Who was/is Charlie Rich ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more

CHARLIE RICH

If ever a musician deserved attention for more than his hit records, it was Charlie Rich. To several generations of casual listeners, Charlie was nothing more than the ‘Silver Fox’: the guy who sang Behind Closed Doors and The Most Beautiful Girl. The tunnel vision of pop culture has done a profound disservice to Charlie Rich. He was much, much more than those records.

Even listeners who remember his earlier work like Mohair Sam and Lonely Weekends rarely see the full picture. Charlie Rich was a true original in a field that pays lip service to originality but doesn't know what to do with it. An irrepressible eclectic in a field that is enslaved to musical categories. A singer/songwriter/musician in a field that prefers you to be just one thing so everyone else can earn a living.

Worse yet, Charlie Rich was a profoundly shy man with virtually no desire for stardom. He was thrust into a spotlight he feared and distrusted. A quiet, intense man pushed nearly beyond the limits of his endurance to severe substance abuse. A performer so talented and good looking that nobody could stand to leave him alone. A press agent's dream and a promoter's nightmare. Charlie was a gentle giant who would rather spend quiet time with his family and play anonymous gigs in smoky clubs than endure the scrutiny and demands of a hit record and a concert tour. 

Charlie Rich began a career that spanned more than three decades at the legendary Sun label in Memphis, recording for Sam Phillips. Without question, Rich's earliest work is his most interesting. It is also the rawest, least disciplined and most revealing. Rich was never more prolific as a songwriter than during his formative years at Sun. There is nothing in his later career that wasn't foreshadowed in some manner at Sun. Unfortunately, however, there is much in these earliest recordings that was lost or remained undeveloped in Rich's later work.

Never before have Charlie Rich's Sun recordings been examined in such depth. Most reissues have taken a Greatest Hits approach, focussing on Lonely Weekends and half a dozen single releases and cuts from his lone Sun LP. In fact, Charlie's catalogue is much deeper. He recorded over a hundred titles for Sun. Many were carefully produced masters; others were rough publishing demos. Almost all were compelling.

We have divided Charlie's music into three categories. The first CD presents every title originally issued on the Phillips International label as a single or on an LP. Note that these tracks are not necessarily carbon copies of the originals. In some cases, we have remixed the original master tapes into stereo, although the original 45s were reduced to mono. In some cases, we have removed the choral or string overdubs that marred the original releases. For the first time you can hear Charlie's performance as it actually sounded in the studio before the producers started painting the proverbial mustache on the Mona Lisa.

The second CD contains a combination of finished studio performances that were overlooked by Sun - for whatever reason - during Charlie's five year stay with the label beginning in 1958. Many of these titles first surfaced only after Shelby Singleton bought the original Sun masters and began issuing LPs during the late 1960s/early '70s. Other titles - so called ‘deeper catalogue’ - appeared during the peak period of Sun archaeology prompted by British and European record collectors in the 1970s. But there are still some surprises here. We have managed to find titles that escaped all this scrutiny. In addition, this CD contains alternate takes of familiar titles that will surprise even hardcore Sun and Charlie Rich fans.

The third CD contains Charlie's demos. Some have been issued before, although many exist only on rare or out-of-print LPs. Others appear here for the first time. These demos are undoubtedly the least polished recordings but, in many ways, his most rewarding. Bear in mind that none of them was ever intended for release. This is a very special glimpse into the development of Charlie's music. Some of it would probably have embarrassed him. During his earliest period Charlie was almost always searching musically. He was taking chances, playing in styles that were alien to him. Some of these experiments were surprisingly successful. Others were expendable failures. Some were abandoned, nearly on the spot. Others gave rise to patterns, songs, even instrumental riffs that would surface later in his career.

Most of the facts of Charlie's life have already been documented. Some of this material is worth re-examining, especially in the context of his Sun days. Perhaps most interesting are the memories of and reactions to Charlie by the persons closest to him during the Sun years and immediately thereafter. Many of these words about Charlie have not been publicly shared before and their speakers welcomed the opportunity to do so. Charlie Rich provoked deep reactions in those around him. Both his music and his personality stirred indelible memories. Nearly 40 years later, these impressions remained vivid to colleagues like guitarist Roland Janes, drummer J. M. Van Eaton, saxman Martin Willis, vocalist Barbara Pittman, and drummer/manager Harold Murchison. Here, pieced together with reminiscences by his widow Margaret Ann, is Charlie Rich's story.

