Berry, Dixon, Davis Sets in Stores

Gift-giving was easy in the early days of CDs. Consumers were just starting their collections and eager for almost any album by a favorite artist.

Now that CDs have been around a few years, however, many consumers have sizable collections, which makes it increasingly difficult to find just the right gift item. That’s why some industry insiders believe we will see a rise in the number of CD boxed sets.

Pete Howard, publisher of the ICE newsletter, said Columbia Records’ success with Bob Dylan’s “Biograph” box in 1986 and PolyGram’s success with Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads” box earlier this year alerted companies to the potential of these sets.

Sensing a market for special packages, Capitol Records has issued “CD Gift Sets” spotlighting Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and the Band. Unlike the “Biograph” concept--which features a retrospective of an artist’s career plus an illustrated booklet outlining the artist’s history--the Capitol packages simply offer four regular albums by the artists at a budget price.

Along more traditional “Biograph” lines are three-disc Chuck Berry and two-disc Willie Dixon sets from MCA (see reviews below) and a four-disc Miles Davis set from Columbia. The MCA packages retail for about $39 and $25 respectively, while the Davis box sells for around $37.

New Releases

Chuck Berry’s “The Chess Box: Chuck Berry” (Chess/MCA)--A marvelous overview of rock’s first great songwriter-performer, a man who helped introduce adult themes into rock and whose guitar-riffs remain among the best known in the music’s history. Besides all the hits (from “Maybelline” to “Johnny B. Goode”), the box includes five previously unreleased numbers, the most interesting of which are versions of the country standard “Crazy Arms” and the Mack David/Duke Ellington composition “I’m Just a Lucky So and So.” On a scale of one (poor) to four (excellent) checks: ****

Willie Dixon’s “The Chess Box: Willie Dixon” (Chess/MCA)--Dixon’s own singles didn’t make the R&B; Top 10 in the ‘50s, but he was a marvelously influential figure who wrote hits for such classic Chess artists as Little Walter (“My Babe”), Muddy Waters (“Hootchie Coochie Man,”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Evil”) and Bo Diddley (“You Can’t Judge a Book By Its Cover”). This enlightening set combines those hit recordings with some of Dixon’s own records. ****