POP MUSIC SPECIAL : Rod Stewart Anthology in a Boxed Set

Are pop fans ready for a lo-o-o-o-ng look at Rod Stewart’s career?

We’ll find out Nov. 7, when Warner Bros. Records releases “Rod Stewart: Storyteller,” a sweeping 65-song anthology of hits, near-misses and unreleased oddities from Stewart’s 25-year career. The retrospective, which features Stewart classics (“Maggie May” and “Every Picture Tells a Story”) as well as obscurities (renditions of the Beatles’ “Get Back” and the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”) also offers an introductory essay by ex-New York Times critic Robert Palmer, wise-cracking liner notes from Stewart and a host of glossy photos.

The collection, which includes four CDs (or cassettes), is the latest example of what’s known as a boxed set, a popular new form of packaging largely aimed at loyal followers eager to update their collections or young fans discovering an artist for the first time.

“Boxed sets give you everything you could possibly want from an artist all in one package,” explained Andy McKaie, MCA’s vice president of catalogue development, who oversaw the production of recent boxed sets by Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon. “Older fans buy the sets to replace old albums while younger fans want them as the centerpieces of their collections.”

McKaie says MCA has a Muddy Waters box due early next month, with plans for Elton John, the Who, B.B. King and Bo Diddley boxes by the end of 1990. For a rock pioneer like Berry or a bluesman like Waters, the sale of 25,000 boxes is considered a strong showing. For a rock star like Stewart, whose “Storyteller” is armed with three potential new singles, a box could sell far more--and lend added luster to an artist’s career.

“Warners is printing 200,000 boxes--and I keep telling them it’s not enough,” said manager Arnold Stiefel of Stiefel-Phillips Entertainment. “Based on the success of Rod’s last album, which had four hit singles, and the extraordinary business he did on his 14-month tour, it didn’t take a nuclear physicist to see that he was more popular than ever. We thought it was the right time to introduce his older material to the generations of new fans who don’t know songs like ‘Handbags and Gladrags’ or ‘Cut Across Shorty.’ ”

Compiled by Greg Geller (a former RCA exec who handled several Sam Cooke and Elvis Presley reissues) “Storyteller” also gives Stewart a second shot at some of his old songs. It features re-recordings of a favorite ballad, “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” and “This Old Heart of Mine,” which Stewart does again, this time as a duet with Ronnie Isley.

“Storyteller” also features “Downtown Train,” Stewart’s new version of a Tom Waits tune, and a never-released 1975 version of “To Love Somebody,” recorded with Booker T. and the M.G.’s. (Still unreleased are two other songs from that session, covers of “Holy Cow” and “Return to Sender.”)

“Rod definitely made his feelings known, but he never stood in the way of any key songs we wanted included,” said Geller. “I know he didn’t much like his version of Sam Cooke’s ‘Shake.’ I heard from him several times about all the bum notes in his performance. But he never said we couldn’t use it.”

Though Warners owns a big chunk of Stewart’s recordings, Geller had to persuade several rival record labels to permit use of Stewart’s old solo material (now owned by PolyGram) and his work with the Jeff Beck Group (owned by CBS in the U.S. and EMI overseas).

“Nearly a third of our material is owned by PolyGram, but they came through like champs for us,” said Geller.

“They’re very aware of the enormous marketing value of a boxed set--it can activate the entire catalogue. When Eric Clapton’s ‘Crossroads’ set came out, it boosted the sales of almost all his earlier albums. The popularity of CDs has really had a major impact on boxed sets. If a fan wants to jump start his CD collection, the box is the perfect place to start.”