Crimson Productions' series of budget-priced Gold compilations has continued with a number of new titles spotlighting artists from the pop-rock, country, and big band genres.  Today, we'll take a look at five of those recent releases.

Nilsson: Gold features 45 tracks from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson's RCA recordings.  As Nilsson's oeuvre has been comprehensively addressed in the past - most notably on the 2013 box set The RCA Albums Collection - there's not much that's new here.  Arranged in very loose chronological order (but starting with the Midnight Cowboy classic "Everybody's Talkin'"), Gold includes all of Nilsson's U.S. charting singles except for "Remember (Christmas)" (1972) and "Many Rivers to Cross" (1974).  Harry charted many fewer singles in the U.K.; all four of those ("Everybody's Talkin'," "Without You," "Coconut," and "All I Think About Is You") are included.

Gold does a fine job showcasing Nilsson's various sides from earnest balladeer to debauched rock-and-roller.  The first disc concentrates on his whimsical early work, from the Beatles mash-up "You Can't Do That" to the quirky yet affecting likes of his own "Cuddly Toy," "Good Old Desk," "Daddy's Song," and "The Puppy Song."  Three Dog Night had a major hit with "One" ("...is the loneliest number") and the ballad "Without Her" inspired covers from artists as diverse as Herb Alpert and Jack Jones.  The second disc continues with tracks from his Richard Perry-produced breakthrough Nilsson Schmilsson (including the chart-topping Pete Ham/Tom Evans ballad "Without You") as well as his tribute to a peer, Nilsson Sings Newman, the soundtrack to The Point!, Son of Schmilsson, and the John Lennon-produced Pussy Cats in which the singer coped with a newly-ravaged voice.  CD 3 presents more from Pussy Cats, much of Nilsson's Gordon Jenkins-arranged tribute to American popular song, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, and selections from his final RCA long-players released between 1975 and 1977.  Fans might lament the absence of some personal favorites ("You're Breakin' My Heart," "Blanket for a Sail," and "Remember (Christmas)" might be the most notable omissions); the quasi-rarities include Harry's cover of his friend Jimmy Webb's humorous "Campo de Encino" and the outtake of "Over the Rainbow," both of which surfaced in the CD era. The strongest Nilsson overview remains 1995's Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology with 49 tracks; 2013's The Essential Nilsson is another fine anthology with 40 tracks including a couple of rarities.  But Gold offers fine value for money as a tribute to one of rock's most remarkable and still underrated artists and songwriters.

The series also has made room for two country music legends, Kris Kristofferson and the late Jim Reeves.  Kris Kristofferson first made his mark in Nashville as a songwriter.  The aspiring talent was sweeping floors at Columbia's Music City studios when he got a copy of "Sunday Morning Comin' Down" to June Carter Cash.  Soon, her husband Johnny would record the song, beginning Kris' career in earnest.  More covers would come from Ray Stevens, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller and Faron Young, and eventually a contract with Monument Records.  Kristofferson remained at Fred Foster's label from 1970 through 1982, the period surveyed on Gold's 44 tracks.  His work bridged the gap between traditional country and the counterculture, earning Kristofferson his "outlaw" tag.  The set starts with the three songs that remain the cornerstone of his artistry: "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "Me and Bobby McGee," and "Sunday Morning Comin' Down."  Not far behind on CD 1 are two more oft-covered classics, "For the Good Times" and "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)."  The set continues with favorites such as the 1973 Country chart-topper "Why Me" and three duets with Rita Coolidge with whom he was married between 1973 and 1980.  (Kris and Rita recorded one album for Monument and a further two for A&M which are not represented here).  It concludes with his solo version of the poignant "From the Bottle to the Bottom."