 

THE EARLY YEARS

Despite his affinity for the blues, it would be sheer fantasy to claim that Charlie Rich grew up dirt poor in the rural South, scuffling for his next meal or a warm bed to sleep in. Such tales of rural poverty may not be far removed from the lives of Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, but they bear little similarity to Rich's background. Rich was born on December 16, 1932 in Forrest City, Arkansas. There probably weren't many affluent people living in Forrest City during the Great Depression, so the Riches' economic circumstances were hardly exceptional. By the 1940s, the family's finances had stabilized and they settled in Colt, Arkansas (population 312).

Charlie Rich The Sun Years, 1958-62 (3-CD)
Read more at: https://www.bear-family.de/rich-charlie-the-sun-years-1958-62-3-cd.html
Copyright © Bear Family Records

Copyright © Bear Family Records®. Copying, also of extracts, or any other form of reproduction, including the adaptation into electronic data bases and copying onto any data mediums, in English or in any other language is permissible only and exclusively with the written consent of Bear Family Records® GmbH.

More information about Charlie Rich on Wikipedia.org

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Charlie Rich - Charlie Rocks (CD)
Charlie Rich: Charlie Rich - Charlie Rocks (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16513

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1-CD-Album, Digipak, 40 pages Booklet, 31 tracks, playing time 74:51 mns. A deep look at Charlie Rich's Sun, RCA and Smash rockers, beginning nearly twenty years before the 'Silver Fox' era. The only collection focusing entirely on...
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The Sun Years, 1958-62 (3-CD Deluxe Box Set)
Charlie Rich: The Sun Years, 1958-62 (3-CD Deluxe Box Set) Art-Nr.: BCD16152

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3-CD box (LP-size) with 44-page book, 95 tracks. Playing time approx. 216 mns. The deepest and most complete look yet at Charlie Rich's earliest recordings for the legendary Sun label reveals a startling talent only hinted in his...
$282.87
The Ballads Of Charlie Rich (CD)
Charlie Rich: The Ballads Of Charlie Rich (CD) Art-Nr.: BCD16516

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1-CD Digipak (4-plated) with 40-page booklet, 33 tracks. Playing time approx. 86 minutes. A deep look at Charlie Rich's Sun, RCA and Smash ballads, beginning nearly twenty years before the 'Silver Fox' era q The only collection focusing...
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Midnite Blues - Whirlwind (7inch, 45rpm, PS)
Charlie Rich: Midnite Blues - Whirlwind (7inch, 45rpm, PS) Art-Nr.: 45SR33

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Great Rockabilly 'Sun' and 'Phillips International' recordings
$14.66
Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave (LP)
Charlie Rich: Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave (LP) Art-Nr.: LPZ2002

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(ZU-ZAZZ) 13 tracks. Tracks 1959-62! Now rare, early material a few copies found.Before there was Charlie Rich the ballad singer, there was Charlie Rich the blues and rock & roll singer. The songs on this album capture the raw energy of...
$22.58
It Ain't Gonna Be That Way - The Complete Smash Sessions (CD)
Charlie Rich: It Ain't Gonna Be That Way - The Complete Smash... Art-Nr.: CDCHD1298

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(ACE Records) 29 tracks 1965/66 with 16 page booklet.
$18.05
The Early Years
Charlie Rich: The Early Years Art-Nr.: LPSUN132

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(1974/Sun) 10 tracks. Original Sun International pressing!
$11.26
Too Many Teardrops - Complete Groove & RCA Recordings (2-CD)
Charlie Rich: Too Many Teardrops - Complete Groove & RCA... Art-Nr.: CDTOP21509

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(Ace Records UK) 40 Tracks - With stunning 20-page booklet! The Silver Fox’s complete Groove and RCA recordings in one place for the first time, including several new-to-CD tracks and one previously unissued. A high-class fusion of R&B,...
$24.84
Lonely Weekends (LP)
Charlie Rich: Lonely Weekends (LP) Art-Nr.: LPSUN8040

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(Sun Records) 12 tracks. Lonely Weekends is the 1960 debut album of legendary country musician Charlie Rich, showing his rock 'n' roll roots. Long before Rich became known as Silver Fox, he came to Memphis (from his native Arkansas) to...
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Lonely Weekends
Charlie Rich: Lonely Weekends Art-Nr.: LPSUN110

