For a songwriter who has released such a staggering number of records in a five decades-plus career — I seriously doubt the man himself knows how many — it’s no small claim for a four-disc box set to say it covers Willie Nelson’s whole career. Still, the new One Hell of a Ride does a respectable job, gathering hits and also-rans into a chronological view that flows well from first to last. Starting with scratchy old recordings for forgotten record labels, the track listing quickly works up to honky-tonk classics “Nite Life” and “Hello Walls”; discs two and three showcase the period when songs like “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” made him a household name; and disc four steps briskly through the last few years, when the studio-friendly artist would record reggae numbers one moment and Muppet Movie covers the next. The set is no substitute for Willie’s best individual albums (like the standards outing Stardust, which is due for a two-disc “Legacy Edition” release in July), but it’s an inexpensive way to get acquainted with a daunting body of work. Record collectors who prefer the other kind of reissue — ones that gather rarities from a single period instead of skimming long periods — have plenty of new titles on offer as well. An in-depth look at the early ska recordings of reggae pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry mostly offers versions that haven’t been on CD before, while a series of digital-only Bobby Womack reissues resurrect albums that have long been hard to find on CD. Meanwhile, two classic albums get special treatment from Rhino: Both Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul and Love’s psychedelic masterpiece Forever Changes are being released as double-CD packages, each offering a pair of versions of the original albums in addition to outtakes, live recordings, and other rarities.