Earlier this year, Kris Kristofferson confirmed his retirement after over 50 years in music.  Sadly, Jim Reeves' life and career were tragically curtailed when the country crooner and Grand Ole Opry star perished in a plane crash at the age of 40 in 1964. But in the short time he had, "Gentleman Jim" became one of the purest, most distinctive voices in the genre, deploying his smooth and resonant baritone to great effect on such songs as "He'll Have to Go," "Four Walls" and "Welcome to My World" and helping to popularize producer Chet Atkins' lush, pop-oriented Nashville Sound as well.  One of Reeves' greatest contributions was bringing country-and-western to the world; he found great fame in the U.K., India, Germany, and South Africa where he toured, starred in a film, and recorded in the Afrikaans language.  A generous 60 tracks feature on Reeves' Gold volume, including all three of the above hits.  All told, Reeves charted roughly 75 Country hits between 1953 and 1984; for two decades after his death, RCA steadily churned out unreleased, alternate, and overdubbed versions of his songs.  Gold samples the hits during his lifetime and after, including the chart-toppers "Distant Drums," "Billy Bayou," "I Guess I'm Crazy," "This Is It," "Is It Really Over," "Blue Side of Lonesome," and "I Won't Come While He's in There."  Duets with Dottie West, Patsy Cline, and Deborah Allen (the latter two posthumously created) are all featured, as well, on this fine retrospective of the still-beloved singer.

Joe Brown is far less well-known in the U.S. than in his native U.K. where the singer-guitarist was one of the country's earliest rock-and-roll stars.  Brown got his start when producer Jack Good enlisted him as lead guitarist of the 1959 television show Boy Meets Girls (also featuring Marty Wilde and The Vernons Girls); singles followed on Decca and Pye before he signed to the Piccadilly label in 1961.  Gold anthologizes his 1960s recordings, many with his backing band The Bruvvers (a group of session musicians so christened by Jack Good).  Like many artists of the era, Brown transitioned from rock-and-roller to all-around entertainer, and the eclectic songs here reflect that.

Gold has his U.K. top ten hits "A Picture of You" (1962, No. 2), "It Only Took a Minute" (1962, No. 6), and "That's What Love Will Do" (1963, No. 3) and moderate chart entries such as "What a Crazy World We're Livin' In" (1962, No. 37), "Your Tender Look" (1962, No. 31), and "Sally Ann" (1963, No. 28).  All of these are enjoyable pre-Beatles guitar-pop confections; Brown's chart fortunes took a dive once the Fab Four burst onto the scene and changed everything.  He didn't fight the new sound; his No. 32 cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends" from 1967 is included here.  Among the other highlights are Brown's 1961 rendition of the 1910 music hall tune "I'm Henry the Eighth I Am" (Herman's Hermits' subsequent 1965 cover wasn't too far-removed in style and became an international smash), showtunes "Put on a Happy Face," "Charlie Girl," and "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," and country standards "A Satisfied Mind" and "Sea of Heartbreak."  Brown could sing and play almost anything, and his career continues to this day.  Gold is a solid introduction to his early discography.

When Glenn Miller's airplane disappeared over the English Channel en route to Paris on December 15, 1944, the world mourned the loss of the bandleader, trombonist, composer, and arranger.  Miller was the U.S.' best-selling recording artist between 1939 and 1942, and to this day, his name is synonymous with swing.  With such classic songs as "In the Mood," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Moonlight Serenade," "Tuxedo Junction," and "Pennsylvania 6-5000," Miller established his big band as one of the era's most prominent.  60 Miller specialties have been collected on Gold, most of which were originally released between 1938 and 1943 on RCA Victor's Bluebird label.  All tracks have been licensed from Sony Music.

Miller's oeuvre was characterized by ballads, swingers, novelties, and patriotic numbers, and all of those styles are sampled on this collection.  "A band ought to have a sound all its own," Miller opined.  "It ought to have a personality."  He created that personality by playing the melody on clarinet.  A tenor saxophone doubled the clarinet an octave lower, and other saxophones offered harmonic support.  The sound revolutionized popular music of the time.

In four short years, Miller notched a staggering 69 top ten records and 16 number ones.  Every one of those chart-toppers is here; many of them were songs from films including Orchestra Wives ("(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo"), Sun Valley Serenade ("Chattanooga Choo Choo"), Star Spangled Rhythm ("That Old Black Magic"), Love Affair ("Wishing (Will Make It So)"), and The Wizard of Oz ("Over the Rainbow").  Elsewhere, the set features many popular standards which were immortalized by Miller's band, among them his own composition "Moonlight Serenade" (written with Mitchell Parish), "In the Mood," "Blueberry Hill," "Imagination," "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)," "The Nearness of You," "My Blue Heaven," "Begin the Beguine," and U.K. wartime favorites "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "The White Cliffs of Dover."

All of the Gold releases are packaged in six panel digipaks.  Basic credits for each track are included but discography and liner notes are absent.  The Joe Brown volume was compiled by Phil Penman and mastered by Phil Kinrade, while the other titles' personnel is uncredited.  All five releases are available now at the links below.

