Some box sets serve a useful purpose--for example, Citizen Steely Dan, which collects all seven of the band's seminal albums from 1972 to 1981 on four discs—and some do not, such as Al Green's 1997 Anthology, which disappointed eager fans by including live versions of most of Al's essential hits instead of the killer studio originals (the set has now been replaced by the 2001 box set Love and Happiness). Many box sets dust off rare tracks, alternate mixes, working tracks, lost 45s, and other trivia. Sometime this stuff is a revelation, and sometimes it's just filler.

The best box sets give you a complete and accurate picture of the artist and his art, putting it in historical perspective. As comprehensive as they can be, they often make you want more. For example, I picked up Boz Scaggs' two-disc best-of My Time a few years back because I liked several of his hits and wanted them on CD. The set was an absolute revelation, so I had to go out and get nearly everything Boz ever recorded. So it is likely to be with Booker T. and the MGs after listening to their magnificent Time is Tight box set, which I discovered this week.

Where to begin? With 1962's "Green Onions," of course. The set carries you through the '60s, when the MGs were the house band at Stax in Memphis, and through all their hits, such as "Hip Hug Her," "Soul Limbo," "Time is Tight" (a version much different than the familiar 45), the awesome "Hang 'Em High" and their last significant hit single, 1971's "Melting Pot." Also included are selections from McLemore Avenue, the group's tribute to the Beatles' Abbey Road, including a gorgeous "Something" and a medley from Abbey Road's side two Pop Symphony. There are live versions of "Hang 'Em High" and "Time is Tight," traditionally the high point of the MGs' shows, and guest appearances by Boz Scaggs and Neil Young. But the greatest cut on the set may be their instrumental "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," which distills the beauty of Otis Redding's greatest hit to its perfect essence, almost as if they're in mourning for their labelmate. It is as glorious and satisfying as any recording I have ever heard anywhere. You follow the lyric in your mind as Booker T. plays the melody on the Hammond B3, and when you get to the part where Otis whistled, what Booker T. does will stand you on your head. The set concludes with another version of the song featuring Neil Young on lead vocal and a wheezing harmonica, by far the weakest track in the box, in which Young mangles the title to "Sittin' by the Dock of the Bay."

But we forgive the MGs for the last five minutes of the set, given what has gone before. Taken altogether, three discs, 65 cuts, nearly four hours of music, Time is Tight contains the deepest groove ever plowed by human musicians, a black hole of soul that will draw you in and never let you go. I believe that if my house were to catch on fire, this is now the CD I would save first. [8/29/03]