By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:00 am:

I was just going thru the old collection today (I'm going to be moving next month and I have to prune down a BIG collection), and it occured to me that I would be very well served by more box sets by some artists that are WELL over due for a good hits/rarities/unreleased box set that has killer liner notes. In no particular order:

1. Gamble and Huff - The Neptune/Gamble label years and their productions of other people (Nyro, Dusty, Jerry Butler, etc)

2. Stevie Wonder - I want to know what some of his "works in progress" sound like...

3. Parliament AND Funkadelic boxes - I'm sure that George and the guys have a GRIP of unreleased stuff

4. Kool and the Gang - Can't get enuff of dat funkay stuff....

5. Chaka Khan - Before during and after Rufus with some live stuff mixed in...

Ok, folks... gimme some mo' recommendations...

Da Chef

By Brandi1978 (152.163.252.68) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:26 am:

Eddie Kendricks,David Ruffin and martha and the vandellas

By Greg C. (207.103.134.228) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 01:01 am:

1) Dionne Warwick Box-Long overdue! The lady has been in the industry for over 40 years and I'd love to see a box set of her Scepter, Warner Brothers, and Arista work. There's a wealth of material here!

2) Janet Jackson Box-Hard to believe she's been around recording professionally for 20 years.

3) Golden World/Ric Tic Box-Where are those masters? This is another project that's long overdue

4) Sussex Records Box-This label that was around from 1969-1975 put out some of the best R&B music
and had a very impressive roster in Bill Withers, Dennis Coffey, Creative Source, Zulema, Lonette McKee, and Faith, Hope & Charity. Who has the masters?

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.1) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:11 am:

Greg
dont forget Billy Woods in your Sussex Set.
"Let me make you happy"
mel.

By Livonia Ken (136.2.1.153) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:39 am:

I would love to see a box set that covers "The Rest of The Sound of Philadelphia" to complement the Gamble & Huff set.

I'd settle for a set of Thom Bell productions, though.

Regards,
Ken

By Reese (12.15.169.47) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:48 am:

All of these, in my opinion, are long overdue:

1) Gladys Knight and the Pips

2) Dionne Warwick

3) Patti LaBelle (inlcuding Bluebelles and Labelle material)

4) Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

5) The Marvelettes

6) Natalie Cole

7) Ashford and Simpson

8) Esther Phillips

9) Millie Jackson

10) Bettye LaVette

By Livonia Ken (136.2.1.153) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:01 am:

I'll second the vote for Gladys Knight and the Pips. They certainly deserve a label and career-spanning box set like Hip-O/Motown did with The Four Tops' "Fourever".

Regards,
Ken

By Charmedes (142.165.109.161) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:12 am:

I'd like to see more readily available, all inclusive compilations by:

1) Eartha Kitt
2) Shirley Ellis
3) Madame X
4) Fontella Bass

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:15 am:

HOW ABOUT A DRIFTERS BOX SET,THERE ARE SOME GOOD COMPILATION SETS AVAILABLE,BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT A SET WITH EVERYTHING FROM CLYDE TO JOHNNY MOORE'S DRIFTERS IN THE UK.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:24 am:

R&B:
Atlantic Records released a four CD box on the Drifters as you described it. It came out in 1993.

I agree with Ken & Greg on their choices of Gladys Knight & the Pips and Dionne Warwick - both offer a wealth of material & would be a compiler's dream. I guess Rhino would be the obvious choice to put together these boxed sets although I would love to see someone like Hip-O take a stab at it (the Four Tops "Fourever" set was pretty decent).

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.8) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:36 am:

Hey R&B
My mate has every drifters record ever done
I totally agree with what you say bro'
drip droppin'out-a-here
mel

By douglasm (68.113.13.31) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:37 am:

How 'bout a Cameo-Parkway-Lucky 11 highlite set?

