A Piano: The Collection

Box set by Tori Amos

Released

September 26, 2006 (U.S.)

Recorded

1990 – March 2006

Tori Amos chronology

Tales of a Librarian
(2003)

A Piano: The Collection
(2006)

American Doll Posse
(2007)

A Piano: The Collection is a five-disc box set spanning the first 15 years of the solo career of American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Released on September 26, 2006 by Rhino Records as part of the contract Amos negotiated with Warner Bros., the set consists of classics, rarities, demos, B-sides and a string of unreleased songs from album sessions.

Box set breakdown

The compilation's first disc includes an extended version of Amos's 1992 debut, Little Earthquakes. The original record has not only a different song sequence and alternate mixes but it features its four original B-sides ("Upside Down" and "Sweet Dreams," and alternate mixes of "Flying Dutchman" and "Take to the Sky") as well as the previously unreleased, unedited single remix version of "Crucify".

Spotlighting music recorded between 1994 and 1996, the second disc includes songs from Under the Pink and Boys for Pele. The 18 tracks blend original and remixed versions of albums cuts with the B-side "Honey" and "Professional Widow" performed live. Also included is "Take Me With You" (music recorded in 1990, with lyrics/vocals finished in 2006).

The third disc also includes songs associated with Boys for Pele plus 1999’s To Venus and Back and Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection. The 15 songs feature original and remixed versions of album tracks as well as "Hey Jupiter" (Dakota Version) and "Professional Widow" (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin’ Mix). Also featured is "Walk to Dublin (Sucker Reprise)" (recorded in 1995 during the Boys for Pele sessions).

From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998), Scarlet's Walk (2002) and The Beekeeper (2005) are the focus of the fourth disc, which contains 15 songs including original and remixed versions of tracks from the albums. Also featured is the unheard intro for "Marys of the Sea" (from The Beekeeper) as well as four previously unreleased songs: "Not David Bowie" (recorded in 2004 for The Beekeeper), "Ode to My Clothes" (recorded in 2001 in between takes for Strange Little Girls), "Dolphin Song" (recorded in 2003 apparently during sessions for Tales of a Librarian), and the much-mythologized "Zero Point" (recorded in 1999 for To Venus and Back), which Amos had mentioned in interviews as well as the liner notes to 1999's To Venus and Back. In the A Piano liner notes, Amos writes:

“

"Some songs seem to have a timeline for when they want to be finished and put out to the world. At the time when we were working on 'Dolphin Song', I had all kinds of ideas for her development after the basic tracking had been done. Instead she got set aside for a while. But once we started to go through the tape library we put 'Dolphin' up on the faders again, and I realized we didn’t need to record anything else; it was finished."

”

The final disc features 22 tracks spotlighting Amos's list of renowned B-sides and includes the exclusive digital release "Merman" from 1999 ("Merman" would later appear on No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees). It also includes popular B-sides such as "Cooling," "Purple People," "Bachelorette," and "Here. In My Head" and the unreleased "Peeping Tommi" (recorded in 1993 for Under the Pink). Amos also invites listeners into her artistic process with a medley of demos for the songs "Fire-Eater’s Wife / Beauty Queen", "Playboy Mommy" and "a sorta fairytale". Amos explains in the liner notes:

“

"I’m usually pretty reticent to expose the musical development process... The demo medley was a choice I made so that other songwriters can feel an affinity with the idea that songwriters have to push themselves and not just accept the first incarnation that you are presented with. Each of these three songs are presented here in their completed form somewhere within the box set so you can see conception to development."

”

Track listing

Disc A (440 Hz)

All tracks written by Amos.

