Ultimate Collection

Charlie Rich | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 28, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 28, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B00004S51R
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,398 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Lonely Weekends

2. Rebound

3. Who Will the Next Fool Be?

4. Break Up

5. Sittin' and Thinkin'

6. There's Another Place I Can't Go

7. Big Boss Man

8. There Won't Be Anymore

9. River, Stay Away from My Door

10. She Called Me Baby

11. Mohair Sam

12. I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water

13. Field of Yellow Daisies, A

14. Everything I Do Is Wrong

15. You Can Have Her

16. Behind Closed Doors

17. Most Beautiful Girl, The

18. Feel Like Going Home

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genre-busting, hard living, heartbreaking Charlie Rich, April 18, 2002

By 

Andy Agree "jackrabbit79" (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

Charlie Rich is a renegade of the 1950s southern roots rock tradition that produced Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Jerry Lee Lewis, all of whom (except Elvis) had to balance themselves commercially between the markets of rock and country. Charlie, although equal in talent to any of them had more trouble finding his commercial niche, and so is less well known, but in a way that makes him more interesting today.

Charlie Rich was an already prematurely silver-haired country crooner in the early 70s when he finally scored big with "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl", the latter of which topped both the country and pop charts in 1973. Well, he didn't start out that way. On the back cover you see him as he was in his Sun Studio days, Elvis-handsome but much more rugged-looking, and he sounds it too. The collection follows his career from 1959 to his 1970s heyday, and a powerful, moving and (one senses) personal 1991 swan song "Feel Like Going Home", but it is the 1959-1965 material that is the goldmine here.

Charlie sings (like Elvis, but stronger), writes (sometimes) and plays piano, and the tracks are organized chronologically. There are no weak tracks, but these are the ones I like best, and I have indicated how they show off his boundary-busting diversity. #1 "Lonely Weekend" (rock 'n roll), #6 "There's Another Place I Can't Go" (country/R&B), #7 "Big Boss Man" (blues/rock 'n roll - and funny as heck, you'll want to play this one over and over), #10 "She Called Me Baby" (country ballad), #11 Fast-talking, slow walking, good looking "Mohair Sam" (R&B), #16 "Behind Closed Doors" (country), #17 "The Most Beautiful Girl" (country-pop and still sounds great), and #18 "Feel Like Going Home" (gospel). For those of you who may have grown up in the New York area in the 60s, you'll recognize Charlie's version of "Big Boss Man" as the theme song of WMCA's Dandy Dan Daniels. But I never knew it was Charlie Rich until now, and I'll bet you didn't either - what a find!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "rock'n'roll, country, blues, jazz, soul & classic pop", June 14, 2000

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

Hip-O Records present one of the best "Ultimate Collections" to date. What can one say about Charlie Rich - "The Silver Fox", who mastered virtually every style and vernacular of American music from rock'n'roll to classic pop, from country to blues, from supper club jazz to soul.

A few stand outs - "LONELY WEEKENDS" (1959) clearly his first classic - "WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE?" (1961) high octane on rhythm & blues, with perfect lyrics and arrangements - "RIVER STAY AWAY FROM MY DOOR" (1963) this rendition has to be one of the best ever, Rich completely throws himself into the mood and the rest is "perfection" - "A FIELD OF YELLOW DAISIES (1965) in top form, and working on all cylinders for this ballad - "YOU CAN HAVE HER" (1965) no other artist can top this performance, as Charlie's talent comes shining through - "BEHIND CLOSE DOORS" (1972) and "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL" (1973) both charted number one on the Country Charts.

Charlie Rich was one of the most talented artist ever to record, his voice and piano complemented each other. Rich painted his thoughts and feelings through music, as you will hear and see through the - "Ultimate Collection of Charlie Rich"!

Total Time: 48:54 on 18 Tracks/ Hip-O Records - 012 157 597 2 (2000)

5.0 out of 5 stars CHARLIE'S RICHES, November 10, 2011

By 

Jukebox Dave (RECORD TOWN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

CHARLIE RICH-ULTIMATE COLLECTION: Best remembered for his early twang-rocker LONELY WEEKENDS, the swaggering RNB of MOHAIR SAM, and 70s countrypolitan smashes BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL, there was seeemingly no musical style that blue eyed soul belter/piano man CHARLIE RICH was afraid to tackle head on. An elegant cross between his SUN RECORDS stablemates The King and The Killer, his career also spanned jazz, pop, and smokin' honky tonk, as he turned in covers of the gospel-heavy I WASHED MY HANDS IN MUDDY WATER and JIMMY REED's blues gem BIG BOSS MAN. He also managed to pen a few classics of his own, from the barn-burner BREAK UP to the breathtaking ballad WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE. ULTIMATE COLLECTION is perhaps the finest anthology of the dozens available, chronologically skimming the cream from a multi-decade career...18 tracks of the towering, testifying talent that was THE SILVER FOX.

RATING: FIVE IVORIES