CD Boxed Sets.(Sound recording review)

"Atlantic Vocal Groups 1951-1963" (Atlantic)--American popular music in the fifties was a stew of jazz, jump blues, and close-harmony groups; by the middle of the decade, rock and roll had taken hold. This four-disk set lovingly illustrates the transition through the era's vocal groups--the Clovers, the Drifters, the Regals, the Penguins. The music is superb, with disks divided into the up-tempo numbers and dreamy ballads that spawned rock and roll, and material from the vocal-group revival of the early sixties.

Johnny Cash, "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (The Legacy Edition)" (Columbia/Legacy)--In January of 1968, Johnny Cash played a pair of shows at Folsom State Prison in Northern California, solidifying his outlaw image while delivering a spectacular set of crime-and-punishment-themed country music. The album, offering selections from those performances, has never been out of print, but this fortieth-anniversary set includes both concerts in their entirety, plus a documentary DVD.

Benny Goodman, "Classic Columbia Orchestra Sessions (1939-1958)" (Mosaic)--Goodman's stint with Columbia Records wasn't what made him the King of Swing, but it was among his most creative work. Concentrating mainly on instrumentals, which reaffirm Goodman's fabled virtuosity on the clarinet, this seven-disk set also reacquaints listeners with the innovative work of the overlooked arranger Eddie Sauter.

"Hommage a Nesuhi" (Rhino Handmade)--The late record executive Nesuhi Ertegun may not have possessed the celebrity of his younger brother, Ahmet, but his visionary production work for Atlantic Records with John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ray Charles, Hank Crawford, and others made him a behind-the-scenes legend. This five-disk tribute was the last project completed by Joel Dorn, the producer who followed Ertegun at Atlantic and who died late last year.

The Jesus and Mary Chain, "The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides and Rarities" (Blanco Y Negro/Rhino)--The Jesus and Mary Chain opened up their career with a blast: the epochal fuzzed-out album "Psychocandy," in 1985. For more than a decade, William and Jim Reid continued to make like gothic Everly Brothers, combining intense feedback and an equally intense love of early rock. This box collects stray singles, soundtrack contributions, and demos, and, while four disks may be more than most fans need, the set delivers a surprisingly satisfying and cohesive portrait of the band.

"Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia" (Philadelphia International/Legacy)--In the early seventies, commercial soul music moved away from its twin bases in Detroit (Motown) and ...