CD CORNER : Muddy Waters Retrospective Due

MCA Records' "Chuck Berry" box set —  a 71-song, three-disc retrospective of the rock pioneer’s landmark work on Chess Records--is one of only two albums to receive a maximum 5-star rating (“a classic”) from Rolling Stone magazine so far this year. (The other one: Neil Young’s “Freedom.”)

Now, MCA may walk away with a second five-star award, this one for a three-disc box set honoring another Chess artist: Muddy Waters. The package, due in stores Tuesday, contains 72 selections, including nearly two dozen that were either previously unreleased or unavailable on a U.S. album. It is expected to retail for about $40.

Waters (real name: McKinley Morganfield) was closer to the hard-core Delta blues tradition than the more mainstream-minded, country- and pop-influenced Berry, which is one reason Waters didn’t enjoy Berry’s commercial success in the ‘50s. But Waters’ recordings also played an essential part in the evolution of rock.

Waters--who died in 1983 at 68--not only wrote the song (“Rolling Stone”) that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have credited with inspiring their group’s name, but the singer-guitarist also made music in a raw, uncompromising style that inspired much of the blues-rock explosion of the ‘60s.

The new MCA package is patterned after the successful Berry set, featuring a 32-page booklet containing essays on Waters’ life and music as well as some exquisite photos and detailed recording session information. The sound quality varies from wobbly (some of the original master tapes were not available, forcing engineers to turn to original 78 r.p.m. singles) to excellent.

Next in the MCA/Chess box series: Bo Diddley, a two-disc set, probably next summer. And then: Howlin’ Wolf, another three-disc set, probably in 1991.