VA - Atlantic Records: The Time Capsule [9CD Limited Edition] (2009)

Founded in 1947 by avid jazz fans and record collectors Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson with a $10,000 loan from Ertegun’s dentist, Atlantic Records ended up being one of the most successful independent labels in the history of recorded music, and a litany of the label’s artists over the past 60-plus years is stunning in its diversity, ranging from John Coltrane and Big Joe Turner to Kid Rock and Gnarls Barkley and several points in-between. This “time capsule” -- nine discs of music, one DVD documentary, and a 45 rpm 7" of Sticks McGee's “Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-Oh-Dee,” plus several little bits of flare and memorabilia and a book of photographs, all of it housed in a sturdy metal box -- simply confirms what most pop music fans already knew: Atlantic Records is one hell of a record company. The music tracks here -- 168 of them -- lean to the singles side of things, and it’s hit after hit, from Turner’s “Shake, Rattle & Roll” through Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” the Drifters’ “There Goes My Baby,” the great soul releases of the '60s from Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and others, pop and rock groups like the Rascals, Cream, and the Rolling Stones, and so on right up into the first decade of the 21st century and the Zac Brown Band’s ubiquitous “Chicken Fried.” That’s a lot of history, and one assumes Ertegun’s dentist got his investment back.