The Fabulous Charlie Rich

The Fabulous Charlie Rich

ASIN: B000001SO8

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It's hard to imagine a singer today with the cheek to label himself "fabulous" right there in the title, but then there isn't a singer today who can hold a candle to Charlie Rich. On this elegant, country-soul classic, Rich's expressive rasp pleads for undeserved forgiveness in "Sittin' and Thinkin'," reluctantly says good-bye in "San Francisco Is a Lonely Town," and rages through "Bright Lights, Big City." Best of all, in "Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs," Rich apologizes to his wife for all he can never give her--and thanks her for loving him anyway. At the end, when he cries "She wears a gold ring on her finger ... and it's mine," no singer has ever sounded so completely grateful. "Fabulous" doesn't do it justice. --David Cantwell

The Fabulous Charlie Rich,Charlie Rich,Koch Records,Country,Country-Pop,Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan,Pop,Traditional Country,United States of America

Set Me Free/The Fabulous Charlie Rich
Average customer rating:

Pre-stardom Charlie Rich delivers the goods

Nothing to add

The initmate, late night Charlie Rich.

Set Me Free/The Fabulous Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Manufacturer: Edsel Records UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music
Nashville Sound | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
Outlaw & Progressive Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music
Country | Imports | Stores | Music
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Boss Man/Very Special Love Songs

The Silver Fox/Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)

The Complete Charlie Rich on Hi Records

Silver Linings

Behind Closed Doors

ASIN: B0006ZYREY
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Tracks:

Set Me Free
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Proudest Loneliest Fool
I Miss You So
Just Like Old Times
Try a Little Tenderness
H20
Very Much Alone
I'll Just Go Away
That's the Day (You Said You'd Stop Loving Me)
Got to See Me Baby
I Almost Lost My Mind
Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs
San Francisco Is a Lonely Town
Sittin' and Thinkin'
July 12, 1939
Bright Lights, Big City: Hush Hush/Baby What You Want Me to ...
Raggedy Ann
Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue?)
Picture of You
Love Waits for Me
It Makes Me Want to Cry

Customer Reviews:

Pre-stardom Charlie Rich delivers the goods.......2007-05-27

Charlie Rich is one anomaly in my CD collection; the man had one of the finest voices of anyone in country or early rock and roll, but, at least for most of his career, he had little to show for it in terms of hits. These two releases were his first for Epic and producer Billy Sherrill, best known for his work with Tammy Wynette and George Jones. The big hits would come later, but some of the best music came on these early albums.
The hits, minor though they were, were "Set me Free" and "Life's Little Ups and Downs," and both are stellar tracks. Rich does a wonderful version of "Try A Little Tenderness," and shows a more country approach than he would later on tracks like "A Picture of You" and "Very Much Alone."
That last track alone kept me entranced while listening; also included is a very good cover of the Ivory Joe Hunter classic "I Almost Lost my Mind," and a decent cover of the wretched "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." The background singers almost overpower Rich, but if you ignore the syrupy back-up and focus on his sublime vocals, you will be, pardon the pun, richly rewarded. The man recorded lots of great songs, but for my money those were not neccessarily his big hits.

Nothing to add.......2006-06-15

Being an Elvis fan for many years, I'm not sure if the King could top Charlie Rich in his best moments like these recordings and on his marvelous Pictures and Paintings.

The initmate, late night Charlie Rich........2006-03-06

Charlie's wife, Margaret Ann, said he was a loner and preferred
playing in small clubs where he could indulge in his love of jazz, blues, standards and anything else that suited him "at the
moment." Many fans who know only of his big hits aren't aware of
Charlie's talent as a jazz pianist - critic Peter Guralnick stated he knew a "million jazz tunes." These two albums plus
"Boss Man" were his three Epic LPs before he hit stardom with "Behind Closed Doors" and give one a feel for the type of
music noted above. Typical of Charlie is "San Francisco Is A
Lonely Town" - a bluesy song, and NOT the Tony Bennett hit, which
sort of typified Charlie's early career. "It Makes Me Want To Cry" is another bluesy example where his fabulous voice just haunts you. "July 12, 1939" was one of HIS favorites and "Set Me Free" is another favorite of mine. These two albums and "Boss Man" will probably not be favored by those looking for the Charlie Rich songs which became hits but will satisfy those looking for the artist who would stay up all night in his home studio playing jazz and standards just for his own pleasure. It
has been written that the standard "Tenderly" was Charlie's
favorite song - sadly, his version isn't to be found anywhere in any form. It is probably on his home studio tapes - there are rumors some of these will be put out on CD but so far it hasn't happened to my knowledge. I keep on hoping. Charlie Rich was one the most eclectic singers and musicians of all time. If you haven't explored his Sun, Hi, Smash, RCA(Groove) and this early Epic material, you will be rewarded for doing so.