By MEL&THEN SOME9 (217.14.178.8) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:38 am:

just caught your post Kev.
mel

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 02:16 pm:

THANKS KEV,1993 HUH,THAT MUST HAVE BEEN THE YEAR THAT I HAD MY HEAD IN THE SAND!

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 02:28 pm:

I hear from the grapevine that a Cameo/Parkway one is being worked on as we speak... Let's hope that it sees the light of day soon

By Handsome (170.118.157.134) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 03:56 pm:

Here are the Comprehensive/Definitive Boxed sets I'd like to see (& buy):

Brenda Holloway

The Marvelettes-If it's nothing but all tunes from albums:The Marvelettes, Sophisticated Soul (I love this album cover), In Full Bloom & The Return of the Marvelettes.

Dionne Warwick-LONG OVERDUE...would even like to get my hands on a copy of the album Luther wrote & produced for her. Those songs should be included too.

Gladys Knight & The Pips-I can never get enough of them! I'd like to hear their version of "Keep An Eye" & "What good am I without you".

Blinky-I understand she has material up the wahzoo!

The Emotions-Stax/Volt & Columbia years.

By JoB (204.42.12.2) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 02:52 am:

Music chef---Stevie wonder has a box set, I saw it in a Best Buy last week...

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 03:11 am:

I saw a collection of hits, but I've checked around for one with rarities and other goodies... NO dice on that one yet... Thanks for the shout out

Da Chef

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 03:14 am:

Hey... Let's start our own label and lease the recordings from the majors and do our own box sets... I got the photos ! I think we have enough people here with the right contacts to make it work... What do you think ?

Da Chef

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 04:02 pm:

Chef:
You're gonna need a big bank account to afford the licensing from all these labels, amigo. Trust me - I've been there.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By HW (68.37.216.164) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 08:39 pm:

Clarence Avant owns the Sussex masters.

By Captain radio (68.193.189.200) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 08:47 pm:

A Cameo/Parkway boxed set? Is the end of the world coming?

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 09:06 pm:

Folks:
I work in the same building as the folks who remaster recordings for ABKCO. They did work on the remastering for the proposed Cameo-Parkway boxed set.

It was extensive but the bulk of the work is done, so it's just a matter of time before ABKCO releases the collection.

There was a French import that covered all of PIR's hits from 1971 to 1986. Unfortunately it is out of print.

Ken:
Gamble & Huff would agree with you - they said in an interview with Billboard magazine years ago that someone should do a boxed set on Thom Bell.

Charmedes:
Bear Family in Germany released an extensive boxed set of Eartha Kitt's RCA recordings many years ago. You may want to visit their website & check.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Wonder B (80.14.113.209) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 07:27 am:

KevGo I don't know what box set you are referring to but I have one that features 14 LP's and which I bought in England in the late 80's and which has every hit and a lot of obscure PIR recordings... great great set...

Wonder B

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 11:34 am:

IS THERE A BOXED SET FOR THE COASTERS,THAT WOULD BE ALOT OF FUN TO HAVE.

By Rich (162.33.247.243) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 01:39 pm:

Chef I love your suggestions. With a shoe box, siccors, scotch tape, CD burner & color copier I can do my own box sets for Kool & the Gang & P-Funkadelic - LOL.

On the serious tip a P-Funk Box would be an overwhelming task. A 20 disc minimum with probably few buyers (in America). Anything less leaves glaring holes. It would take two-discs just to cover Clinton's Northern Soul era, before all the tunes stretched to 10 minutes or more. Plus there are indeed a lot of demos & outtakes, etc. Kool & the Gang's box would be far more manageable. In a perfect world, I'd get input on that one.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 01:56 pm:

Wonder B:
When I was a record retail manager in the early 1990s, I carried a two volume series of PIR singles called The Philadelphia Story. This consisted of all the CBS-released PIR singles divided up into two - four CD series (vol. 1: 1971-75; vol. 2 1976-81). This collection was put together in France & my store carried is as an import.

