box features 87 tracks or four hours of music guaranteed to put you in a good mood. Sunshine pop was an alternative and antidote to hard rock of the progressive, psychedelic and blues variety starting in the late 1960s and extending into the '70s. Instead of wailing guitars you had catchy melodies, vocal harmony and upbeat song themes. I last posted on sunshine pop in 2017 here. Same movement, but in Britain. (Go here or here)
Let’s Stomp! Merseybeat and Beyond, 1962-1969 (CR Jam)—Liverpool was the U.K.'s Memphis at the dawn of the 1960s. The biggest act to come out of the American city was Elvis Presley and the biggest act to come out of Liverpool were the Beatles. But as with Memphis and Elvis, Liverpool was way more than the Beatles. A wealth of other groups there also specialized in the big beat. This three-CD box looks at the so-called stomp movement that was overshadowed by the Beatles' success. These 93 tracks provide a sense of the the Merseyside scene, and some of the bands sound like the Beatles' cousins, like The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Big Three. (Go here or here)
Classic Don Byas Sessions, 1944-1946 (Mosaic)—This 10-CD set does the overlooked tenor saxophonist justice and some. The box features recording sessions from Savoy and National, and many obscure labels where ownership has faded into oblivion. The big news is the trove of "lost" home recordings from the collection of Timme Rosenkrantz, the Danish jazz aficionado. The box features Byas in duet, quartet, quintet and big band settings led by Byas and others including Emmett Berry, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Cozy Cole, Oscar Pettiford, Benny Carter and others. (Go here).
The Definitive "5" Royales (Rhythm & Blues)—This six-CD box includes the vocal group's A and B sides for Apollo and King and a Home of the Blues test tape from 1961. The "5" Royales are easily one of the best and most highly regarded R&B groups of the 1950s. They combined gospel, jump blues and doo-wop, and since most of their big hits came in 1952 and '53 and were written by guitarist Lowman "Pete" Pauling, they were an early influence on the rise of rock 'n' roll. (Go here).
Beatles Beginnings (Rhythm & Blues)—There are no Beatles tracks here. This seven CD set simply documents the music they were listening to at different phases of their early career. Which is interesting, since most people think the Beatles woke up one morning and started playing She Loves You. For years prior to their arrival in the U.S., the lads were voracious consumers and students of American country & western, rock 'n' roll and R&B. What we hear on their early albums is a synthesis of artists they absorbed and processed through their own vision and beat. This 202-track box gives you a sense of just how big and eclectic their musical appetites were. (Go here)
Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else (Mobile Fidelity)—Trumpeter Miles Davis is a sideman on alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley's only album for Blue Note. At the time it was recorded in March 1958, Adderley was a member of the Miles Davis Quintet. One can assume Davis was doing Adderley a favor, not only by recording on the album but also choosing most of the material, including his original title track. Adderley and Davis were backed by Hank Jones (p), Sam Jones (b) and Art Blakey (d). Mobile Fidelity's 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe recording technique here allows all of the music to stand out in high relief, providing an in-the-room feel on any stereo system. (Go here)
Art Pepper: The Complete Maiden Voyage Recordings (Omnivore Recordings). In August 1981, alto saxophonist Art Pepper performed for three nights at Los Angeles's Maiden Voyage club. All 42 songs from the seven sets performed during the run now appear on seven CDs. The box's package contains Pepper's original handwritten notes, photos and an essay by Laurie Pepper, who co-produced with Omnivore's Cheryl Pawelski. Pepper was backed by pianist George Cables, bassist David Williams and drummer Carl Burnett. Pepper would die 10 months later in June 1982. (Go here)
Bruce Springsteen: Greetings From Asbury Park (Mobile Fidelity)—Bruce Springsteen's first album, which I wrote about here for The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, has also been given Mobile Fidelity's ultradisc one-step pressing treatment. It's also pressed on SuperVinyl. The fidelity is big and distinct, a fitting tribute to the singer-songwriting Boss at the dawn of his career. (Go here)
