TS: Charlie Rich vs. John Denver

Both 1974 or thereabouts.

UK Pop charts, that is.

Both 1974 or thereabouts.

UK Pop charts, that is.

Other than the couple of songs of his from the 70s, I don't know his music, but I do respect how he testified infront of congress during the PMRC times.

if he was a young man working in the same eclectic style today, you'd just call him a roots guy, and all the loose threads of his work would make perfect sense. but in his time, the stylistic jumping he did was quite daring and pretty much a surefire recipe for commercial disaster.

highly recommemded:

"original hits and midnight demos" - compiling the best of his '50s sides for his sun. not sure if this one's still in print, but a lot of the same material is on "lonely weekends: best of the sun years" and probably a couple other compilations.

"the complete smash sessions" - truly amazing soul, R&B and country sides from the '60s, with strings here, honky-tonk piano there, and even a dash of bubblegum ("just a little bit of time")

"the fabulous charlie rich" - the first of his countrypolitan albums, featuring his wife's classic ballad "life's little ups and downs"

"behind closed doors" - the totally deserving pop breakthrough

I'm not sure that 'Original Hits and Midnight Demos' is still in print, which is a shame - it's the only place you hear Rich's best early recordings w/out all the syrupy overdubbed strings etc.

Charlie Rich did it all, very soulful. You have to respect a guy from the Arkansas delta who loved jazz as much as he loved country and r&b. "Who Will the Next Fool Be" is one of the very greatest Sun recordings. He did make the charts a few times before his countrypolitan Billy Sherrill stuff in the '70s..."Lonely Weekends" and of course the epochal "Mohair Sam," one of the greatest of all '60s pop singles. Two things he did for Epic around 1970 are pretty great, "Boss Man" and "Fabulous Charlie Rich." Esp. the awesome, bleak, crazed "Memphis and Arkansas Bridge," all about CR getting drunk because he and his wife had a fight, and ending up in the clink in Nashville.

And his bad behavior at the country music awards was very inspirational...I mean John Denver wasn't country at all, in my opine. Rather, one of them Colorado folkies. Charlie Rich beats him all to hell, I think. Collectables released his "Lonely Weekends"/"A Time for Tears" and it's pretty sterling stuff. Also did some nice recording for Hi in Memphis, worth tracking down. Yep, I love Charlie Rich, such a melancholic, such a beautiful approach to everything. And no, his last LP "Pictures and Paintings" isn't really all that hot, a bit on the ageing- star- plays- standards trip, but worth picking up cheap. I'd rank him up there with Presley, Lewis, any of the talents who came out of the Memphis area in the late '50s.

Funny, I was listening to Alex Chilton's "Black List" the other day and noticed that Chilton references Rich's version of "Nice and Easy" on his otherwise somewhat underwhelming take on same (listen to the guitar in the chorus and you'll hear what I'm talking about).

sorry

lol usenet

I will go out to flea markets looking for John Denver today and yes I will buy C Rich and break it right in front of the person I just paid.
And I will tell them I have never forgiven him for what he did and said about John Denver. And I am happy young people will say Charlie who they do
know who John Denver is.

Great to see the love for Charlie Rich. The Complete Smash Sessions is the way to go, lots of 2.30 minute slices of 60s heaven. I'm particularly partial to The Best Years, It Ain't Gonna Be That Way, and I Can't Go On.

I second the awesomeness of the Smash comp. "Party Girl" deserves a shout-out too, with its hilariously ditzy backing vocals -- I love those "oh yeah"s in the chorus. The tight, propulsive rhythm section is a big part of what made Charlie's Smash records so great, and his Sherrill-produced material, though satisfying in its own right, suffers a bit for lack of a real punchy backing band.

I have a really strong memory of my parents being scandalized by Charlie Rich's behavior on that Awards show.

Said memory which will now no doubt dissipate to a will-o'-the-wisp pronto now that it has been written on the ether wind.

I hear Denver in the supermarket now and again. It makes sense that the Red House Painters dude put together that tribute, cause JD is strictly from DIRGES. I thought I sort of liked "Back Home Again," but I heard it the other day, and you could listen to five Charlie Rich LPs in the time it took for that thing to wind out.

Is it true that Charlie stopped his performance of "I Love My Friend" on the Grammys and called for "Radio Radio" instead?

I also heard that he showed up to lipsync "Disco Lady" on "Soul Train" when Johnnie Taylor couldn't make it.

Renaissance man -- almost literally. I heard that Annie Haslam had him THIS CLOSE to joining the band after his United Artists contract ran out.

Meltzer nearly had him out of retirement to cover that one Joan Osborne song, but the Silver Fox nixed his suggested B-side: "We Got the Neutron Bomb."

WARE CAN I PERCHASE SOOT, PLZ?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzBt-2jQ3Iw

Is it true that Charlie stopped his performance of "I Love My Friend" on the Grammys and called for "Radio Radio" instead?
Yes. He could be seen wearing a "Thanks, Mike" t-shirt beneath his fancy attire, a reference to Mik3 Curb, whose last minute refusal to allow an MGM artist (Roy Orbis0n?) on the show was what permitted Charlie to get the gig.

Timi Yuro, you forgot to mention the bittersweet booze-infested Xmas duet he sang with Minnie Pearl at the Opry, "Fairytale of Nashville."

Along with Ray Charles, Charlie Rich may be the most versatile pop artist of the past 50 years. He did it all — country, rock and roll, soul, jazz, blues — in pretty convincing fashion.
Damn, that clip of Rich burning the envelope on the CMA show used to be on youtube, but it's no longer there.

The Complete Smash Sessions is the way to go, lots of 2.30 minute slices of 60s heaven.

Yes! Love how much soul influence gets into his stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUhgQU5tA7M

"Now I'm broke as the ten commandments..."

Recently got hold of the 'It Ain't Gonna Be That Way' compilaton version of the Smash recordings. Heard its actualy a deal better than the original '92 compilation of taht material.
Anyway it is pretty damn great. Really does have a lot of soul etc in it.

Also liked the pairing of his late 60s lps I got a few years earlier. That had me wondering if he was somebody taht people like Nick Cave and the Tindersticks listened to him.
Haven't heard his material from elsewhen to any great extent, though I do remember Most Beautiful girl In The World getting heavy play in the 70s.

Complete Smash Sessions is brilliant. Anyone compared sound quality vs new comp?

He's got lots of great late 60s / early 70s material beyond the hits. Check out The Fabulous Charlie Rich.

http://s14.postimg.org/i3sy2b4hd/glen.jpg

Seemed like a bizarre pairing until I read the original post (I've read about that incident). Temperamentally (their music, I mean), these two guys could not be farther apart.

they used "behind closed doors" in an anti-domestic abuse advert in scotland several years back and it will forever make me think of that anytime i hear it.

I love that Complete Smash recordings set and the 2fer I have of his late 60s/early 70s lps. Wish I'd picked up the other couple of those things.
The 2fer set I have sounds like it should be a major influence on Nick Cave & the Tindersticks.

Just looked that up and it's Set Me Free and the Fabulous Charlie Rich on an Edsel cd. Looks like there was a series of 3 of those sets.