VA - Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records 1963-1973

 

Rhino Records released the box set Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963 - 1973 which follows Jac Holzman's tenure at the helm of the initially folk-based label that would eventually bring the world Rock 'n Roll icons like the Doors and later Queen.

The story of Elektra Records itself begins with the advent of the LP on the world of music in the late 40s-- this is where the hard-bound book, which includes a forward written by Jac Holzman, himself, begins....Knowing full well that launching an indie label was akin to ice skating uphill when the 78 RPM record was the coin-of-the-realm, as four major record companies (Columbia, Decca, RCA and Capitol) held all of the keys to the kingdom. The Big Four, as they were called, had all record pressing/ distribution technologies in an iron-fisted grip in the decades prior but the crisper sounding, more durable LP would alter that paradigm and Forever Changing chronicles some of the watershed recording sessions and artists that encouraged Holzman to marshal the wherewithal to sally forth and form the Elektra label despite all the odds...The book, filled with rare photographs and time lines, is an excellent listening companion to read while absorbing the tunes on the discs. In his foreword Holzman writes "In the aggregate, the independent labels didn't yet add up to much of a 'movement' but you could already sense the energy generated by a collection of strong-willed, unstoppable music fiends committed to a broad exploration of the global 'songbook'...which was already written but ignored...which could take seed in the encouragement and freedom of the independent record companies...This music included plenty of everything ignored by the 'Big Four'." Plainly put, there were tons of artists who were simply getting overlooked by the mainstream majors and galvanized by this omission, Holzman (and a handful of others) saw an in for rootsy, homegrown American music and slipped through the door

...as one would imagine, there a grip of music on these discs performed by artists who would go on and conquer the world for music geeks like yours truly, however, I'm all about the people you don't hear a lot about for whatever reason. There's a treasure trove of the latter and it's making my eyes roll-over-white in delight some of my faves are Judy Henske's "High Flying Bird" and Dick Rosmini performing the traditional bluegrass cut "Shady Grove" and later "Little Brown Dog." The American musicology lesson continues with Koerner, Ray & Glover's haunting, a capella "Linin' Train"...Later, it comes to me that I'm realizing Vince Martin & Fred Neil's performance of "Wild Child in a World of Trouble" had my toes tapping from the jump...The tempo picks up on the second disc and cuts that pulled my coat were Love's "My Little Red Book" and later "She Comes in Colors"; David Blue's "So Easy She Goes By", Judy Collins' "Hard Lovin' Loser", Clear Lights' "Black Roses" and Eclection's "Nevertheless" is a bonafide nugget as well, these truly are some rare rock grooves that will put the jam in your jelly and there's a couple more must-hear cuts. Be sure to check for Bamboo's groovy-as-hell "Girl of the Seasons" and "I Want You" by The Waphphle as they're quite good and, clearly, tunes which captured the feel of the under-the-mainstream-radar sound that Holzman was shooting for...what a find!

...The bonus disc, entitled Another Time, Another Place, is replete with rare singles from acts like Wind Chimes, The Beefeaters -- who later become The Byrds ("Don't Be Long"), Joseph Spence ("We Shall Be Happy"), The Charles River Valley Boys ("She's a Woman"), Simon Stokes & the Nighthawks ("Voodoo Woman"), The Rainbow Band ("Lotus") and Aztec Two-Step ("The Persecution & Restoration of Dean Moriarty")...Too, there's a double-scoop of rare finds in Eric Clapton and Powerhouse's version of "Crossroads" and David Peel & the Lower East Side's "Alphabet Song".  by Crash Pryor 

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Cd 1

1.Judy Collins Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) 3:38

2.Dián & The Greenbriar Boys He Was a Friend [as Dian & the Greenbriar Boys] 3:01