I sold at least ten copies of this collection before it went out of print a year later in 1992.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Steve Litos (209.100.86.4) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 03:24 pm:

I think the Cameo-Parkway might be a reality soon. Jody Klein (son of Allan) seems to be musically on the ball. In the past year we've had the ABKCO Rolling Stones released and Sam Cooke too. We will see...

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 03:35 pm:

Good... I can dust off all of the negatives I have from the Cameo-Parkway folks... Anyone doing an article and need any photos ?

Da Chef

By stranger56 (165.155.160.122) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 03:47 pm:

How 'bout a Dells boxed set(50th Anniversary)?
Or a Dramatics set?
I know there are many compilations around, but I haven't seen full boxes on these groups.
What about the Stylistics?
There's plenty of material on all these groups just sitting somewhere, I would imagine.

Jim

By Charmedes (142.165.109.44) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 10:23 pm:

Kevin:
Thank you for the information concerning Eartha Kitt's German recording connection. I was able to track down a few greatest hits collections possibly a bit closer to home:

- Miss Kitt to you - RCA 1992
- Purr-fect: Greatest Hits - 7-n Music 1999
- The bad Eartha/down to earth - Collectables
2002

In or around 1986 Eartha released a series of remarkable dance anthems featuring her purring, growling, sensual delivery at its exotic best. Tunes included "Where is my man, This is my life, I don't care and Sugar Daddy." There was a greatest hits compilation of these songs as well featuring remixes released on the Unidisc label around that time.

A readily available box set of samples from all time periods of her epic career would be a treat indeed.

By Wonder B (81.48.89.71) on Friday, July 11, 2003 - 08:24 pm:

Damn! KevGo I am in France and cannot remember those box sets... I really must have been looking the other way when they came out...

Wonder B

By Thommygirl_70 (64.12.97.7) on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 09:34 pm:

Hello everyone. I know this post is from a few weeks ago but I just wanted to respond to it. I would *love* to see a boxed set on Donny Hathaway. I only have a greatest hits collection on him but am 'yearning' for more. I think this man was amazing. I have been looking online at various record store websites and do not believe that there is one. I think that this would be great.

By Handsome (170.118.157.133) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 10:54 am:

Hi Thommygirl:

I love Donny Hathaway too. I don't think there is box set on him, though I have most of his material. I even have the soundtrack of Come Back Charleston Blue, with a duet between Donny & Margie Joseph.

Handsome

By Galactus (207.144.253.114) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 11:14 am:

R&B:

Rhino did put out a nice two disc set of The Coasters in the mid 90s called "50 Coastin' Classics: Anthology." It really has everything you need and then some, starting with their days as "The Robins." It's hard ot imagine something more extensive then this.......and to be honest.....after you get past their glory years it gets a little tough to sit through. But Disc one and the first half of Disc 2 are outstanding.

I agree with the sentiments on Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight.....both long overdue.

By Thommygirl_70 (64.12.97.7) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 02:07 pm:

oh wow Handsome, I've never heard that song by Donny and Margie Joesph before! Yes, Donny was so talented and died way too soon. Hopefully one day there *will* be a boxed set on him with all of his released material as well as unreleased material (if there is any) That would be great.

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 02:52 pm:

Musicchef-I am sure Dee Dee Sharp would like to
see or even get any of the photos you may have
of her.

We need another Motown box set with medium-sized
hits from the 60s. And, even, some lesser none
sides like they used to do on LPs "A Collection
of 16 Big Hits", remember those?

The Shirelles need a major/top quality box set.
And, thinking of them, the Scepter/Wand box set
has excellent quality, but there are several songs
not included and even some artists, like Tammy
Montgomery.

By LeVan45789 (166.107.77.44) on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 05:23 pm:

These are picks for a box set:

The Marvelettes
Rufus & Chaka Khan
Vicki Sue Robinson
Martha & The Vandellas
The Commodores
Smokey Robinson

Just to name a few