By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

With a national tour of the Tony Award-winning "Jersey Boys" currently underway, the timing of the release of the four-disc (three CDs, one DVD) box set "...Jersey Beat...: The Music of Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons" (Rhino) couldn't be better. As a refresher course before seeing the musical or as a remnant of a bygone era, the 76 songs compiled here tell a story that began 45 years ago with the release of the 45 RPM recording of "Sherry," a No. 1 hit, and continued through an amazing string of 1960s chart-toppers that included the Bob Crewe/Bob Gaudio-penned tunes" Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Dawn (Go Away)," "Rag Doll," "Let's Hang On" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (recorded by Valli), among others. And then both Valli and the 4 Seasons were fortunate enough to experience a late career revival during the 1970s with songs such as "My Eyes Adored You," "Swearin' to God," "Our Day Will Come" and "Grease" by Valli and, of course, The Four Seasons' "Who Loves You" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)."

For all the good that Valli and company did for male singing groups, there will always be an Air Supply. Australian duo Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock tended towards power-ballad bombast right from the start with their first 1980 domestic hit single "Lost In Love," and didn't hold back with those that followed, including "All Out of Love," "Every Woman in the World," "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)," "The One That You Love," "Even The Nights Are Better," and one of the most over-the-top 1980s anthems, naturally composed by pop drama specialist Jim Steinman, "Making Love Out of Nothing At All." These seven songs, and more (!), have been compiled on "The Best of Air Supply: Ones That You Love" (Arista/Legacy).

At the same time that Valli and the Four Seasons were holding down the fort on the Atlantic coast, The Beach Boys were making the world safe for sun, sand, surfing and singing (in harmony) on the Pacific side. They were so good at it that they're still doing it today, with some of the original members. Of course, it wouldn't be summer without yet another Beach Boys compilation making the rounds, this one titled "The Warmth of the Sun" (Capitol). And while it can't make the same claim that 2002's "Classics" did (that all the songs were selected by THE Beach Boy himself, Brian Wilson), it does contain some intriguing selections, including "Disney Girls," a cover of "California Dreamin'," "Hawaii" and "All Summer Long" among its 28 tracks.

Gladys Knight & The Pips have more things in common with the Beach Boys than you might expect. Like original Beach Boys front man Brian Wilson, front woman Knight is related to members of her band. And like the Beach Boys, Knight & The Pips have also been the subject of several hits collections. The latest, "Love Finds its Own Way" (Buddha/Legacy), is a single-disc compilation that provides a brief overview. Completists will want to stick with 2006's mind-blowing double disc "Gold" set.

Family also plays a part when it comes to "A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection" (Rounder) by Alison Krauss and "So Real: Songs from Jeff Buckley" (Legacy). Krauss and her brother Viktor performed together for several years and can be heard doing so on "Get Me Through December," one of the 16 tracks from "A Hundred Miles..." It's a collection of a dozen recordings from various sources, including soundtracks ("Down to the River to Pray" from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Scarlet Tide" from "Cold Mountain"), tributes (to Disney and the Louvin Brothers) and collaborations (Brad Paisley, John Waite), as well as four previously unreleased numbers. Buckley, of course, was the son of Tim Buckley, and like his father Jeff also died young and tragically. Bolstered by two unreleased cuts, the 14-track compilation is a decent showcase of both Buckley's songwriting skills ("Last Goodbye," "Dream Brother," "Grace") and his interpretive skills (Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"), all delivered in his distinctive vocal style.

Elvis Costello is no stranger to hits collections and, with a sizable body of work, has earned himself a pair of new anthologies, "The Best of Elvis Costello: The First Ten Years" and "Rock and Roll Music" (both on Hip-O). "The First Ten..." includes at least one track from 10 of Costello's first 11 studio albums, excluding "Goodbye Cruel World" (which contained "The Only Flame in Town," "The Comedians" and "Peace in our Time") completely. Is it possible that whatever suits are still left at Universal didn't think that "The First Ten..." "rocked" hard enough? Regardless, this comp is notable for including songs from Costello's domestically out of print "Taking Liberties" B-sides collection. A musical rebel in the mode of Costello, the solo recordings of Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis from the Pixies) are celebrated on "93-03" (Cooking Vinyl). The double-disc set, which includes a bonus live disc, really does contain a decent representation of Black's finest work, including "Headache" and "Freedom Rock."

As grand divas of popular music go, they don't get much grander than the one and only Ella Fitzgerald. An interpreter par excellence, Fitzgerald recorded a series of "song book" albums in the 1950s and 1960s in which she performed her signature renditions of tunes by Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin and others. To commemorate what would have been Fitzgerald's 90th birthday, we have the single-disc comps "The Very Best of The Rodgers and Hart Song Book" and "The Very Best of The Cole Porter Song Book" (both on Verve).

"Jersey Boys" opens at the LaSalle Bank Theater in October. Visit www.broadwayinchicago.com for tickets and more information.