3.Judy Henske High Flying Bird 2:58

4.Bob Gibson Dink's Song (Fare Thee Well) 2:34

5.Dick Rosmini Casey 2:00

6.Dick Rosmini Shady Grove 1:10

7.Dick Rosmini Little Brown Dog 1:59

8.Koerner, Ray & Glover Linin' Track 2:16

9.The Even Dozen Jug Band The Even Dozens 2:53

10.Fred Neil & Vince Martin Wild Child in a World of Trouble [as Vince Martin & Fred Neil] 2:17

11."Spider" John Koerner Good Luck Child 2:07

12.Geoff Muldaur Downtown Blues 2:21 C

13.Phil Ochs I Ain't Marching Anymore 2:34

14.Tom Paxton The Last Thing on My Mind 3:06

15.Hamilton Camp Pride of Man 2:10

16.Judy Collins Tomorrow Is a Long Time 4:09 C

17.The Dillards With Byron Berline Black Mountain Rag 2:19

18.Kathy & Carol Green Rocky Road 2:29 C

19.Phil Boroff Cocaine 3:00 C

20.Richard Fariña House Of Un-American Blues Activity 3:26

21.Dave Ray West Egg Rag 1:29

22.Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis Two Trains Running 2:26

23.Oliver Smith Breeze 2:36 C

24.Tom Rush Joshua Gone Barbados 4:12

25.Fred Neil Other Side To This Life 2:56

26.Dino Valente Birdses 2:33

27.The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Blues With a Feeling 4:24 C

28.The Doors Moonlight Drive (Early Version) 2:30

CD 2

1.Love My Little Red Book 2:33

2.Tim Buckley Wings 2:34

3.David Blue So Easy She Goes By 3:33

4.The Butterfield Blues Band I Got a Mind to Give Up Living 5:00

5.Pat Kilroy The Magic Carpet 2:02

6.The Incredible String Band First Girl I Loved 4:54

7.Alasdair Roberts The Invisible Backward-Facing Grocer Who Rose to Fame 2:31

8.Tom Paxton One Time And One Time Only (Electric Version) 2:59

9.Phil Ochs Changes 4:42 L

10.Judy Collins Hard Lovin' Loser 2:41 C

11.Love She Comes In Colors 2:46

12.The Doors Light My Fire 7:11

13.Clear Light Black Roses 2:12

14.Tim Buckley Once I Was 3:24

15.Mort Garson Virgo - The Perpetual Perfectionist [as The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds] 3:08

16.Steve Noonan Buy for Me the Rain 2:46

17.Eclection Nevertheless 2:52

18.Ars Nova Fields of People 2:55

19.The Holy Modal Rounders Dame Fortune 2:55

20.Bamboo Girl of the Seasons 3:35

21."Spider" John Koerner & Willie Murphy Magazine Lady 2:47

22.Earth Opera The Red Sox Are Winning 3:31

23.Waphphle I Want You 2:47

CD 3

1.Love Alone Again Or 3:18

2.Judy Collins Both Sides Now 3:17

3.Tom Rush No Regrets 3:55

4.Tom Paxton Jennifer's Rabbit (Electric version) 1:45

5.The Incredible String Band Swift As the Wind 4:52

6.Nico Frozen Warnings 4:04

7.David Ackles Down River 3:58

8.Earth Opera Mad Lydia's Waltz 3:51

9.Tim Buckley Sing a Song For You 2:42

10.David Stoughton The Sun Comes Up Each Day 4:02

11.Diane Hildebrand Early Morning Blues And Greens 3:13

12.The Dillards She Sang Hymns Out of Tune 2:34

13.The Stalk-Forrest Group Arthur Comics 3:10

14.The Doors Five to One 4:31

15.Rhinoceros Apricot Brandy 1:58

16.Delaney & Bonnie When the Battle Is Over [as Delaney & Bonnie And Friends] 3:36

17.Lonnie Mack Mt. Healthy Blues 6:46

18.MC5 Kick Out The Jams 2:52 L

19.The Stooges I Wanna Be Your Dog 3:13

20.Crabby Appleton Go Back 3:07

21.Bread Dismal Day 2:22

22.Love August 5:04

CD 4

 

