Music-related gifts are an easy choice this holiday season. Everyone loves music, right? Here are some exceptional record collections for fans of rap, metal and pop, a pair of fascinating books and clothing that helps musicians in need.
PIANO MAN: Billy Joel is celebrating 50 years of music this year and he reminds us all of how it all began. “Billy Joel – The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 “ contains nine vinyl records: his first six solo studio albums (“Cold Spring Harbor”, “Piano Man”, “Streetlife Serenade”, “Turnstiles”, “The Stranger”, “52nd Street”) with his first live album (“Songs in the Attic “) and” Live at The Great American Music Hall – 1975 “, an unreleased concert recording first available in the box set as a double vinyl album. The box also includes a 50 page booklet featuring Evidence of Joel’s early career through archival photos, insights into his songs, and tributes from fellow musicians, artists and celebrities Price: $ 250.
NOTES ON THE BOOK: “Music is history” by Questlove is both very personal and deeply rooted in history, one of the most compelling music books of the year. The five-time Grammy-winning producer and drummer of The Roots chooses one song by chapter from 1971 to 2001 and lets his encyclopedic spirit fly, explaining the song in context, reverting to its influences, connecting it to its influencers and exploring the pop culture and history of the United States. It is a tour de force. Take 1976, which highlights Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” and then highlights Duke Ellington and links it all to Richard Nixon, the Republican Party and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Questlove also includes some great lists, like the best. songs in E minor or deep hip-hop cuts. Cost: $ 30.
HEAVY BOX: Metallica’s eponymous 1991 album, commonly known as “Black Album,” is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and one way to participate is to listen to a lot of people outside of Metallica. “The Metallica Blacklist” is a four-hour, 53-track monster of cover songs from artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Miley Cyrus, St. Vincent, Weezer and Elton John. They cover legendary tracks from the album, including “Enter Sandman”, “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “Wherever I May Roam” and “Sad But True”. The seven-album vinyl box set costs $ 150, a 4-CD version costs $ 30, and the digital download costs $ 50. All proceeds go to the charities of each contributing artist’s choice as well as to Metallica’s own foundation, All Within My Hands.
RAP THIS UP: Lil Wayne Ditched the Vinyl Box Set “Tha Carter Singles Collection”, which features 19 of the rapper’s 45 rpm records, including “A Milli”, “Hustler Musik”, “How to Love” and the unreleased “Carter III” era song “Ya Dig”. Two liner lithographs and a booklet filled with unseen photos are included in the box, which is decorated with tattoos of Lil Wayne. “Tha Carter” peaked at No. 5 in 2004 on the Billboard 200, “Tha Carter II” reached No. 2 a year later, and both “” Tha Carter III “” Tha Carter IV “and” Tha Carter V “all reached the top spots in 2008, 2011 and 2018, respectively. Cost: $ 200.
BILLIE’S GIFT: How did Billie Eilish become Billie Eilish? You can learn in her songs or in the Apple + doc “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”. But there are also the hundreds of photos of her growing up in Grand Central Publishing. “Billie Eilish.” There’s one of her as a child in a scarf worn by her father as he plays the piano, and another of her and her brother, Finneas, looking mischievous like little children. “I just want you to see me and see my life, with your own eyes,” she wrote in the introduction. “I want to give you a big bunch of pictures that speak for themselves.” They are both deeply intimate snapshots of a future Grammy-winning artist and yet often ordinary snapshots of a child growing up in what seems like a loving home. Cost: $ 35
DO GOOD, LOOK GOOD: The Non-Profit Organization Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while dealing with illness, disability or age related issues. One way to help Sweet Relief help others is to gift yourself or your loved ones with cool music themed products, bags, t-shirts, tank tops, caps, mugs, bags, sweatshirts and more. Discover their “Music Heals” and “Music Is Love” lines. The profits from each purchase go to help those in need.
CAMERA CANDID: Singer-songwriter Graham Nash has been taking photos longer than he’s been making music. His collection of images over the years – “A Life in Brief: The Photograph of Graham Nash”, November 30 – captures plenty of unattended celebrities like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Mama Cass Elliott, Twiggy and, of course, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. “I have been a very lucky man in very strange places,” Nash writes in the introduction. Many of the images have a surreal flavor, some have a political vibe, and others are just random subjects he encountered on the street. Cost: $ 60.
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
