Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Neil Young Take Best Boxed Set/Reissue/Live Album Titles at the Music Box

Oak Park, IL, December 18, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Popular e-zine The Music Box has released its listing of the best boxed sets, reissues, and live albums of 2006.  Johnny Cash’s At San Quentin took the top honor for best boxed set; Nina Simone’s Forever Young, Gifted, and Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit, a new compiled retrospective, was named best reissue; and Neil Young’s Live at the Fillmore East: March 6 & 7, 1970 was tabbed as the year’s best concert recording.

For the first time, The Music Box divided what had been dubbed “best specialty package” into three distinct categories.  “The division gave us an opportunity to recognize more artists and albums than we were able to do in the past,” said  Music Box founder John Metzger.  “There just seem to be more and more archival items that are worthy of attention, and I foresee officially adding another category for surround sound releases in the near future.”

The Music Box was founded in 1994 as a hard copy newsletter, but it has flourished since joining the internet community in 1997.  The publication covers a wide array of music, including blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, folk, and the many configurations of rock and roll.  Subscribers to The Music Box’s e-mail list and regular visitors to its web site are treated to reviews of the latest albums, DVDs, movies, books, and concerts as well as in-depth interviews and articles, daily music news, and tour date information.  In addition, members of its e-mail list are eligible to win a variety of items.  This month’s giveaways include copies of the CD An Other Cup by Yusef, who formerly was known as Cat Stevens).  Each year, several million guests visit the site, which now holds nearly 3,400 pages of information.  

Best Boxed Sets (3 or More CDs/DVDs)

1) Johnny Cash - At San Quentin: Legacy Edition
2) Jerry Lee Lewis - A Half Century of Hits
3) Willie Nelson - The Complete Atlantic Sessions
4) Buddy Guy - Can't Quit the Blues
5) The Clash - The Singles

Best Reissues

1) Nina Simone - Forever Young, Gifted and Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit
2) Santana - Santana III: Legacy Edition
3) Johnny Cash - Personal File
4) Pretenders - Pretenders: Deluxe Edition / Pretenders II: Deluxe Edition
5) Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby
6) Roy Orbison - The Essential Roy Orbison/Sings Lonely and Blue/Crying/In Dreams
7) The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me [Deluxe Edition]/ The Head on the Door [Deluxe Edition]
8) T Bone Burnett - Twenty Twenty: The Essential T Bone Burnett
9) George Harrison - George Harrison - Living in the Material World
10) Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Best Live Albums / DVDs

1) Neil Young - Live at the Fillmore East: March 6 & 7, 1970
2) Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar
3) Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Brotherman in the Fatherland
4) Neil Young - Neil Young: Heart of Gold
5) Peter Rowan - Crucial Country
6) Steve Goodman - Live at the Earl of Old Town
7) Railroad Earth - Elko

###