1.The Stooges Down on the Street (Single Mix) 2:42

2.Paul Siebel Louise 3:42

3.Judy Collins Amazing Grace 4:06 C

4.Carly Simon That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be 4:18

5.The Doors Riders on the Storm 7:14

6.Mickey Newbury The Future's Not What It Used to Be 4:31

7.Farquahr Start Living 2:41

8.Harry Chapin Taxi 6:46

9.Plainsong True Story of Amelia Earhart 4:32

10.The Wackers I Hardly Know Her Name 1:50

11.David Ackles Ballad of the Ship of State 4:19

12.Bread The Guitar Man 3:46

13.Carly Simon You're So Vain 4:18

14.Courtland Pickett You Don't Grow Old 3:53

15.Cyrus Faryar Dolphins 5:38 C

16.Skymonters Shadows on the Wall [as Skymonters with Hamid Hamilton Camp] 4:33

17.Dennis Linde Burning Love 3:00

18.Queen Keep Yourself Alive 3:49

CD 5

ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE

 

1.Jac Holzman Wind Chimes 0:25

2.The Beefeaters Don't Be Long 1:51

3.Joshua Rifkin Chorale: "You know, if you break my heart" I"ll Be Back 1:43 C

4.The Dry City Scat Band Baldheaded End of the Broom 2:10 C

5.Joseph Spence We Shall Be Happy 2:55

6.The Lovin' Spoonful Good Time Music 3:09

7.The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Born in Chicago (Folk Song '65 Version) 3:20

8.The Powerhouse Crossroads [as Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse] 2:19 C

9.Judy Collins I'll Keep It With Mine 3:10 C

10.Charles River Valley Boys She's A Woman 2:39

11.Tom Rush Sunshine Sunshine 2:59 C

12.The Holy Modal Rounders Bird Song 2:40

13.Clear Light She's Ready To Be Free 1:58

14.Tim Buckley Wayfaring Stranger (Take 4) 4:25

15.David Ackles Laissez-Faire 1:37

16.David Peel & The Lower East Side Alphabet Song 2:28

17.Simon Stokes & The Nighthawks Voodoo Woman 2:30

18.Eclection Please (Mk. II) 2:58

19.Leviathan Flames (Single Version) 3:48

20.Show Of Hands No Words Between Us 4:12

21.Jack S. Margolis Listening to Music 2:11

22.The Rainbow Band Lotus 5:26

23.Aztec Two-Step The Persecution & Restoration of Dean Moriarty (On the Road) 4:13

24.Goodthunder P.O.W. [as Godthunder] 6:47

25.Andy Roberts All Around My Grandmother's Floor 3:08

26.Jobriath World Without End  3:42

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Disc 1

01 - from Judy Collins #3 Elektra EKS 7243 1964

02 - from Dian & The Greenbriar Boys Elektra EKS 7233 1963

03 - from High Flying Bird Elektra EKS 7241 1964

04 - from Where I'm Bound Elektra EKS 7239 1964

05/06/07 - all from Adventures For 12 String 6 String And Banjo Elektra EKL 245 1964

08 - from Blues, Rags And Hollers Elektra EKL 240 1963

09 - from The Even Dozen Jug Band Elektra EKL 7246 1965

10 - from Tear Down the Walls Elektra EKL 7246 1965

11 - from Spider Blues Elektra EKS 7290 1965

12 - from The Blues Project Elektra EKS 7264 1964

- Frank Stokes cover

13 - from I Ain't Marching Anymore Elektra EKL 7287 1965

14 - from Ramblin' Boy Elektra EKS 7277 1964

15 - from Paths Of Victory Elektra EKS 7278 1964

16 - from Judy Collins' Fifth Album Elektra EKS 7300 1965

- "Tomorrow Is a Long Time written and recorded by Bob Dylan. Dylan's version first appeared on the album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II compilation, released in 1971

- Dylan's officially released version of the song is a live recording from his April 12, 1963, concert at New York's Town Hall

