Charlie Rich - Lonely Weekends
Hoodoo Records 263487
Charlie Rich was possibly one of the greatest white blues singers of all time. He was also a skilled pianist, songwriter and, when on form, a mesmerising performer. He started out in the 1950s at Sun Records as a slightly mis-placed rockabilly singer. He struggled throughout the 1960s to find his place in the music world, along the way chalking up the odd big hit single until finally in 1967 he landed at Epic Records. Legendary producer Billy Sherrill was to mastermind the gradual development of the ‘the Silver Fox’, as Charlie was affectionately known due to his mane of silver hair, from cult hero to big star status. It was to be a lengthy period as one quality single followed another to nowheresville until the beginning of 1973 when Behind Closed Doors, soared to number one on the country charts and crossed over to the pop listings. Suddenly, overnight, Charlie Rich could do no wrong.
Born in rural Arkansas, he was a tall, handsome kid who was also athletic and played football. He studied music formally at college and when the USAF posted him to Oklahoma in the early 1950s, one of his first groups, the Velvetones, secured a spot on local TV. They played jazz and r&b, performing the hard-nosed joints of the area. A hard-nosed joint is one in which the musicians perform behind poultry wire for their safety. Vocalist for this group was Charlie’s lovely fiancee, Margaret Ann.
Post-Air Force Charlie soon went to Memphis and began playing in clubs there, finding that this was his element. Quickly he became a session artist for Judd Phillips, brother of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips. Charlie was whacking riffs at a dive called the Sharecropper Club when he was heard by Bill Justis, a saxophonist and star of Sun Records, who asked Rich to write his arrangements. Sam Phillips heard the work and asked Rich to make some demos down at the recording studio. Phillips rejected the work as ‘too jazzy.’ Justis then gave Charlie some Jerry Lee Lewis records to digest and he quickly returned to the label as a studio musician, playing or singing on records with Justis, Johnny Cash, Lewis, Warren Smith, Billy Lee Riley, Carl Mann and Ray Smith. He also began to write songs, not just for himself, including Break Up for Lewis, The Ways Of A Woman In Love for Cash and I’m Coming Home for Mann. The latter tune was later cut by Elvis Presley.
Rich released his first single in August 1958, Whirlwind for Sun Records. He recorded a number of songs in 1959, but few were released—still too much jazz. In 1960 he recorded his first top 30 single, Lonely Weekends, He then did seven follow-ups and all were clinkers, but several of the songs later gained in popularity and would become staples for him: Who Will The Next Fool Be, Sittin’ and Thinkin’ and Midnight Blues. Old Charlie’s career hit a dead end at Sun Records. Later he was to tell folks that he never got a royalty cheque from Sam Phillips, that the record company owner pocketed the money. Of course Phillips denied the charge, saying that Charlie’s exit was Charlie’s choice. He left Sun in 1962 and bounced around record companies like a ping-pong ball until he signed with Epic in 1967.
Sub-titled ‘The 1958-1962 Sun/Phillips International Recordings,’ this is quite an amazing collection when you consider that apart from Lonely Weekends, Charlie Rich’s stay at Sun Records was unproductive in commercial terms. When it comes to artistic integrity and musical quality, he actually stood head and shoulders above all the other Sun cats. Presley, Cash, Orbison, Perkins, even Jerry Lee, came nowhere near matching Charlie Rich’s rich and diverse talent. The big mystery remains why was it that the usually astute Sam Phillips failed so completely to realise the Rich talent in commercial record sales. It probably comes down to the fact that Phillips really only understood one-trick ponies, and a singer who didn’t fit into a recognised musical genre was hard to market. What we have left is a rich pot-pourri of recordings that we can enjoy over and over again. Such a pity that so many of these recordings were not made available fifty-odd years ago when they were fresh and vibrant.
www.hoodoo-records.com
Charlie Rich was possibly one of the greatest white blues singers of all time. He was also a skilled pianist, songwriter and, when on form, a mesmerising performer. He started out in the 1950s at Sun Records as a slightly mis-placed rockabilly singer. He struggled throughout the 1960s to find his place in the music world, along the way chalking up the odd big hit single until finally in 1967 he landed at Epic Records. Legendary producer Billy Sherrill was to mastermind the gradual development of the ‘the Silver Fox’, as Charlie was affectionately known due to his mane of silver hair, from cult hero to big star status. It was to be a lengthy period as one quality single followed another to nowheresville until the beginning of 1973 when Behind Closed Doors, soared to number one on the country charts and crossed over to the pop listings. Suddenly, overnight, Charlie Rich could do no wrong.Born in rural Arkansas, he was a tall, handsome kid who was also athletic and played football. He studied music formally at college and when the USAF posted him to Oklahoma in the early 1950s, one of his first groups, the Velvetones, secured a spot on local TV. They played jazz and r&b, performing the hard-nosed joints of the area. A hard-nosed joint is one in which the musicians perform behind poultry wire for their safety. Vocalist for this group was Charlie’s lovely fiancee, Margaret Ann.
Post-Air Force Charlie soon went to Memphis and began playing in clubs there, finding that this was his element. Quickly he became a session artist for Judd Phillips, brother of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips. Charlie was whacking riffs at a dive called the Sharecropper Club when he was heard by Bill Justis, a saxophonist and star of Sun Records, who asked Rich to write his arrangements. Sam Phillips heard the work and asked Rich to make some demos down at the recording studio. Phillips rejected the work as ‘too jazzy.’ Justis then gave Charlie some Jerry Lee Lewis records to digest and he quickly returned to the label as a studio musician, playing or singing on records with Justis, Johnny Cash, Lewis, Warren Smith, Billy Lee Riley, Carl Mann and Ray Smith. He also began to write songs, not just for himself, including Break Up for Lewis, The Ways Of A Woman In Love for Cash and I’m Coming Home for Mann. The latter tune was later cut by Elvis Presley.
Rich released his first single in August 1958, Whirlwind for Sun Records. He recorded a number of songs in 1959, but few were released—still too much jazz. In 1960 he recorded his first top 30 single, Lonely Weekends, He then did seven follow-ups and all were clinkers, but several of the songs later gained in popularity and would become staples for him: Who Will The Next Fool Be, Sittin’ and Thinkin’ and Midnight Blues. Old Charlie’s career hit a dead end at Sun Records. Later he was to tell folks that he never got a royalty cheque from Sam Phillips, that the record company owner pocketed the money. Of course Phillips denied the charge, saying that Charlie’s exit was Charlie’s choice. He left Sun in 1962 and bounced around record companies like a ping-pong ball until he signed with Epic in 1967.
Sub-titled ‘The 1958-1962 Sun/Phillips International Recordings,’ this is quite an amazing collection when you consider that apart from Lonely Weekends, Charlie Rich’s stay at Sun Records was unproductive in commercial terms. When it comes to artistic integrity and musical quality, he actually stood head and shoulders above all the other Sun cats. Presley, Cash, Orbison, Perkins, even Jerry Lee, came nowhere near matching Charlie Rich’s rich and diverse talent. The big mystery remains why was it that the usually astute Sam Phillips failed so completely to realise the Rich talent in commercial record sales. It probably comes down to the fact that Phillips really only understood one-trick ponies, and a singer who didn’t fit into a recognised musical genre was hard to market. What we have left is a rich pot-pourri of recordings that we can enjoy over and over again. Such a pity that so many of these recordings were not made available fifty-odd years ago when they were fresh and vibrant.
www.hoodoo-records.com