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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charlie Rich 101, May 24, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich (Audio CD)
If you own nothing by Charlie Rich, start here. This is a good sampling of some of his greatest tracks from the many labels he recorded for. Charlie Rich is the most misunderstood, underrated recording artist in the history of American music. He could sing a Frank Sinatra song better than Frank, rock with Elvis, and sing the blues like few people -- white or black. Charlie Rich was NOT a country music singer. He was a soul singer. Sometimes he sang soulful country music, some of which he wrote himself. He was, without a doubt, the greatest white bluesman who ever lived. The greatest track on this compilation is a spiritual Charlie wrote, "Feel Like Going Home." There are two versions of this song here, and the most powerful one is from a demo that Charlie made at home with a tape recorder. It was just Charlie Rich, his piano and a song he wrote. It will rip your heart out, shred it, and then put it back together again. Charlie could do that. All the songs here are wonderful in their own way. But don't think for a minute these songs are the only great music he ever made. You have to get your hands on a multi-CD set from his days on Sun Records. You should seek out and buy the things he cut on Smash Records too. Don't neglect the tracks he did on Hi Records and Groove Records. Finally, buy some of the country music he did with Billy Sherrill at Epic. By the way, the best ones on Epic are the things he cut BEFORE he hit the big time. When they let Charlie Rich sit down with his piano and sing his heart out, there was no stopping him. If you like soul, blues, jazz, rockabilly, 1960's pop, wall of sound, Motown, gospel or country music, Charlie Rich is your man.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rich Diet, March 9, 2002
This review is from: Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich (Audio CD)
The blackdirt farming land of Arkansas (just across the big river from Memphis) produced a jazz loving, gospel reared piano tickler who Sam Phillips (SUN RECORDS GENIUS/SAVANT) called the most talented performer he ever worked with. Great growling voice that could sing the blues, gospel and twist them into his own sound which I just call SOUL MUSIC 'cause, hell, that's what it is. Music to be played somewhere in the lost territory found after midnight when the Jim Beam bottle's losing weight and your baby is gone and you don't know why. I've requested that the demo of "Feel Like Going Home" be played at my funeral services. That's it, indeed.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the first multi-label retrospective of the charlie rich, June 14, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich (Audio CD)
this two cd, thirty six track set is the first release to explore songs from the various labels that charlie rich recorded for over his entire career. this release shows the eclectic talent this artist had to move effortlessly from one genre to the next. at least eight different labels are represented - an excellent introduction to the man if you are not familier with all of his work. an excellent booklet accompanies the cds as well. charlie rich was one of the true greats in american popular music - very few, if any, can match the soul and emotion, not to mention the voice and piano, of this artist. an excellent jazz pianist, charlie rich was so much more than a country artist - this cd gives one a glimpse into that talent.
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