I’m curious if there were ever a comprehensive Mazzy Star collection (maybe not a full on box, but a thorough retrospective), if it would include Opal as that band is pretty much what morphed into MS.
It came to me in another thread today. "Sonny Boy Williamson II". I own a lot of his material but it took a long time to collect as it's scattered all over the place. There isn't even a box set of all his work with Chess Records. There was a Charly records "Sonny Boy Williamson, the Chess Years" box set but there was something wrong with the permission they got and it was withdrawn. Sonny Boy was recorded a lot in his final years in Europe. It would be a true labour of love to put a comprehensive box set together and maybe the time when it was at all possible to justify the expense has gone. He's an artist that's stayed with me since my teenage years. A one off, a true great.
The White Stripes? It would be easy, and obvious. Studio albums plus outtakes/singles...throw in a couple of well-recorded live shows... Jackie McLean on Blue Note. As leader and sideman...would run to 15-20 cds. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Atlantic Years. There were plans for this at one point...
A few years ago, Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne compiled a wonderful two-disc compilation of Campbell's Capitol years, for EMI's UK division (though I found a copy over here easily). Not as comprehensive as a box would be, but Stanley picked excellent, relatively overlooked album tracks and b-sides along with the hit singles, and "Guess I'm Dumb" is on it, too. The set is as good as Stanley's compilations for Ace Records.
Lou Donaldson - steadily working since 1950 and still going. Played with T. Monk, on the original of Milt Jackson's "Bag's Groove", with Clifford Brown, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lonnie Smith, others before being a mainstay of Blue Note as a leader (there's still some unissued from the '70s), also recorded for Chess and others. A chronology would be interesting, but something more conceptual might be more so.
Threads been done before. But. Top of the list has to be Otis Rush And then Van Morrison Steve Earle ranks. Like the Renaissance rec. Would add Strawbs.... A good comprehensive Tom Waits. And finally.. a good Rolling Stones 60s set with good stereo versions of definitive tracks, backing tracks, authoritative booklet, color pix.... (And leave the gorilla and tongue at home.... )
Brian Wilson solo. A lot of unreleased material (e.g. Sweet Insanity, Andy Paley sessions) could be intertwined with album selections and other previously released tracks.
Gene Pitney - I'm genuinely surprised there hasn't been one. He was with one label for most of his career (Musicor). He had a large number hits. I haven't heard any of his albums but I'm willing to bet there are some deep cuts that would be worth anthologizing. He wrote several hits for others. It would be interesting to hear if there were any demos. He even had a big late hit (1989?) in the U.K. with Marc Almond that was a revamp of a previous hit (Something' Got A Hold Of My Heart). Bear Family would do this right. I'm sure there would be quite a few fans who'd be interested. But what's the problem?
Sure, we’ve done this before... but it’s still a fun game. Seconding the already mentioned Ween - early years, 4-track stuff, demos, outtakes, etc... Even if live material was excluded, this would be a huge set, potentially. Also seconding the already-mentioned Spacemen 3. Not sure how much exists that isn’t already issued (band-sanctioned or otherwise) though. Beck. Especially the early cassette releases. B-sides, collaborations, remixes. Another potentially massive set that has enormous potential. Well-mastered, please. I fear that the masters and/or session recordings from the DGC era may’ve been lost in the Universal fire. It’s not inconceivable that the masters for the earlier indie-label stuff were there also. Just speculation, of course, and I hope I’m wrong. Spiritualized - there is a ton of high-quality material. Just the collected B-sides, demos, stray officially-released live recordings & various remixes could make a huge (and amazing) set. Not sure that Spaceman is too interested in doing it though, and there are multiple record labels that would have to cooperate. Even more unlikely to happen: The Yardbirds. Include whatever unreleased material was in Giorgio Gomelsky’s rumored tape stash, take all the pre 1966 material from best existing sources, finally release Roger The Engineer with a nice mastering, and include the Jimmy Page era also. Too much to ask? Yep. One of the most influential bands, but one that’s always been given less-than-ideal presentation.
American Music Club. So much of their catalogue is languishing in the out-of-print file; the unavailability of Engine, United Kingdom and California is a gaping hole in the music world. I believe drummer Tom Mallon owned the copyright to the first four AMC albums, but he died in 2014, so now who knows...
Well comprehensive doesn't have to mean complete. A good overview box of the LPDs career would be great, though I've been making my way through some Spotify playlists and it's holding me over.