As reported previously, Rufus Wainwright will be releasing a special box set later this year, and now this exciting news has been firmed up with some solid details. The collection will be called House Of Rufus and features an enormous 19 discs, covering his entire career to date. It is scheduled for a release of July 18.
Rufus’ official website states that six CDs will be studio albums Rufus Wainwright, Poses, Want One, Want Two, Release The Stars and All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu. All benefit from previously unreleased bonus material.
Then two sets are live, Milwaukee At Last!!! and the double-CD Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall, which includes unreleased songs from that famous show.
It all gets more interesting on the next four discs. The first of these is a simple collection of unreleased songs and rarities. The second is a collection of songs Rufus has recorded for soundtracks, like Shrek and Brokeback Mountain. Disc three is devoted to his myriad collaborations with other stars, ranging from Leonard Cohen to his mother and father to Burt Bacharach to the Pet Shop Boys. The final music disc is made up of demos from the original tape with which he managed to secure his first record deal.
And it keeps going, with six DVDs. They are Live At Fillmore, Rufus Does Judy At The London Palladium, Milwaukee At Last!!!, a commentary on and live performance of Release The Stars, and two feature documentaries, All I Want and Prima Donna: The Making Of An Opera.
This massive thing will all be cased up in “beautiful red velvet encased, 90-page hardback book containing rare and unseen photos, Rufus’ early hand-drawn tour posters, handwritten lyrics, four art prints and other memorabilia, extensive sleeve notes featuring interviews with Neil Tennant, Martha Wainwright, Linda Thompson and Lenny Waronker and an introduction by Rufus.”
Goodness. The first 200 on sale will also include a lovely exclusive canvas art print.
In other Wainwright-related news, May 3 will see the US release of Tell My Sister, a three-CD album of Kate and Anna McGarrigle‘s first two albums, along with a disc of unreleased songs.
