House of Rufus
Encyclopedia
House of Rufus is a collection of six studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

s, two live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

s (one being a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

), four additional albums of previously unreleased material, and six DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

s recorded by Canadian-American
Canadian-American
A Canadian American is someone who was born or someone who grew up in Canada then moved to the United States. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in,...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...

, reissue
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....

d as a 19-disc box set in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2011. Wainwright's official site claimed that the collection "spans Rufus' entire career and represents the most complete collection of Rufus Wainwright recordings to date."

The box set's title commemorates the five-night residency of the same name at London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

 during July 18–23, 2011. Only 3,000 copies were produced for worldwide distribution. The collection contains "hard-to-find" tracks and is encased in a red velvet-covered book. While some reviewers questioned the need for such an extensive collection, critical reception of the box set was mostly positive.

Background

The box set's release was confirmed on Wainwright's official site on March 21, 2011. Only 3,000 copies were produced for worldwide distribution. Box sets were sold for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

150 in the United Kingdom,
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

170 throughout Europe, and were available as imports in the United States for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

350. As part of the marketing strategy to promote the collection and concert series, Universal Music Catalogue developed a "treasure hunt" video for YouTube where visitors identified clues and navigated links within a collage of Wainwright's music videos. According to Wainwright, the rarities box set was a "little Rufus blast" before he began work on his next pop album. Wainwright also said the following of the collection: "There's my old demos, a lot of them were recorded in Montreal... when I had a very, very different voice, I kind of sounded like a little old man. There's that and there's a lot of fabulous collaborations with my mother, my father and some other great artists." Wainwright had originally intended to call the box set The Rufus Cycle. After being told the title was "too sophisticated", he went with House of Rufus, partly inspired by Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

's Haus of Gaga
Haus of Gaga
The Haus of Gaga is pop singer Lady Gaga's personal creative team and is responsible for much of her distinctive style. The Haus creates most of the clothing, props, stage sets, and makeup for Gaga's live performances and other visual representations of her work, as well as individual pieces that...

. Wainwright claimed the box set's release shortly following his father's (Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...

) box set 40 Odd Years
40 Odd Years
40 Odd Years is a compilation box set release of Loudon Wainwright III's music, released by Shout! Factory on May 3, 2011. The set contains music from throughout his career, along with a DVD of live filmed performances and documentary pieces...

was "totally serendipitous".

The box set's title commemorates the five-night residency at London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

 during July 18–23, 2011, also referred to as the "House of Rufus" (sometimes the "Haus of Rufus") or billed as "Five Nights of Velvet, Glamour and Guilt". During the first night, Wainwright performed his tribute concert to Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

 previously recorded in June 2006 and released as Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is the sixth album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records in December 2007. The album consists of live recordings from his sold-out June 14–15, 2006 tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall to the legendary American...

in 2007. The production was repeated on July 22, the fourth concert of the series. The July 19 and 21 shows included performances alongside his sister Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...

 and father Loudon. The residency's final night included a program called "Rufus Does Rufus" and featured Wainwright performing selections from his 2009 opera Prima Donna
Prima Donna (opera)
Prima Donna is an opera composed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright to a French language libretto which he co-authored with Bernadette Colomine. It is about "a day in the life of an aging opera singer", anxiously preparing for her comeback in 1970s Paris, who falls in love with...

. Stephen Oremus
Stephen Oremus
Stephen Oremus is an American musician who has worked on Broadway theatre productions as musical director and as orchestrator. His credits include arranger and orchestrator for the music for Avenue Q, musical director and arranger for Wicked, arranger and orchestrator for All Shook Up, and musical...

 conducted the Britten Sinfonia
Britten Sinfonia
Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the East of England. It is a flexible ensemble composed of...

 for three of the performances, and soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

 Janis Kelly was featured in the "concert version" of Prima Donna. Reception of the residency performances was mixed.

Contents

The box set contains six studio albums: Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright (album)
Rufus Wainwright is the eponymous debut studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in the United States on May 19, 1998 through DreamWorks Records. The album was produced by Jon Brion, except "In My Arms" was produced and mixed by Pierre Marchand, and "Millbrook"...

(1998), Poses (2001), Want One
Want One
Want One is the third studio album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through DreamWorks Records on September 23, 2003. The album was produced by Marius de Vries and mixed by Andy Bradfield, with Lenny Waronker as the executive in charge of production...

(2003), Want Two
Want Two
Want Two is the fourth album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The album was released on November 16, 2004. Four of the tracks on this album were released in the summer of 2004 as the EP Waiting for a Want on the iTunes music store.Want Two is, according to Wainwright, the...