The Mountains, the Sun and the Sea: The Art of Antonio Carlos Jobim (Cherry Red)—Before singer-guitarist João Gilberto's landmark album Chega de Saudade featured songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and other bossa nova composers, Jobim was already an accomplished and established composer in Brazil. This four-CD set documents Jobim's compositions in his home country, from 1954 to 1962. (Go here or here)
Aretha Franklin: Live in Cologne, May '68 (Rhythm & Blues)—Aretha Franklin's live appearance at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw on April 28, 1968 remains one of the great soul concert videos of all time. Weeks later, her European tour took her to Cologne, Germany, where she performed another stellar concert. This previously unreleased live album from Cologne has all the hair-raising excitement of her Amsterdam appearance. (Go here or here for vinyl and CD)
Steve Miller—J50: The Evolution of the Joker (UMe)—The Steve Miller Band's album The Joker came out 50 years ago, in October 1973. The title single reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart and the album climbed to No. 2. The album was a game changer for Steve, who was able to take a hiatus after touring for The Joker that let him write what would become his next album, Fly Like an Eagle (1976). The anniversary box set is spectacular and features 27 previously unreleased demos, live performances, studio outtakes and rehearsals from his archive, including eight previously unreleased songs. Steve also provides narration outlining the evolution of album songs. (Go here or here)
Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years 1972-1975 (Elektra Catalog Group)—If you're a Joni fan, the Joni Mitchell Archives series is spectacular. This recently issued third volume is no exception. and covers her three albums for David Geffen's Asylum label: Court and Spark, Miles of Aisles and The Hissing of Summer Lawns. The five-CD box includes recording sessions with Graham Nash, James Taylor, Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers along with Tom Scott and the L.A. Express. There are previously unreleased song demos, early and alternate versions of classic songs,and historical performances. Also included is a 40-page photo book and liners by Cameron Crowe. (Go here)
Steely Dan: Remastered Series (Geffen/UMe)—If you're a hard-core fan of Steely Dan's Aja, then you know the 1977 album in recent years has reached cult status with vinyl collectors. Forums feature debates over which pressing has the best audio results, and near-mint versions can get pretty pricey. I have three different pressings of the album. Much of the fuss has been over the erroneous belief that all of the band's masters burned in the famed Universal Studios fire in 2008. It didn't help that a New York Times Sunday Magazine piece repeated this. The truth is the masters were spared. Aja's were never returned to MCA, and their whereabouts today remain unknown. The good news is that the entire Steely Dan catalog is being remastered for vinyl by audio engineer Bernie Grundman, who used a mint analog pressing to remaster Aja. Revamped Dan albums out now are Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic and Aja, with more on the way. (Go here, here, here and here)
You Can Walk Across It on the Grass: Boutique Sounds of Swinging London (Grapefruit)—Swinging London had a sound all its own. In the U.S., we had just a small taste of it through Petula Clark records and through 1960s movie soundtracks for films from the U.K. The sound came with a big beat, and the singer or singers were often backed by a brassy orchestration. Sort of The Avengers meets James Bond. As a kid, I remember experiencing the sound during my first trip to London in 1968 with my parents. I was 11 and was enthralled that there was a radio built into the headboard of the hotel bed my younger brother and I shared. I switched it on and out came the sound of Swinging London. I didn't want to leave the room. This 93-track box features the music you'd hear if you were there then, like A Band of Angels' Invitation, Tony Rivers and the Castaways' Girl Don't Tell Me, the Hi-Fi's London Look and Electric Banana's Walking Down the Street. This one is coming January 19. (Pre-order here or here)
Archie Bell & The Drells: The Albums 1968-1979, 5CD Box Set (Cherry Red)—Coming January 19th, the first definitive box set of the complete Atlantic and Philadelphia International albums by Archie Bell & The Drells, plus an additional disc of bonus tracks. The LPs are Tighten Up, I Can't Stop Dancing, There's Gonna Be a Showdown, Dance Your Troubles Away, Where Will You Go When the Party's Over, Hard Not to Like It and Strategy. Archie never sounded so good. (Pre-order here or here)
