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Boxing days
Steve Morse
Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris lead the pack of CD sets
A new wave of boxed sets has hit the stores in time for the holiday season. There are some beauties this year — from Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris, especially — though there are fewer than usual because the industry feels that consumers have grown tired of them.
Boxes by Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton used to sell 500,000 to 1 million copies during the phenomenon's peak in the late '80s and early '90s, but in recent years boxes by Steve Winwood and others have not cracked 50,000 in sales. Another problem is that most major artists have already released boxes, so consumers may be satiated. The high price tag of $40-$60 for most boxes has also taken its toll.
But economics aside, there's no excuse to turn off to some of the treats that have landed in stores recently. They may be fewer in number, but not in quality. Among the new releases:
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Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve
Costello & Nieve
Costello launched a low-key club tour last spring with keyboardist Nieve — and the results were spectacular. Each of these CDs represents a different night on the tour, with entirely different songs. It's a look at the cabaret, singer-songwriter side of Elvis, who wisely tailors each show for the respective city. At Boston's Paradise club, he sings longtime Boston fave "The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes." In San Francisco, he does "Ship of Fools," which he once recorded for a Grateful Dead tribute album. In Los Angeles, he performs Burt Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," because Bacharach is in the audience. Costello's wit is sharp throughout. If you're a fan, you'll want to jump at this box because there's a limited run of only 30,000 copies.
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Emmylou Harris
Portraits
Really, has there been a better country singer in the last 20 years than Harris? She states her case here with stunning authority. She sweeps from bluegrass to country-rock to expansive covers of Bruce Springsteen and Kris Kristofferson tunes, along with previously unreleased takes of Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day," Don McLean's "And I Love You So" and a spirited enhancement of Bob Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece," which leaves other versions (by the Grateful Dead and The Band) in the dust. There are priceless duets with Gram Parsons, trio tunes with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt and so much more show-stopping music that you're on your knees with an "I'm not worthy" bow by the end.
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