Little Earthquakes Extended
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Leather" (Alternate Mix)	3:12
2.	"Precious Things" (Alternate Mix)	4:30
3.	"Silent All These Years" (Remastered)	4:12
4.	"Upside Down" (Remastered)	4:22
5.	"Crucify" (Unedited Single Version)	4:27
6.	"Happy Phantom" (Remastered)	3:15
7.	"Me and a Gun" (Remastered)	3:43
8.	"Flying Dutchman" (Alternate Mix)	6:29
9.	"Girl" (Remastered)	4:08
10.	"Winter" (Remastered)	5:43
11.	"Take to the Sky (Russia)" (Alternate Mix)	4:18
12.	"Tear in Your Hand" (Remastered)	4:42
13.	"China" (Remastered)	4:59
14.	"Sweet Dreams" (Remastered)	3:28
15.	"Mother" (Alternate Mix)	7:01
16.	"Little Earthquakes" (Remastered)	6:54

Disc B (493.88 Hz)

All tracks written by Amos.

Pink and Pele
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cornflake Girl" (Remastered)	5:06
2.	"Honey" (Remastered)	3:42
3.	"Take Me with You"	4:40
4.	"Baker Baker" (Alternate Mix)	3:25
5.	"The Waitress" (Alternate Mix)	3:07
6.	"Pretty Good Year" (Remastered)	3:20
7.	"God" (Remastered)	3:54
8.	"Cloud on My Tongue" (Remastered)	4:36
9.	"Past the Mission" (Alternate Mix)	4:06
10.	"Bells for Her" (Remastered)	5:17
11.	"Yes, Anastasia" (Alternate Mix)	9:21
12.	"Blood Roses" (Remastered)	3:55
13.	"Mr. Zebra" (Remastered)	1:05
14.	"Caught a Lite Sneeze" (Alternate Mix)	4:24
15.	"Professional Widow" (Merry Widow Version – Live) (Remastered)	4:03
16.	"Beauty Queen/Horses" (Remastered)	5:56
17.	"Father Lucifer" (Remastered)	3:40
18.	"Marianne" (Remastered)	4:09

Disc C (523.25 Hz)

All tracks written by Amos.

Pele, Venus and Tales
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Walk to Dublin (Sucker Reprise)"	5:25
2.	"Hey Jupiter" (Dakota Version) (Remastered)	6:03
3.	"Professional Widow" (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix) (Remastered)	3:47
4.	"Putting the Damage On" (Remastered)	5:07
5.	"Bliss" (Remixed Version)	3:41
6.	"Suede" (Remastered)	4:58
7.	"Glory of the 80’s" (Remastered)	4:05
8.	"1000 Oceans" (Remastered)	4:18
9.	"Concertina" (Single Remix Version)	3:57
10.	"Lust" (Remastered)	3:51
11.	"Datura" (Remastered)	8:26
12.	"Sugar" (Live from Soundcheck) (Remastered)	5:10
13.	"The Waitress" (Live) (Remastered)	9:49
14.	"Snow Cherries from France" (Remastered)	2:55
15.	"Doughnut Song" (Remixed Version)	4:21

Disc D (587.33 Hz)

All tracks written by Amos.

Choirgirl, Scarlet, Beekeeper
No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Sorta Fairytale" (Remastered)	5:30
2.	"Not David Bowie"	3:55
3.	"Amber Waves" (Remastered)	3:40
4.	"Iieee" (Remixed Version)	4:09
5.	"Playboy Mommy" (Remixed Version)	4:07
6.	"The Beekeeper" (Remastered)	6:51
7.	"Jackie’s Strength" (Remixed Version)	4:26
8.	"Zero Point"	8:55
9.	"Sweet the Sting" (Remastered)	4:17
10.	"Ode to My Clothes"	2:04
11.	"Spark" (Remastered)	4:14
12.	"Intro Jam and Marys of the Sea"	8:55
13.	"Cruel" (Remixed Version)	4:06
14.	"Dolphin Song"	5:53
15.	"Gold Dust" (Remastered)	5:53

Disc E (659.26 Hz)

All tracks written by Amos, except tracks 15 & 21 (traditional).