Nilsson, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD688, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Everybody's Talkin'
2. One
3. Ten Little Indians
4. 1941
5. Cuddly Toy
6. She Sang Hymns Out of Tune
7. You Can't Do That
8. Without Her
9. Daddy's Song
10. Good Old Desk
11. The Puppy Song
12. I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City
13. Rainmaker (Single Mix)
14. Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
15. I Will Take You There (Single Mix)

CD 2

1. Without You
2. Coconut
3. Gotta Get Up
4. Early in the Morning
5. Jump Into the Fire
6. Love Story (You and Me)
7. I'll Be Home
8. So Long Dad
9. Me and My Arrow
10. Think About Your Troubles
11. Life Line
12. Spaceman
13. Campo de Encino
14. Daybreak (Single Version)
15. Subterranean Homesick Blues

CD 3

1. Save the Last Dance for Me
2. It Had to Be You
3. Always
4. Makin' Whoopee!
5. What'll I Do
6. As Time Goes By
7. Over the Rainbow
8. Don't Forget Me
9. Kojak Columbo
10. Pretty Soon There'll Be Nothing Left for Everybody
11. Thursday Or Here's Why I Did Not Go to Work Today
12. That Is All
13. Sail Away
14. All I Think About Is You
15. Perfect Day

Kris Kristofferson, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD675, 2020)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Help Me Make It Through the Night
2. Me and Bobby McGee
3. Sunday Morning Comin' Down
4. The Pilgrim: Chapter 33
5. Jody and the Kid
6. For the Good Times
7. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
8. The Silver-Tongued Devil and I
9. Casey's Last Ride
10. Breakdown (A Long Way from Home)
11. To Beat the Devil
12. Blame It on the Stones
13. Kiss the World Goodbye
14. When I Loved Her

CD 2

1. Nobody Wins
2. Jesus Was a Capricorn (Owed to John Prine)
3. Josie
4. Why Me
5. Border Lord
6. The Taker
7. Enough for You
8. Help Me
9. It Sure Was (Love) - with Rita Coolidge
10. Jesse Younger
11. Easy Come On
12. Lover Please - with Rita Coolidge
13. Give It Time to Be Tender - with Rita Coolidge
14. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
15. I May Smoke Too Much

CD 3

1. They Killed Him
2. El Coyote
3. Love Is the Way
4. Here Comes That Rainbow Again
5. Forever in Your Love
6. Lay Me Down (And Love the World Away)
7. The Year 2000 Minus 23
8. Easter Island
9. The Sabre and the Rose
10. Magdalene
11. Shake Hands with the Devil
12. The Golden Idol
13. Prove It to You One More Time Again
14. Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore
15. From the Bottle to the Bottom

Jim Reeves, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD668, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Distant Drums
2. Adios Amigo
3. I Love You Because
4. There's a Heartache Following Me
5. It Hurts So Much (To See You Go)
6. Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue) - with Patsy Cline
7. Four Walls
8. You're the Only Good Thing (That's Happened to Me)
9. I'm Gonna Change Everything
10. Guilty
11. Not Until the Next Time
12. How Long Has It Been?
13. Anna Marie
14. Blue Boy
15. Billy Bayou
16. I'm Getting Better
17. I Know One
18. Home
19. Partners
20. But You Love Me, Daddy

CD 2

1. He'll Have to Go
2. I Won't Forget You
3. Across the Bridge
4. Am I Losing You
5. Look Who's Talking - with Dottie West
6. Love Is No Excuse - with Dottie West
7. This World Is Not My Home
8. Is It Really Over?
9. I Won't Come In While He's There
10. Trying to Forget
11. I Heard a Heart Break Last Night
12. That's When I See the Blues (In Your Pretty Brown Eyes)
13. When Two Worlds Collide
14. I Missed Me
15. The Blizzard
16. What Would You Do?
17. Losing Your Love
18. How Can I Write on Paper (What I Feel in My Heart)
19. Is This Me?
20. When You Are Gone

