While current CDs make for stocking-stuffer-type holiday gifts, sometimes you want to get that true fan something special, and the following certainly fit the bill for the respective artist.  So away we go with a lil’ music gift guide for 2009:

Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert
40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
ABKCO

Reissued with extra music tracks and other material on three CDs plus a DVD, the deluxe edition of Get Yer Ya Yas Out stands, more than ever, as the greatest Rolling Stones live album (and they’ve issued a few over the past 45 years or so). The first disc is the remastered original release, while disc two features previously unreleased material from the same performance, including “You Gotta Move,” “Under My Thumb” and “Satisfaction.” The third disc spotlights numbers from B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner, who were on the same bill. The DVD includes concert footage and backstage footage shot by Albert & David Maysles with in-studio footage from the album cover-shoot.  For the Stones fanatic you may know.

Elvis 75 – Good Rockin’ Tonight
From Elvis in Memphis
SonyBMG/RCA Legacy

The latest mega-repacking of the Elvis legacy goes for a chronological overview, and Good Rockin’ Tonight succeeds overall. The set ranges from the early years on Sun through big hits of the ‘50s and ‘60s mixed with some lesser-known recordings and rarities, taking you into the ‘70s and, finally, to cap it all, the JXl remix of “A Little Less Conversation” from this decade.

From Elvis in Memphis is one of his finest albums, released during his “comeback” phase at the end of the 1960s, and this deluxe reissue includes the original album – “Only the Strong Survive,” “Long Black Limousine,” “Gentle on Mind” – plus a disc of additional material from the same session period. A good option if the box set seems too pricey.

Miles Davis: Complete Columbia Album Collection
SonyBMG/Columbia Legacy

Now this one’s a whopper with a hefty price tag too. The Miles Davis: Complete Columbia Album Collection is just that – all his work in the latter part of the 1950s through the ‘90s for the same label. In addition to such landmark jazz works, such as “Round Midnight,” “Kind of Blue,” “Bitches Brew,” and “In a Silent Way,” this massive set features 52 albums in all on 70 CDs in mini-LP replica jackets, plus a previously unreleased DVD, Live In Europe, additional previously unreleased audio tracks and other bonus material, and a 250-page color book with a biography, fully annotated discography and complete song index.  The ultimate Miles Davis set?  Looks that way (though you should also consider the Prestige recordings box set of a few years back).

Walking on a Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009)
Shout! Factory

The box set, Walking on Wire, is a terrific overview of English singer-guitarist Richard Thompson, from his early years with Fairport Convention to his still stirring work with ex-wife Linda, to his superb output of solo albums since the mid-‘80s. The essential stuff is all here, including most of the still wondrous Shoot Out the Lights with Linda, zippy stuff like “Tear-Stained Letter” and “Valerie,” somber gut-tearing ballads such as “Waltzing For Dreamers,” plus some assorted live tracks for good measure. Hannibal’s Watching the Dark from 1993 is still a must, but this is an excellent Thompson anthology for newbies and completists.

AC/DC
Backtracks
SonyBMG Legacy

Featuring two CDs and a DVD in a cool-looking amp-styled package, Backtracks features odds and ends on the first CD, but it’s the second one, with live tracks from various concerts, that really smokes, including versions of “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Dirty Deeds,” “Back in Black” and “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” among them.  It’s all thunderous, explosive riff on the beat stuff (though “Thunderstruck” isn’t here).

Blank and Jones
Relax 4
Soundcolours
So ’80s

This German trance duo, as artists, ain’t my cup of tea overall, but for those who revel in electronic/dance, Relax, which collects the band’s various releases under that theme…well, lives up to the title, though I’d sooner take classical to relax m’self.  However, there’s a cadre of folks who find this stuff enthralling rather than dull, so there ya go.  Guests include Keane, Vanessa Daou, Laid Back and Jason Caesar.  Much more of interest to some may be So ’80s — three CDs of period remixes that’s quite an impressive collection, really. The list of artists alone is staggering — Depeche Mode, Bryan Ferry, OMD, Duran Duran, Yaz, Pet Shop Boys, and Human League among them, with reworked hits in a club context.