From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Dec 14, 2002  7:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Charlie Rich

CHARLIE RICH (By Shaun Mather)

Born Charles A. Rich, 14 December 1932, Colt, Arkansas
Died 25 July 1995, Hammond, Louisiana

I love Charlie Rich. To me he's one of the greatest country singers, with a
soul-drenched voice who was even able to outshine Billy Sherrill's strings,
and that's saying something. Charlie Rich was a brilliant but complicated
artist who enjoyed a spell of massive worldwide acclaim, but was probably
happier playing a jazz set in a darkened Memphis club. He possessed a
wonderful voice, was an accomplished pianist and was a great songwriter
to boot. Apart from that he looked pretty good too!
His story is well known, it's what was inside his head that no-one knew. He
was a misunderstood singer who didn't really understand himself. He was
cleverer than your average Sun artist and was a bit of a musical snob,
always feeling that the style he was recording at the time was not really
what he wanted to or should be doing. When he was cutting rock 'n' roll at
Sun he felt he should be doing jazz, the same when he was hitting big with
his countrypolitan stuff. This constant mind-struggle, together with his laid
back manner, meant that his wife Ann Margaret had to constantly push
him to sustain his career.
She was working hard from the beginning, the force that got him to Sun
Records where he wrote hits for others like Break Up, The Ways of a Woman
in Love and I'm Comin' Home. He recorded some great stuff himself like his
first single, Whirlwind, Who Will the Next Fool Be?, Sittin' and Thinkin and
Midnight Blues. His only hit for the label came with Lonely Weekends (# 22).

He signed with the newly-established subsidiary of RCA, Groove in 1964 and
had a minor success with his first single, Big Boss Man, but again couldn't
hit with a follow-up. He was incorporating his jazzy sound to a gentle
rock-country beat but the label soon folded and he joined Shelby Singleton
at Smash Records. At Smash he cut some lovely Memphis soul, with a grits
and gravy feel, scoring first-time out with the Dallas Frazier r'n'b ditty,
Mohair Sam (# 21). He cut in a simlar vein for Hi Records but failed to chart.

Next up came Epic Records where he was remodelled by producer Billy
Sherrill who saw the possiblity of cutting Charlie in a smooth ballad style.
The hits started to come, and for the first time in his career, continued to
come regularly, even getting bigger. Set Me Free, Raggedy Ann and I Take
It On Home appealed to the nation but it was with the release of 1973's Behind
Closed Doors album that Charlie became a household name. The title track
was massive as was one of its follow-ups, The Most Beautiful Girl, which
spent three weeks at the top of the country charts and two weeks at the top
of the pop charts. That year Charlie won three awards at the CMA's for Best
Male Vocalist, Album of the Year and Single of the Year. He also won a
Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. He won the CMA
Entertainer of the Year award in 1974.
A Very Special Love Song, I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore, I Love
My Friend, A Field of Yellow Daisies, My Elusive Dreams, Every Time You
Touch Me (I Get High) and Since I Fell For You continued the success story.
He wasn't really built to be a massive star though and this, coupled with his
agitation at the sameness his material was starting to suffer from saw him
turn to the bottle. At the CMA awards in 1975 he was to present the Enter-
tainer of the Year award but instead of reading the name of the winner (John
Denver) he just set fire to the certificate. He'd just written himself a get out

of the Top Ten certificate and began a downward spiral, chart wise. Perversely,
it helped his music, as he was able to move away from the orchestrated slush
and cut some things a bit closer to his heart. The gospel album, Silver Linings
was a high spot, before he moved to United Artists, then Elektra.
He soon lost interest and moved into semi-retirement before returning in
1992 with the stunning Pictures and Paintings which he cut with journalist
Peter Guralnick producing for Sire Records. His recut of Feel Like Goin'
Home is one of the most astonishing examples of human emotion I've ever
heard. You can hear him breathe as he retreads his life through music. Sadly
it would be his last record as he died from a blood clot in his lung as he was
travelling to see his son in Florida with his wife.

Recommended listening:
Feel Like Going Home: The Essential CR - Columbia/Legacy. The best career
overview - absolutely stunning double CD.
Lonely Weekends : The Sun Years, 1958-1962 - Sun Box - Bear Family (not
extensive, especially for BF, but most of CR's Memphis stuff is there).
Big Boss Man : The Groove Sessions - Koch.
Complete CR on Hi Records - Hi.
Complete Smash Sessions - Mercury.
Silver Linings - Epic.
Pictures And Paintings - Sire.
The 70s countrypolitan stuff is on various cheapo best of's, but there's
been no 2fers or Bear Family box, so our vinyl can't be retired off yet!
Website: http://www.charlierich.net/