Bonus B-Sides
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Pool" (Remastered)	2:52
2.	"Never Seen Blue" (Remastered)	3:38
3.	"Daisy Dead Petals" (Remastered)	3:03
4.	"Beulah Land" (Remastered)	2:57
5.	"Sugar" (Remastered)	4:27
6.	"Cooling" (Remastered)	4:39
7.	"Bachelorette" (Remastered)	3:34
8.	"Black Swan" (Remastered)	4:01
9.	"Mary" (Tales Version) (Remastered)	4:42
10.	"Peeping Tommi"	4:19
11.	"Toodles Mr. Jim" (Remastered)	2:49
12.	"Fire-Eater’s Wife / Beauty Queen" (Demo)	3:11
13.	"Playboy Mommy" (Demo)	1:34
14.	"A Sorta Fairytale" (Demo)	3:09
15.	"This Old Man" (Remastered)	1:44
16.	"Purple People" (Live from Soundcheck) (Remastered)	4:12
17.	"Here. In My Head" (Remastered)	3:52
18.	"Hungarian Wedding Song" (Remastered)	1:01
19.	"Merman" (Remastered)	3:46
20.	"Sister Janet" (Remastered)	4:00
21.	"Home on the Range" (Cherokee Edition) (Remastered)	5:22
22.	"Frog on My Toe" (Remastered)	3:42

Errors in the printed track listing

The track listing incorrectly labels "Purple People" as being the b-side version from the Spark single, however the version featured here is the live soundcheck version from To Venus and Back.

Likewise, the version of "Take to the Sky" featured here is a different mix from the one released as a b-side on the Winter e.p. The alternate mix on this compilation is noticeably different in that it does not have backing vocals on the second chorus or during the song's outro.

References

Information taken from Hereinmyhead.com

Tori Amos

Albums	Little Earthquakes Under the Pink Boys for Pele From the Choirgirl Hotel To Venus and Back Strange Little Girls Scarlet's Walk The Beekeeper American Doll Posse Abnormally Attracted to Sin Midwinter Graces Night of Hunters Gold Dust Unrepentant Geraldines

EPs	Crucify Hey Jupiter Scarlet's Hidden Treasures Exclusive Session Flavor (Peter Rauhofer Mixes)

Live albums	To Venus and Back The Original Bootlegs Legs and Boots Live at Montreux 1991/1992 From Russia with Love

Compilations	Tales of a Librarian A Piano: The Collection

Singles	"Me and a Gun" "Silent All These Years" "China" "Winter" "Crucify" "Cornflake Girl" "God" "Pretty Good Year" "Past the Mission" "Caught a Lite Sneeze" "Talula" "Professional Widow" "Hey Jupiter" "In the Springtime of His Voodoo" "Spark" "Jackie's Strength" "Cruel/Raspberry Swirl" "Bliss" "1000 Oceans" "Glory of the 80's" "Concertina" "Strange Little Girl" "A Sorta Fairytale" "Taxi Ride" "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" "Strange" "Mary" "Angels" "Sleeps with Butterflies" "Sweet the Sting" "Cars and Guitars" "Big Wheel" "Bouncing off Clouds" "Almost Rosey" "Welcome to England" "Maybe California" "A Silent Night with You" "Carry" "Flavor" "Trouble's Lament"

Videos	Little Earthquakes Live from New York Complete Videos: 1991–1998 A Sorta Fairytale Welcome to Sunny Florida Fade to Red Live at Montreux 1991/1992 Live From the Artists Den

Tours	5 ½ Weeks Tour To Dallas and Back Strange Little Tour On Scarlet's Walk Tour Original Sinsuality Tour American Doll Posse World Tour Sinful Attraction Tour Night of Hunters Tour Gold Dust Orchestral Tour Unrepentant Geraldines Tour

Related articles	Discography Piece by Piece Comic Book Tattoo Delirium Y Kant Tori Read "Blue Skies" RAINN "Baltimore" The Light Princess

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