17 - from Pickin' & Fiddlin' Elektra EKS 7285 1965

18 - from Kathy & Carol Elektra EKS 7289 1965

19 - from The String Band Project Elektra EKS 7292 1965

- Dick Justice cover

20 - from The Singer Songwriter Project Elektra EKS 7299 1965

21 - from Fine Soft Land Elektra EKL 319 1966

22 - from Maxwell Street Elektra EKS 7303 1965

23 - from Oliver Smith Elektra EKS 7316 1966

24 - from Take A Little Walk With Me Elektra EKS 7308 1966

25 - from Bleecker & MacDougal Elektra EKS 7293 1965

26 - from 45 A-Side Elektra EKSN 45012 1964

27 - from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Elektra EKS 7294 1965

- Little Walter recorded "Blues with a Feeling" on July 23, 1953

- "Blues with a Feeling" first released by Rabon Tarrant with Jack McVea and His All Stars in 1947

28 - Demo version recorded in 1965

Disc 2

01 - from Love Elektra EKS 74001 1966

02 - from Tim Buckley EKS 74004 1967

03 - from David Blue Elektra EKS 74003 1966

04 - from East-West Elektra EKS 7315 1966

05 - from Light of Day Elektra EKS 74010 1967

06 - from The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion Elektra EKS 7311 1966

07 - from Alasdair Clayre Elektra EUK 255 1967

08 - from 45 'A' Side Elektra EKSN 45003 (UK only) 1966

- with guitar, bass and autoharp accompaniment

09 - from Phil Ochs in Concert Elektra EKS 7310 1966

- recorded at concerts given by Phil Ochs in Boston and New York in the winter of 1965-66

10 - from In My Life Elektra EKS 7320 1966

- Orchestral arranged by Joshua Rifkin

- Hard Lovin' Loser written by Richard Farina

11 - from Da Capo Elektra EKS 74005 1967

12 - from The Doors Elektra EKS 74007 1967

13 - from Clear Light Elektra EKS 74011 1967

14 - from Goodbye & Hello Elektra EKS 74038 1967

15 - from The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds Elektra EKS 74009 1967

- composed, arranged & conducted by Mort Garson // Words by Jacques Wilson // Spoken by Cyrus Faryar

-Paul Beaver / Moog and other electronic instruments

- Emil Richards / exotic percussion

- Bud Shank / bass flute

- Hal Blaine / drums

- Carol Kaye / bass guitar

- Mike Melvoin / keyboards

16 - from Steve Noonan Elektra EKS 74017 1967

17 - from Eclection Elektra EKS 74023 1968

18 - from Ars Nova Elektra EKS 74020 1968

19 - from The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders Elektra EKS 74026 1968

20 - from Bamboo Elektra EKS 74048 1968

21 - from Running Jumping Standing Still Elektra EKS 74041 1969

22 - from Earth Opera Still Elektra EKS 74016 1968

23 - from 45 'A' Side Elektra EK 45616 1967

Disc 3

01 - from Forever Changing Elektra EKS 74013 1967

02 - from Wildflowers Elektra EKS 74012 1967

- song by Joni Mitchell, and one of her best-known songs. First recorded by Judy Collins in 1967

03 - from The Circle Game Elektra EKS 74018 1967

04 - from 45 'A' Side Elektra EKSN 45021 (UK only) 1967

05 - from The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter Elektra EKS 74021 1968

06 - from The Marble Index Elektra EKS 74029 1968

07 - from David Ackles Elektra EKS 74022 1968

08 - from The Great American Eagle Tragedy Elektra EKS 74038 1968

09 - from Happy Sad Elektra EKS 74045 1968

10 - from Transformer Elektra EKS 74034 1968

11 - from Early Morning Blues and Greens Elektra EKS 74031 1968

12 - from Wheatstraw Suite Elektra EKS 74035 1968

13 - from 45 A-side Elektra EKS 74046 1968

- promo single 'What Is Quicksand? / Arthur Comics' released 1970 Elektra / EKM 45693