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(1969/SUN) 11 tracks. Original stereo SUN Records pressing from 1969.
$16.98
So Lonesome I Could Cry (CD)
Charlie Rich: So Lonesome I Could Cry (CD) Art-Nr.: CDFP1349

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(2015/Fat Possum) 12 Tracks - Sings the Hank Williams songbook. Original Hi recordings. Digipack!
$21.45
Best Of Charlie Rich (CD)
Charlie Rich: Best Of Charlie Rich (CD) Art-Nr.: CDCURB79508

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(Curb Records) 15 tracks
$22.58
The Country Store Collection (LP)
Charlie Rich: The Country Store Collection (LP) Art-Nr.: LPCST3

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(Masterpiece/Castle) 14 Tracks In 1973 Charlie Rich - a multi-skilled singer, songwriter and pianist who has been flirting with country and pop success since the late 1950s, but equally at home with Jazz and rhythm 'n' blues - positively...
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I Hear Those Blues - Rich In Stereo (LP)
Charlie Rich: I Hear Those Blues - Rich In Stereo (LP) Art-Nr.: LPSUN8076

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(Sun Records) 14 tracks Before his massive country pop success in the 1970s, Charlie Rich got his start at Sun Records, playing piano to accompany his velvety voice. Hear early Charlie Rich as he has never been heard before: this...
$39.55
Sun's Best Of Charlie Rich (LP)
Charlie Rich: Sun's Best Of Charlie Rich (LP) Art-Nr.: LPSUN135

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​(Sun International) 10 tracks - Original Sun/Phillips recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s
$16.92
25 All-Time Greatest Hits
Charlie Rich: 25 All-Time Greatest Hits Art-Nr.: CDVAR67350

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(2015/Varese Sarabande) 25 tracks, Charlie Rich was one of Country Music's most dynamic hit-makers. 25 All-Time Greatest Hits features for the first time ever all of Rich’s biggest hits recorded for RCA and Epic Records. The collection...
$18.05
So Lonesome I Could Cry (LP)
Charlie Rich: So Lonesome I Could Cry (LP) Art-Nr.: LPFP13491

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(2015/Fat Possum) 12 tracks - Re-issue of the original 1967 'Hi' album
$24.84
The Rockin' Genius Volume 1 (CD)
Charlie Rich: The Rockin' Genius Volume 1 (CD) Art-Nr.: CD620593

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(Fnac Music) 21 tracks
$22.58
I Hear Those Blues - Rich In Stereo (LP, colored Vinyl)
Charlie Rich: I Hear Those Blues - Rich In Stereo (LP,... Art-Nr.: LPSUN8079

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(Sun Records) 14 tracks, blue + clear splatter vinyl Before his massive country pop success in the 1970s, Charlie Rich got his start at Sun Records, playing piano to accompany his velvety voice. Hear early Charlie Rich as he has never...
$56.53
She Loved Everybody But Me - Baby Moon (7inch, 45rpm)
Charlie Rich / Herbie Smith: She Loved Everybody But Me - Baby Moon (7inch,... Art-Nr.: 45REPCAC009

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(Repro) 2 tracks Side A Charlie Rich - She Loved Everybody But Me Side B Herbie Smith - Baby Moon
$15.79
I Hear Those Blues (CD)
Charlie Rich: I Hear Those Blues (CD) Art-Nr.: CD811328

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(Sun Records) 14 tracks Before his big country-pop success in the 1970s, Charlie Rich got his start at Sun Records as a piano player accompanying his velvety voice. Hear early Charlie Rich as you've never heard him before: This...
$20.31
Once A Drifter
Charlie Rich: Once A Drifter Art-Nr.: CD27014

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(2009/AMERICAN BEAT) 10 tracks 1980
$14.60
All American Country
Charlie Rich: All American Country Art-Nr.: CDCOL8463

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(2006/COLLECTABLES) 10 tracks - original Epic recordings prior to 1972
$9.00 $16.92
Classic Rich
Charlie Rich: Classic Rich Art-Nr.: CDCOL9590

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(2004/COL) 10 tracks
$9.00 $18.05
Midnight Blue (CD)
Charlie Rich: Midnight Blue (CD) Art-Nr.: CDJAS3698

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(2017/Jasmine) 26 tracks
$16.92
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