(2004), Release the Stars
Release the Stars
Release the Stars is the fifth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records on May 15, 2007. Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant was the executive in charge of production, and the album was mixed by producers Marius de Vries and Andy Bradfield...

(2007), and All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, first released in Canada through Decca Records on March 23, 2010...

(2010). Each of the albums contain material that was not released previously. Also included are two live albums (the Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-nominated 2007 double album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is the sixth album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records in December 2007. The album consists of live recordings from his sold-out June 14–15, 2006 tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall to the legendary American...

and Milwaukee at Last!!!
Milwaukee at Last!!!
Milwaukee at Last!!! is the seventh album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in the United States on September 22, 2009. The album consists of live recordings from his August 27, 2007 performance at Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in support of his previous...

, released in 2009), each with previously unreleased tracks, along with four additional albums of rarities and six DVDs. Musicians described as "friends and family members" that appear on one disc of collaborations include Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...

, The Pet Shop Boys, Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...

, Martha Wainwright, and Loudon Wainwright III. Another disc contains demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 tracks from the tape which earned Wainwright a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

. DVD recordings include Live at the Fillmore, Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live from the London Palladium
Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live From the London Palladium
Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live from the London Palladium is a DVD by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released under Geffen Records in December 2007. The film consists of live recordings from his sold-out February 25, 2007 tribute concert at the London...

, Milwaukee at Last!!!, a collection of Release the Stars commentary and live performances, All I Want and Prima Donna
Prima Donna (opera)
Prima Donna is an opera composed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright to a French language libretto which he co-authored with Bernadette Colomine. It is about "a day in the life of an aging opera singer", anxiously preparing for her comeback in 1970s Paris, who falls in love with...

: The Making of an Opera
. House of Rufus contains approximately thirty unreleased or "hard-to-find" tracks. The collection is encased in a "red velvet-covered 90-page hardback book" featuring lyrics, photos, hand-drawn tour posters, art prints, and liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...

 by Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

, Linda Thompson
Linda Thompson
Linda Diane Thompson is an American actress, lyricist and beauty pageant winner who rose to international fame as Elvis Presley's long time girlfriend after he separated from his wife.-Pageants:...

, Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker
Lenny Waronker is a record producer for Warner Bros. Records.-Career:He produced recording sessions for Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, Van Dyke Parks, The Beau Brummels, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, ...

, Martha Wainwright and Rufus himself. Wainwright dedicated the box set to publicist Barbara Charone, "without whom it wouldn't have been possible".

Reception

Critical reception of the box set was mostly positive, though some reviewers questioned the necessity for such an elaborate collection, especially given Wainwright's age, and the higher-than-expected price. Will Hodgkinson of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

wrote that a box set for Wainwright, whom he described as a "not yet middle-aged artist", was unnecessary, but that the collection "shine[s] a spotlight on its creator's rare, remarkable songwriting". Hodgkinson called Wainwright and the box set "charming" overall, but thought the "excess of material stops the great moments from really shining out". Hive magazine contributor Luke Hannaford complimented Rufus and Loudon's performance of Richard Thompson's "Down Where the Drunkards Roll", which he described as "achingly beautiful" and was recorded specifically for this collection. Martin Aston's review for BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....

 was positive; in addition to other tracks, Aston complimented "Get Out of Town
Get Out of Town
"Get Out of Town" is a 1938 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Leave It to Me!, where it was introduced by Tamara Drasin.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook...

" (Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

, 1938) and "Sweet Repose", both demos he considered to be "unreleased stunners that betray [Wainwright's] show tune soul".

Though she noted the higher-than-expected cost of the box set, Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

wrote that it served as an "impressive array" that showcased Wainwright's range and hard work. Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...

contributor David Smyth wrote that "this luxurious treasure chest will be too deep for almost anyone apart from its creator". Smyth found the Rufus Family and Friends album to be "most charming", specifically "What'll I Do
What'll I Do
"What'll I Do" is the name of a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It was introduced by singers Grace Moore and John Steel late in the run of Berlin's third Music Box Revue and also was included in the following year's edition...

" which features the whole Wainwright family. Brian Boyd of The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

considered the box set to be "sensory overload" and thought the quality of the previously unreleased material appearing on the studio albums varied, but called the collection "magnificent... from a delightfully unorthodox and consistently engaging performer". Boyd also noted the cost of the box set but complimented the quality of its packaging and "extras".

Track listing

Studio albums

Live albums

DVDs

Box set albums

(*) designates previously unreleased material

Track listings adapted from Allmusic, Hive magazine and Universal Music.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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