Average customer rating:

The Silver Fox at his Best!
A Thousand Stars

The Fabulous Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Manufacturer: Koch Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

Nashville Sound | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000001SO8
Release Date: 1994-11-23

Tracks:

I Almost Lost My Mind
Life Has Its Little Ups And Downs
San Francisco Is A Lonely Town
Sittin' And Thinkin'
July 12, 1939
Bright Lights, Big City
Raggedy Ann
Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)
A Picture Of You
Love Waits For Me
It Makes Me Want To Cry

Amazon.com

It's hard to imagine a singer today with the cheek to label himself "fabulous" right there in the title, but then there isn't a singer today who can hold a candle to Charlie Rich. On this elegant, country-soul classic, Rich's expressive rasp pleads for undeserved forgiveness in "Sittin' and Thinkin'," reluctantly says good-bye in "San Francisco Is a Lonely Town," and rages through "Bright Lights, Big City." Best of all, in "Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs," Rich apologizes to his wife for all he can never give her--and thanks her for loving him anyway. At the end, when he cries "She wears a gold ring on her finger ... and it's mine," no singer has ever sounded so completely grateful. "Fabulous" doesn't do it justice. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews:

The Silver Fox at his Best!.......2005-01-07

The great Bob Dylan called Charlie Rich his favorite singer. I wonder how many die-hard Dylan fans are aware that Dylan even said it. Sad to say, most Dylan fans never even heard of Charlie Rich. Included in this album is "Life has it's little ups and downs". Written by Charlie's wife Margaret Ann Rich, this is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard in the many years I've been listening to music. It's just so special! July 12,1939, no that's not my birthday, it's just another reason to but this album FABULOUS! An original Sun recording star, Charlie Rich is as we say in N.Y., "Da Man"! Although the cd is out of print(although available through Amazon etc.) don't worry if it's already sold, because it will be re-issued as a two-fer with another fine Rich album, "Set Me Free". These are early CBS recordings. They are hot stuff! Why suffer through today's musical trash when you can get some real fine talent. Charlie Rich, WOW!

A Thousand Stars.......2001-05-27

Why do we only get to give five stars? Charlie Rich deserves at least a thousand for this CD. This was the first album of Charlie Rich that I ever owned. I still have it but also have the (now out of print) CD. While the grooves on my old record have worn out, the music is as fresh as the day Charlie cut these songs. Once or twice in a lifetime, a song comes along and hits you so hard you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you first heard it. "Life's Little Ups and Down" was like that for me. I know exactly where our car was when the song came on the radio. My parents, my brother and I were headed out of town on a vacation when I first heard this one on the radio. I'd never heard Charlie Rich before, but his voice and this amazing song reached out and grabbed me. After I bought the record I played it more than any other I ever owned. Why? On their good days, Elvis, George Jones, Sam Cooke, Aaron Neville, Jackie Wilson and a few others could equal Charlie Rich. But no one ever surpassed his talent. No one ever sang more soulfully, more sweetly or with more passion than Charlie Rich. His talents are on display here. Yet this is just a typical studio album for Rich. Although it was cut in Nashville with Billy Sherrill as producer, it is NOTHING like the albums he cut with Sherrill after hitting the big time in 1973 with Behind Closed Doors. Here Sherrill was content to let Charlie do some of his favorite Jimmie Reed and Ivory Joe Turner songs, and the country songs Sherrill brought somehow fit in. Charlie sang those country songs with so much passion they sounded right on a album with blues and jazz stylings. I wish I could do justice to this music and tell you how great it is. "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter sounds like country blues. "Life Has It's Little Ups and Downs" is the greatest song about a man's love for his wife I've ever heard (and Charlie's wife wrote it for him to sing). "San Francisco Is a Lonely Town" is uptown country along the lines of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." It's a great song too. "Sittin' and Thinkin" is the most country song Charlie Rich ever wrote. It's a classic theme: drunken husband sitting in jail and begging his wife to take him back. "July 12, 1939" is a chilling modern country blues about a boy convicted on false testimony. It is such a great song I wonder why it hasn't been covered more times. It deserves to be a classic. "Bright Lights Big City" is Charlie's tribute to Jimmy Reed. The rest of the album is also wonderful music. The one song I'll bet a lot of middle aged music critics hated, "Raggedy Ann," is one that as a girl of 14 when I bought the record, I dearly loved. It refers to a poor teenage girl the singer is waiting for. He will wait till she grows up and then he'll take her away to better things. "Have You Never Been Lonely?" is pure country of the old fashioned kind. "A Picture of You" is a sad song about a man who drinks while looking at a smiling picture of his lost love. "Love Waits For Me" is just a great story song that Charlie sings with wistful passion that gets me every time. "It Makes Me Want to Cry" is one of the best songs Charlie ever sang. The late Eddie Rabbit was one of the co-writers of this song. I will never understand why this song, "It Makes Me Want to Cry" isn't covered more often. Sure, men aren't supposed to cry, but sometimes they do. This song is so beautiful, telling the tale of a marriage where the wife has fallen out of love -- and her husband knows. Charlie Rich gave this one the soulful treatment that really made you believe. He was the ultimte soul singer.

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