House of Rufus

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 £150 in the United Kingdom, €170 throughout Europe, and were available as imports in the United States for $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's Haus of Gaga. Wainwright claimed the box set's release shortly after his father's (Loudon Wainwright III) box set 40 Odd Years was "totally serendipitous".

The box set's title commemorates Wainwright's five-night residency at London's Royal Opera House 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, recorded previously in June 2006, and released as Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall in 2007. The production was repeated on July 22, the fourth concert of the series. The July 19 and 21st shows included performances alongside his sister Martha Wainwright 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. Stephen Oremus conducted the Britten Sinfonia for three of the performances, and soprano 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 (1998), Poses (2001), Want One (2003), Want Two (2004), Release the Stars (2007), and All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010). Each of the albums contain material that was not released previously. Also included are two live albums—the Grammy-nominated 2007 double album Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, and Milwaukee at Last!!!, 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" who appear on one disc of collaborations include Kate & Anna McGarrigle, The Pet Shop Boys, Teddy Thompson, Martha Wainwright, and Loudon Wainwright III. Another disc contains demo tracks from the tape which earned Wainwright a recording contract. DVD recordings include: Live at the Fillmore, Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live from the London Palladium, Milwaukee at Last!!!, a collection of Release the Stars commentary and live performances, All I Want and Prima Donna: 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 by Neil Tennant, Linda Thompson, Lenny Waronker, 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 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 that 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 was recorded specifically for this collection, describing it as "achingly beautiful". Martin Aston's review for BBC Music was positive; in addition to other tracks, Aston complimented "Get Out of Town" (Cole Porter, 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 wrote that it served as an "impressive array" that showcased Wainwright's range and hard work. Evening Standard 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" which features the whole Wainwright family. Brian Boyd of The Irish Times considered the box set to be "sensory overload", and thought that 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

(*) designates previously unreleased material
Track listings adapted from Allmusic, Hive magazine and Universal Music.