True Treats That Span the Century

Yes, yes, the folks at RCA and Elektra have come up with yet new box sets to tempt Elvis Presley and Doors fans this holiday season, but the real treats are a pair of Rhino compilations--one that salutes the legacy of female singers and one that just may be the most fun-filled multi-disc collection ever devoted to ‘50s rock.

*** SAMMY DAVIS JR., “Yes I Can! The Sammy Davis Jr. Story,” Rhino (can be found for around $60.) “Smile, darn ya, smile,” Davis sings in the opening line of this four-disc retrospective, and the sentiment nicely summarizes much of what Davis was about as an artist. He was gifted on so many levels, from dancing to acting, that he didn’t ever seem to take the time to fulfill his potential as a singer. His goal was to knock audiences dead, and singing was just one weapon at his disposal. One of the great anecdotes in the album booklet is about how Frank Sinatra would sometimes sit down with his pal Davis and try to show him how to get the most out of a lyric. A lot of the vocals in this set are overly stylized, but there is something touching in Davis’ approach--an innocence and a desire that suggest the reason he loved being in the spotlight wasn’t just the applause, but also the knowledge that he was lifting the spirits of everyone in the room.

*** THE DOORS, “The Complete Studio Recordings,” Elektra ($110). Two years after “The Doors Box Set,” Elektra returns with an even more ambitious salute to the revolutionary L.A. band, whose music has lit a fire among generations of rock fans and musicians. Where the earlier, four-disc package focused on live selections and alternate versions of familiar songs, this definitive, seven-disc collection centers on the original six studio albums. Each is presented here on a separate disc, complete with the original artwork. The final disc is a sort of “best of” drawn from the 1997 boxed set.

*** 1/2 ELVIS PRESLEY, “Artist of the Century,” RCA ($50). The latest Presley set is a millennium-minded “best of” package. Almost all the hits are here (starting with “That’s All Right”), and the producers make some smart choices in non-hits. But there are lapses in judgment. How could they ever have picked the melodramatic “Don’t” and the lackluster “The Girl of My Best Friend” over “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and the poignant “Separate Ways”?

**** VARIOUS ARTISTS “Loud, Fast & Out of Control / The Wild Sounds of ‘50s Rock,” Rhino ($60). This four-disc package captures well the combination of party-minded celebration and flat-out rebellion that marked rock’s first decade. The music ranges from the essential tracks (from Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” to Little Richard’s “Tutti-Frutti”), but there’s no break in the momentum when the set’s producers slip in such obscurities as Gene Vincent’s “B-I-Bickey-Bi, Bo-Bo-Go” or Big “T” Tyler’s “King Kong” or Vince Taylor & His Playboys’ “Brand New Cadillac.” Adding to the fun: liner notes by Colin Escott that capture marvelously the spirit of the music.

**** VARIOUS ARTISTS, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A Century of Women in Music,” Rhino ($70). The ‘90s may be the decade of women in pop, but this five-disc set underscores well the legacy of female singers in the 20th century. Rather than focus on a particular genre, the set embraces women from rock, pop, R&B;, country, hip-hop and jazz. It’s a wonderfully democratic approach that begins shortly after the turn of the century with Ada Jones’ “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and touches on Sophie Tucker, Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bessie Smith and Judy Garland before we even get to World War II. In some cases, limiting a collection to one song per artist would be a weakness, but there’s something liberating about the sweep of performers, which continues through Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield to Sinead O’Connor and Liz Phair.

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Albums and other gifts in this section are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).