CD 3

1. Welcome to My World
2. Whispering Hope
3. I'd Rather Have Jesus
4. Take My Hand, Precious Lord
5. Nobody's Fool
6. Angels Don't Lie
7. Moonlight and Roses (Bring Mem'ries of You)
8. You're Free to Go
9. I Guess I'm Crazy
10. This Is It
11. Snow Flake
12. Blue Side of Lonesome
13. Yonder Comes a Sucker
14. Missing You
15. Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me - with Deborah Allen
16. Oh, How I Miss You Tonight - with Deborah Allen
17. Don't Let Me Cross Over - with Deborah Allen
18. Why Do I Love You (Melody of Love)
19. Am I That Easy to Forget
20. The Writing's on the Wall

Joe Brown, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD645, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. A Picture of You
2. It Only Took a Minute
3. What a Crazy World We're Livin' In
4. Shine
5. The Switch
6. Stick Around
7. Crazy Mixed Up Kid
8. A Lay-about's Lament
9. With a Little Ukulele in My Hand
10. Popcorn
11. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
12. Whistle My Love
13. The Spanish Bit
14. The Other Side of Town
15. There's Only One of You
16. What's the Name of the Game
17. Moonglow
18. English Country Garden
19. Good Luck and Goodbye
20. Talking Guitar

CD 2

1. I'm Henry the Eighth I Am
2. That's What Love Will Do
3. Sally Ann
4. Nature's Time for Love
5. Your Tender Look
6. Let Her Go
7. Everybody Calls Me Joe
8. Just Like That
9. Lonely Circus
10. Louis Blues
11. Wasn't It a Handsome Punch-Up
12. Oh What a Family
13. Teardrops in the Rain
14. Charlie Girl
15. Thinkin' That I Love You
16. You Do Things to Me
17. Walkin' Tall
18. Independence
19. Hercules Unchained
20. Sea of Heartbreak

CD 3

1. A Satisfied Mind
2. Don't
3. Little Ray of Sunshine
4. Th' Wife
5. Sicilian Tarantella
6. All Things Bright and Beautiful
7. Stay a Little While
8. O's Theme
9. My Favourite Occupation
10. Your Loving Touch
11. Just You Wait and See
12. Rich Man's Son and Poor Man's Daughter
13. Show Me Around
14. Lonely Island Pearl
15. Put on a Happy Face
16. With a Little Help from My Friends
17. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
18. Bruvvers
19. Hava Nagila (The Hora)

CD 1, Tracks 1-3, 8-15, 17; CD 2, Tracks 2-5, 7-10, 13, 15-17, 19; CD 3, Tracks 2, 4, 6 with The Bruvvers
CD 2, Tracks 11-12 with Marty Wilde
CD 2, Track 18 with Marty Wilde and The Bruvvers
CD 3, Track 18 with Grazina and Michael Goodman

Glenn Miller, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD674, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. In the Mood
2. The Woodpecker Song
3. Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
4. The Lady's in Love with You
5. (I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo
6. A String of Pearls
7. Chattanooga Choo Choo
8. The Man with the Mandolin
9. Tuxedo Junction
10. Moon Love
11. Stairway to the Stars
12. Song of the Volga Boatmen
13. Elmer's Tune
14. Moonlight Cocktail
15. That Old Black Magic
16. Blue Orchids
17. Wishing (Will Make It So)
18. Blueberry Hill
19. Over the Rainbow
20. When You Wish Upon a Star

CD 2

1. Moonlight Serenade
2. Imagination
3. Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
4. You and I
5. I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem
6. The Boogie Wooglie Piggy
7. Pennsylvania 6-5000
8. Sunrise Serenade
9. Serenade in Blue
10. Careless
11. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
12. My Prayer
13. The Nearness of You
14. Indian Summer
15. Blue Rain
16. (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover
17. (Why Couldn't It Last) Last Night
18. Little Brown Jug
19. Runnin' Wild
20. Jukebox Saturday Night

CD 3

1. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
2. American Patrol
3. Rhapsody in Blue
4. The St. Louis Blues March - Glenn Miller & The Army Air Force Band
5. Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar
6. Yes, My Darling Daughter
7. We Can Live on Love
8. King Porter Stomp
9. My Blue Heaven
10. Bugle Call Rag
11. Glen Island Special
12. Begin the Beguine - Glenn Miller & The Army Air Force Band
13. On a Little Street in Singapore
14. I Know Why (And So Do You)
15. Star Dust
16. Perfidia
17. Knit One, Purl Two
18. Danny Boy
19. Along the Sante Fe Trail - Glenn Miller & The Army Air Force Band
20. At Last