14 - from Waiting For the Sun Elektra EKS 74024 1968

15 - from Rhinoceros Elektra EKS 74030 1968

16 - from The Original Delaney & Bonnie/Accept No Substitute Elektra EKS 74039 1969

- The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, also known by its subtitle Accept No Substitute

- When the Battle Is Over written by Jessie Hill, Mac Rebennack (Dr. John)

17 - from Whatever's Right Elektra EKS 74050 1969

18 - from Kick Out the Jams Elektra EKS 74042 1969

- recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom over two nights, Devil's Night and Halloween 1968

19 - from The Stooges Elektra EKS 74051 1969

20 - from Crabby Appleton Elektra EKS 74067 1969

21 - from Bread Elektra EKS 74044 1969

22 - from Four Sail Elektra EKS 74049 1969

Disc 4

01 - (Single Version) 2:42 from 45-A-side Elektra EK 45695 1970

- "Down on the Street (Album Version)" 3:42

- single 'Down on the Street / I Feel Alright (1970)' released July 1970 Elektra / EKM-45695:

A Down on the Street 3:10

B I Feel Alright (1970) 3:18

- single 'Down on the Street (Mono Single Mix) / T.V. Eye (Take 9)' released 2005 Elektra / 8122-74551-7:

A Down on the Street (Mono Single Mix) 2:43

B T.V. Eye (Take 9) 4:17

- 'FUN HOUSE' 2005 reissue: Disc two

2.1 T.V. Eye (Takes 7 & 8) 6:01

2.2 Loose (Demo) 1:16

2.3 Loose (Take 2) 3:42

2.4 Loose (Take 22) 3:42

2.5 Lost in the Future (Take 1) 5:50

2.6 Down on the Street (Take 1) 2:22

2.7 Down on the Street (Take 8) 4:10

2.8 Dirt (Take 4) 7:09

2.9 Slide (Slidin' the Blues) (Take 1) 4:38

2.10 1970 (Take 3) 7:29

2.11 Fun House (Take 2) 9:30

2.12 Fun House (Take 3) 11:29

Bonus Single Mixes

2.13 Down on the Street 2:43

2.14 1970 3:21

- see also: 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions , released 1999

02 - from Woodsmoke & Oranges Elektra EKS 74064 1970

03 - from Whales & Nightingales Elektra EKS 75010 1971

04 - from Carly Simon Elektra EKS 74082 1971

05 - from L.A. Woman Elektra EKS 75011 1971

06 - from 'Frisco Mabel Joy Elektra EKS 74107 1971

07 - from Farquahr Elektra EKS 74083 1971

08 - from Heads & Tales Elektra EKS 75023 1972

09 - from In Search of Amelia Earhart Elektra EKS 75044 1972

10 - from Hot Wacks Elektra EKS 75025 1972

11 - from American Gothic Elektra EKS 75032 1972

12 - from Guitar Man Elektra EKS 75047 1972

13 - from No Secrets Elektra EKS 75049 1972

- backing vocals by Mick Jagger

14 - from Fancy Dancer Elektra EKS 75060 1973

15 - from Islands Elektra EKS 75068 1973

16 - from Skymonters Elektra EKS 75073 1973

- album 'SKYMONTERS: Skymonters with Hamid Hamilton Camp' released 1973 Elektra / EKS 75073 [Band album featuring the late Hamilton Camp, the late Bob Gibson’s former

singing partner]

- Hamid Hamilton Camp aka Hamilton Camp, Bob Camp, Hamid Camp

17 - from Dennis Linde Elektra EKS 75062 1973

18 - from Queen Elektra EKS 75064 1973

DISC 5: ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE

01 - from Authentic Sound Elektra EKS 7251 to 7263 1964

- Authentic Sound Effects created and produced by Jac Holzman

02 - from 45 "B" Side EKSN 45013 1964

03 - from The Baroque Beatles Book Elektra EKS-7306 1965:

....

