> 1. box of the year?
> Reissue boxed sets are often showcases for art directors to go crazy
> on packaging concepts, and there are many fine sets available.
> Nevertheless, we can't think of any set that comes close to Rhino Records'
> forthcoming 'BEG SCREAM & SHOUT: THE BIG OL' BOX OF '60s SOUL' (Rhino, Aug.
> 5).
> First, the package: This 6-CD set comes in one of those carrying cases
> for 45-rpm singles that were popular in the '60s. Inside is a box that
> holds a set of baseball-style cards: one for each of the 144 acts featured
> in the set, plus a few acts (Sam Cooke, Sly & the Family Stone) that
> weren't included. Each card sports a photo and trivia question on one side,
> and info and the answer on the flip. There's also a 16-page booklet with
> liner notes and track info. But what makes this set truly special is the
> way the discs come packaged, along with a loving attention to detail. Each
> disc comes in a card-stock 45 sleeve; the discs themselves each snap into a
> seven-inch black plastic disc-shaped tray -- when the CD is snapped into
> its tray, it looks like a 45, which then fits into its sleeve. Each CD
> features a Rhino center label that parodies a period 45 label design: Disc
> one ("Beg 1"): Atlantic; disc two ("Beg 2"): Goldwax; disc three ("Scream
> 1"): Chess/Checker/Cadet; disc four ("Scream 2"): late-period Tamla; disc
> five ("Shout 1"): blue-label Stax; disc six ("Shout 2"): Motown. The
> attention to detail is startling: On Rhino's Motown parody, the familiar
> Midwest map with a starred Detroit is replaced with a map of Southern
> California with a starred L.A.; on the Chess sendup, Chess' '60s
> sliced-citrus horse-head logo is supplanted by a similar treatment of a
> rhino head. Even the typefaces used for label copy match original label
> fonts. And the sleeves themselves ape period single sleeves; one is a
> reproduction of a picture sleeve for a Soul Clan side; three others mimic
> stock sleeve designs from Atlantic, Chess and Motown. It's a beautiful
> piece of work.
> As for the music, Rhino didn't go for obvious choices, instead opting
> for lesser-known tracks or b-sides by big artists and a lodestone of gems
> by lesser-known acts and one-hit wonders. The set includes titles from soul
> powerhouses (Atlantic, Stax/Volt, Motown, Chess), but there are plenty of
> sides from small indie labels, too. And, sure, there are some big hits, but
> we're not talking about some cheesy "Soul Smashes of the '60s" package
> hawked on late-night TV here -- and if you're burned out on the '60s soul
> that's been embalmed by oldies-format radio in the past decade, you
> probably won't find too many of those played-to-death cuts on these six
> CDs. We won't name all 144 tracks, but here are 10 favorites: "She's
> Looking Good," Rodger Collins; "Backfield in Motion," Mel & Tim;
> "39-21-46," the Showmen; "Time Is Tight," Booker T & the M.G.'s; "Stop,"
> Howard Tate; "La-La Means I Love You," the Delfonics; "Stay With Me,"
> Lorraine Ellison; "Harlem Shuffle," Bob & Earl; "Pouring Water on a
> Drowning Man," James Carr; and "Cissy Strut," the Meters. Obviously, if you
> have any passion at all for the music from one of the greatest explosions
> of creativity in modern popular culture, you need this, now.
>
-- Mark Turner mturner@netcom.com