New box sets offer deep dives into music of Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Joni Mitchell

Aretha Franklin, "Aretha" (Atlantic/Rhino)

This is the first CD boxed set to feature songs that the Queen of Soul cut for all four record labels she was signed to, starting with her 1956 debut single, "Never Grow Old," recorded at age 14. All 81 selections have been remastered and 19 are previously unreleased.

Highlights include a striking voice-and-piano home demo of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" and the show-stopping performance of Carole King's "A Natural Woman" at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors.

GEORGE VARGA, San Diego Union-Tribune

Elvis Presley, "Elvis Back in Nashville" (RCA/Legacy)

After last year's "Elvis in Nashville" box featuring six-dozen numbers cut in 1970, this new collection offers 84 selections recorded a year later in Music City — minus the orchestrations and backup vocals from the original recordings, though the gospel vocal ensemble the Imperials are heard on some numbers.

The tunes are a hodgepodge of pop, folk, gospel and Christmas tunes heard on four albums from the '70s. Sometimes the looseness is admirable, especially on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" and the bluesy Charles Brown chestnut "Merry Christmas Baby," and the King often gets inspired vocally, notably on B.J. Thomas' "It's Only Love."

Joni Mitchell, "Archives Volume 2: The Reprise Years 1968-1971" (JMA/Rhino)

After 2020's "Archives, Volume 1: The Early Years (1963-1967)," this set picks up the story as the little-known Canadian folkie quickly evolved into an internationally celebrated troubadour. The five-CD set offers 122 tracks, including nine that were recorded in a friend's apartment over the course of three years.

Most appealing is the wealth of live recordings, including a 1969 Carnegie Hall concert, a 1970 BBC radio performance that features nine collaborations with her then-boyfriend James Taylor, and a 1968 Ottawa coffeehouse gig that Mitchell fan Jimi Hendrix documented on his reel-to-reel tape deck.