"Last Night I Said" Cantata For The Third Saturday After Shea Stadium, MBE 58,000

B1 Chorus: "Last Night I Said" Please Please Me 5:52

B2.1 Recitative: "In They Came Jorking" 5:31

B2.2 Aria : "When I Was Younger" Help!

B3 Chorale: "You Know If You Break My Heart" I'll Be Back 1:40

04 - from String Band Project EKS 7292 1965

05 - from Happy All the Time EKL 273 1964

06 - from What's Shakin' Elektra EKS 74002 1966

07 - from Folk Song '65 Elektra SMP 8 1965

08 - from What's Shakin' Elektra EKS 74002 1966

- The Powerhouse only recorded a few songs in March 1966 (produced by Boyd), three of which were released on compilation album 'What's Shakin'' (The tracks included were "Crossroads", "Steppin' Out" and "I Want to Know")

- Due to contractual constraints, Winwood was credited as Steve Anglo in the original album's liner notes

- Cross Road Blues aka Crossroads, Cross Roads included on Compilation album "WINWOOD" by Steve Winwood in 1971 (United Artists / UAS-9950) track 4: "Cross Roads" (Robert Johnson) – 2:32 (performed by Powerhouse)

- The Powerhouse Members:

Eric Clapton (guitar), Pete York (drums), Jack Bruce (bass), Steve Winwood (vocals, organ), Paul Jones (harmonica), Ben Palmer (piano)

09 - from 45 "A" Side Elektra EK 45601 1966

- written by Bob Dylan in 1964, first officially released by Judy Collins

- In the liner notes of Collins' 1993 Geffen Records lp, Just Like A Woman, a Dylan tribute, she mentions that Bob told her that he'd written the song for her.

10 - from Beatle Country Elektra EKS 74006 1966

11 - from The Circle Game Elektra EKS 74018 1967

- James Taylor Cover

12 - from 45 "A" Side Elektra EK 45644 1967

- If You Want to Be a Bird (Bird Song) aka Bird Song appears on the compilation Easy Rider (1969) www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpnsIe7wBW8

13 - from 45 "B" Side Elektra EK 45622 1967

14 - from Works in Progress Rhino Handmade RHM2 7705 1999

- Wayfaring Stranger recorded in 1967

15 - from David Ackles Elektra EKS 74022 1968

16 - from Have a Marijuana Elektra EKS 74032 1968

17 - from 45 "A" Side Elektra EK 45670 1968

18 - from 45 "A" Side Elektra EKSN 45046 (UK only) 1968

19 - from 45 "A" Side Elektra EKSN 45076 (UK only) 1969

20 - from Formerly Anthrax Elektra EKS 74084 1970

21 - from A Child's Garden of Grass Elektra EKS 75012 1971

- written by Jack S. Margolis

- directed & produced by Ron Jacobs

- featuring Alex Hassilev, Anna-Lee Austin, Anton Greene, Carl Esser, Cyrus Faryar, Dorna May, Dr. Franklin D. Wacco, George Savage, Jack S Margolis John Horton, Marly Stone, Marv Howard, Michael Gwynne, Murray Roman, Ox Knox, Peter Gallway, Renais Faryar, Ron Jacobs, Tom Rounds

