THE MANHATTANS; "Sweet Talking Soul: 1965-1990" (Shout Factory) ** 1/2

The Jersey City soul vocal group hit Billboard's No. 1 spot in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye." They hit the Top 10 again four years later with the No. 5 showing of "Shining Star." The group's blending voices and harmonies were smooth and cool. Shout Factory mined the Manhattans' rep and put them all on three CDs. From the first hit, "I Wanna Be (Your Everything)" to the last "I Won't Stop," the songs in between include minor, but not lesser hits — "Follow Your Heart," "Baby I Need You," I Kinda Miss You," "It Feels So Good to Be Loved So Bad" and "Crazy," to name a few. — S.I.

WILLIE NELSON; "One Hell of a Ride" (Columbia/Legacy) ****

An American icon, singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and all-around renaissance man, Willie Nelson has touched the hearts and souls of music fans for more than 50 years. This four-CD box career retrospective is bookended with two versions of "When I've Sung My Last Hillbilly Song." The first recorded in 1954 and the latter reworked in 2007. In between there such major hits as the Waylon Jennings duet "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," "Crazy," "On the Road Again," a live version of "Whiskey River" and "My Heros Have Always Been Cowboys." A couple of surprises include Django Reinhardt's "Nuages" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come." — S.I.

ROY ORBISON; "The Sould of Rock and Roll" (Orbison/Legacy) ****

Elvis Presley called Roy Orbison an "opera singer" because of that fine and high falsetto. Van Halen remade Orbison's trademark tune "Oh, Pretty Woman." Don McLean and others have hit the charts with their takes on Orbison's "Crying." At any rate, the late Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has been a favorite among rock and country music fans throughout the years. The four-CD box set, "The Soul of Rock and Roll" is a great tribute to the man who started his career with a little ditty called "Ooby Dooby." His solo version and a rare version of the song featuring Orbison singing in a group called the Teen Kings kicks off the box set. In addition to his aforementioned hits, the CD also features previously unreleased tracks, such as a demo recording of "Precious," a live version of "Land of 1,000 Dances" and a 9 1/2-minute guitar medley that includes "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," "That's All Right" and "You're My Baby." The liner notes give a lot of background of that mysterious man behind those dark shades. — S.I.