Back in 1969, Rod Stewart-s resume included a stint as Jeff Beck-s singer. He-d also just joined the Faces, who dropped the -Small- from their name when Stewart and Ron Wood signed on as members. But his husky, graveled rasp shone best that year as he took on covers of the Rolling Stones- -Street Fighting Man- and Ewan McColl-s -Dirty Old Town- on his solo debut. As this three-CD set thoroughly demonstrates, Stewart was like Joe Cocker in that he crossed boundaries effortlessly, integrating a boozy, acoustic-backed sway with an R-B churn and creating a new rock sound that captured the fancy of fans on both sides of the Atlantic. He peaked with Every Picture Tells a Story-s title track; the folkie, soulful -Maggie May-; and the jaw-dropping -(I Know) I-m Losing You.- With those 1971 hits, he arrived full-blown as a sequin-ready superstar. His Mercury period ended in 1974 with Smiler, and this set trails off with that album and five tracks previously unreleased in the U.S.

American superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958, and entertained audiences nearly his entire life. His father, Joe Jackson, had been a guitarist but was forced to give up his musical ambitions following his marriage to Katherine (Scruse). Together they prodded their growing family's musical interests at home. By the early 1960s, the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun performing around the city; by 1964, Michael and Marlon had joined in.
A musical prodigy, Michael's singing and dancing talents were amazingly mature, and he soon became the dominant voice and focus of The Jackson 5. An opening act for such soul groups as the O-Jays and James Brown, it was Gladys Knight (not Diana Ross) who officially brought the group to Berry Gordy's attention, and by 1969, the boys were producing back-to-back chart-busting hits as Motown artists ("I Want You Back," "ABC," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Got to Be There," etc.). As a product of the 1970s, the boys emerged as one of the most accomplished black pop/soul vocal groups in music history, successfully evolving from a group like The Temptations to a disco phenomenon.