22 - from The Rainbow Band EKS 74092 1971

23 - from Aztec Two-Step Band EKS 75031 1972

24 - from Goodthunder EKS 75041 1972

25 - from Urban Cowboy K 42139 1973

26 - from Jobriath EKS 75070 1973

Review by Bruce Eder

This five-CD set (which also includes a bonus CD-ROM) is not the biggest, most massive box set that you've ever encountered -- back in the late '90s, Deutsche Grammophon had out something about the size of a cello case (with a pair of handles on it) that contained the label's entire recorded output of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, although, to be fair, that wasn't much more than a hyper-mega-packaging of existing CDs, CD sets, and box sets. This set, on the other hand, is very much an elaborately designed creation, specifically remastered and assembled for this release, and its packaging is custom-conceived from the individual song up through to the outer box. And in the context of popular music, this set is certainly in the running alongside some of Bear Family's most ambitious creations, for sheer size and weight -- (anyone on any kind of heart medication who decides they want this set and doesn't own a car or feel like springing for a taxi should probably order it and have it shipped to their home, rather than buy it at a store and transport it themselves, at least unless they check with their doctor first). Ironically enough, the very fact that this is, indeed, a "popular music" box set says something about the end of Elektra Records' history that is embraced by its contents, Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963-1973, and a limitation in its scope and content -- you won't mind buying it, but you'll heartily wish (and would have bought it that much faster) there were a companion volume of some sort covering the label's history from 1953 through 1963, a time when the company's output included such curiosities as physician-turned-folksinger Shep Ginandes (who was to the postwar folksinging community in Boston the same kind of godfather that Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies were to home-grown blues in England) and the soundtracks to documentary movies by Maya Deren, and when founder Jac Holzman (whose participation was all over this set) would have been astounded to see Elektra's output designated as "popular" music.

On the other hand, the box at hand, opening as it does with Judy Collins' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and closing with Queen's "Keep Yourself Alive" a decade later speaks volumes, not only about changes in the record company across that later time period, but also about changes in the society to which it was offering its music during that same era. Those buying the set will need a good-sized and sturdy table on which to open it, and to dig down, past a folder containing art prints of four classic album covers from the label, a package of postcards devoted to a larger handful of significant artists, a set of publicity shots devoted to the Doors, Love, Queen, and Tom Rush; a pair of Elektra emblem pin badges; and a 96-page hardcover book chock-full of information, essays, commentary, and more by Holzman and the artists themselves (which is another reason one yearns for a volume covering Elektra's first decade -- those are the artists who are truly lost to time and very much need an account of this sort on their behalf). With all of that material inside, the set isn't really devised for convenience of use, a fact of which you'll be reminded in your inability to find the "numbered exclusive certificate of authenticity" supposedly included, which hardly matters -- to borrow from the title of Holzman's autobiography, which is represented here on the bonus CD-ROM, one buys this to "follow the music," not to prize a numbered edition, or as an investment (the Mosaic Records boxes are wiser acquisitions in the latter regard). But following the music is made slightly difficult by the design of the set; why is it that the makers of all of these mega-boxes, from the joint EMI/Columbia Pink Floyd set Shine On and RCA's Duke Ellington career retrospective and on to this release, can't devise an easy way to store and access the CDs and, more importantly, include artist and song information on the individual CD packaging?

Some of the artists on disc one, such as Judy Collins, Judy Henske (whose "High Flying Bird" is one of the highlights of the whole set for anyone who doesn't know it -- and anyone hearing it for the first time may rightly wonder why she never got nearly as well-known or found as wide an audience as Grace Slick or Janis Joplin), Phil Ochs, Richard Farina, Tom Rush, Fred Neil, and the Doors are obvious, but many are far less so, and keeping up with it means dealing with a listing separate from the handsome CD package itself, either in the hardcover book or one of the other documents in the package. But in terms of the sound, it is mightily impressive, whether one is listening to the field-call of "Linin' Track" by Koerner, Ray & Glover or the instrumental "The Even Dozens" by the Even Dozen Jog Band; and the makers were clever enough to get such deserving figures as Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp represented separately, on "Duke's Song (Fare Thee Well)" and "Pride of Man," respectively (of which the latter is one of several places where this volume brushes up against the folk-rock boom and the psychedelic era that followed in the wake of much of the music here). This CD probably straddles the greatest gap of the set, from reinterpretations of traditional folk to the Doors' "Moonlight Drive," though the latter song doesn't convincingly belong on this CD, so much as on the next volume.

