By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

Every year as the winter holidays approach, it seems that the various record labels pull out the stops when it comes to CD box sets. Sure, they may have released a few throughout the year, but it’s during the late months of the year that they show off their finest wares. The box sets get more sophisticated and special, and the packaging is often downright Grammy-worthy, the selection of music nearly unparalleled. Naturally, they make perfect gifts for the holidays.

Anyone who was of record-buying age during Motown’s co-domination of the 1960s can attest to the fact that the label and subsidiaries such as Tamla, Gordy, Soul, Inferno and V.I.P. produced a remarkable number of singles. Calling the six-CD set “The Complete Motown Singles—Vol. 8: 1968” (Hip-O Select/Motown) is no joke. Comprised of 144 A and B-sides on disc and two more songs on a seven-inch vinyl single (Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” b/w “You’re What’s Happening in the World Today”), this box set is the musical equivalent of a time machine. The talent, which ranges from superstar acts such as Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder (and his alter ego Eivets Rednow), Martha Reeves, The Marvelettes, Gladys Knight and the Pips and the aforementioned Gaye, to slightly more obscure acts—Chris Clark, Rita Wright, Detroit Wheels, Blinky and actors turned singers Paul Peterson and Barbara McNair—is almost overwhelming. Heard in a context such as this, hits such as “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” “…Grapevine,” “Cloud Nine,” “For Once In My Life,” “Love Child” and “You’re All I Need To Get By” take on a whole new meaning.

Detroit wasn’t the only American city with a thriving music scene in 1968.  The four-disc box set “Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1956-1970” (Rhino) certainly reinforces that notion. Some of the artists found here are immediately recognizable to many listeners. The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Miller Band, Sly & The Family Stone, Santana, Janis Joplin and even Moby Grape and Quicksilver Messenger Service have become synonymous with the music scene associated with San Francisco. But of the 77 songs performed by approximately 60 acts, a majority would qualify as regional hits, making this handsomely package box set as educational as it is enjoyable.

Neither San Francisco nor Detroit had a stranglehold on the music of the 1960s. From London, psychedelic prog-rock pioneers Pink Floyd unleashed their mind-blowing 1967 debut album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (Capitol). Newly reissued in a groovy three-disc set that includes separate mono and stereo discs as well as a bonus disc of singles and alternate versions, this package not only celebrates Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd but also the heart and soul of the “Summer of Love” and all of its implications. The reissued “…Piper…” also reinforces Barrett’s contributions and the long-lasting influence he had on Pink Floyd all the way through “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall.”

And, you might ask, what about Chicago? The four disc set “Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection” (Shout! Factory/Vee-Jay) goes a long way toward answering that question. Pre-dating Motown, Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records existed from 1953 until 1966 and at one time included both The Four Seasons and The Beatles on its talent roster. In fact, The Four Seasons’ “Sherry” is featured in this box set. There are also notable selections from Jerry Butler and The Impressions, John Lee Hooker, The Staple Singers, Memphis Slim, The Pips with Gladys Knight, Gene Chandler, Betty Everett, The Dells, Little Richard and Billy Preston, and the original version of “Tainted Love” by Gloria Jones.

The soundtracks that accompany the works of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns are often as well received as the films themselves. The four-disc set “The War: Ken Burns—Deluxe Edition” (Legacy), from his seven-part series about the Second World War, is no exception. Each of the discs stands on its own as a separate entity, but taken all together they add up to something special. The first disc, “The War: The Soundtrack,” contains new recordings by Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis as well as period and classical music. The second disc, “Sentimental Journey,” consists of 20 hits from the Second World War, with the third disc holding 20 dance hits from the era. The fourth and final disc is made up classical music selections utilized in “The War.”

Some of the recordings on the four-disc set “Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles” (Legacy/Columbia) by Billie Holiday were recorded during the time of World War II. Made for Columbia Records beginning in 1933 and ending in 1944, the 80 songs collected here represent her work with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra, Benny Carter and His All Star Orchestra, Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra, as well as Holiday’s own orchestra. As you might expect, the set includes trademark songs such as “God Bless The Child,” “Easy Living” and so much more.

It’s only been six years since the double-disc Emmylou Harris “Anthology” compilation was released. As good as that set was, the four-CD and one-DVD “Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems” (Rhino) collection does an even better job of illuminating Harris’s multi-faceted gifts as a songwriter, an interpreter of other people’s compositions and an all-around riveting performer. Spanning a nearly 40-year period, the songs, selected by Harris, are a sort of musical biography and a testament to Emmylou’s artistic longevity.

The untimely passing of Luther Vandross in 2005 has left a hole in the world of music that has yet to be filled. One listen to the four-disc Vandross box set “Love, Luther” (Legacy) makes that abundantly clear. Comprised of nearly 60 songs, ranging previously unreleased demos to the “Meet Luther Vandross” promotional singing which touts his “commercial” appeal to previously unreleased “intimate rehearsal recordings” to his multitude of duets, hit singles, live tracks and early appearances on Change and Bionic Boogie recordings, the love flows forth.