Disc two is devoted to Elektra's gradual switch in mid-decade from folk to more elaborately conceived and arranged (and heavily amplified) music, opening with Love's "My Little Red Book" and intermingling the work of the Doors, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, David Blue, Tim Buckley, Clear Light, the Holy Modal Rounders, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Incredible String Band, and Earth Opera, as well as encompassing such less familiar names as the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds, Alasdair Clayre, and Waphphle -- it marks the place where the folkies and blues artists all added instruments and began stretching out what they did with them, and the label also signed rock bands that knew distinctly more than three or four chords, and about a lot else besides playing music (though the latter was true of virtually every artist that Holzman ever signed up). And even though most of the performers here have their work represented on CD already, often in updated, audiophile-quality editions, the sound throughout this disc is still pretty damned impressive. Disc three is where it all blossoms, leaping the gap from amplified folk, blues, and pop variations to bolder messages and groups founded on harder sounds -- the Doors are still here, as are Judy Collins and Tom Rush, but Collins' "Both Sides Now" is present as a representative of Joni Mitchell's songwriting in the first acquaintanceship that most listeners had with it, and not entirely out-of-sync with Love's "Alone Again Or" or Tom Paxton's "Jennifer's Rabbit" in its rather elaborately arranged electric version. And surrounding them are Nico, the Doors, David Ackles, Rhinoceros, David Stoughton, the Stalk-Forrest Group, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Crabby Appleton, and Bread -- and the MC5 and the Stooges, both of whom carried the label into a crunchy, defiant music territory far from its roots, mining deep into a popular culture and an audience that was a world away from the one that had existed just three years before.

Disc four opens with the Stooges' "Down on the Street" and weaves across the work of Harry Chapin and Carly Simon, as well as such label stalwarts as Judy Collins (who was selling more records than ever) and Hamilton Camp (who wasn't), and takes us down roads old and new, into pop music as well as eclectic obscurities such as Cyrus Faryar, Plainsong, and Courtland Pickett, until we get to Queen, whose "Keep Yourself Alive" closes out the main section of the set. But in case that musical journey and the obscure musical notables included on the way aren't enough to satisfy the true music obsessive who would buy this set, there's a fifth disc, titled "Another Time, Another Place," which delves into a kind of alternate history of Elektra, and some of the important one-offs, blind alleys, and ultimately unsigned and lost acts that littered the company's history, as well as releases that somehow fit outside of the conception of the other discs here -- everyone from Eric Clapton & the Powerhouse and the Byrds in their early incarnation as the Beefeaters to David Peel & the Lower East Side, and Joseph Spence, a Caribbean singer from the album The Real Bahamas, which helped launch what eventually became the Nonesuch Explorer label. There are also oddities such as the 1966 Judy Collins single "I'll Keep It with Mine" (presenting the singer in a fascinating but ultimately abandoned electric folk-rock setting), the Charles River Valley Boys' bluegrass Beatles stylings, and some of the company's very late signings before Holzman's exit -- Simon Stokes' swamp rock "Voodoo Woman" and Eclection's Jefferson Airplane-influenced "Please (Mark II)" are the most interesting, but they're all well worth hearing -- when Elektra was absorbed into the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic corporate identity.

Each CD is mastered on a black-vinyl-style platter and re-creates one of the appropriate period Elektra label designs, and the whole release is an exceptional listening experience, but more to the point, it's all fun and enjoyable, mostly because the makers have avoided any obvious boundaries in doing their jobs: tracks such as Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now" and Harry Chapin's "Taxi," which were hated by many critics but sold millions of copies, are juxtaposed with pieces by the Stooges, which sold in the thousands but were immensely important and influential on two subsequent generations of musicians -- and they're on the same box with David Peel's compellingly subversive "Alphabet Song"; it's diversity in the name of completeness and telling a great larger story engagingly through the music, which ultimately matters more than the elaborate packaging or the visual paraphernalia. There's a good month's listening, at least here (plus the CD-ROM, which is Mac- and Windows-compatible and includes Holzman's Follow the Music plus an Elektra discography) and a lot more reading to go with it if that's what one wants, and the only event that could make this release even better than it is in the listening would be a further volume devoted to the earlier history of the label, to fill in that end of the music