While legendary producer and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips was a man of rare vision in the early days of rock & roll, Charlie Rich was an unusual example of an artist who Phillips wasn't quite sure of what to do with. Of course, Phillips was hardly alone in that dilemma -- Rich's brilliant but eclectic gifts, which embraced country, blues, jazz, and any number of other points in between, proved a challenge for plenty of folks in the music biz, and the handful of singles Rich recorded for the Phillips International ...
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While legendary producer and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips was a man of rare vision in the early days of rock & roll, Charlie Rich was an unusual example of an artist who Phillips wasn't quite sure of what to do with. Of course, Phillips was hardly alone in that dilemma -- Rich's brilliant but eclectic gifts, which embraced country, blues, jazz, and any number of other points in between, proved a challenge for plenty of folks in the music biz, and the handful of singles Rich recorded for the Phillips International Records label (not Sun, no matter what the front cover says) between 1958 and 1963 shows that Phillips and his compatriots had a sense of the broad reach of Rich's talent, if not how to put all the pieces together. Complete Singles Plus finds Rich's smooth, emotionally evocative voice taking on rockabilly ("Whirlwind"), gospel ("Big Man"), jazz (a lyrically silly but musically satisfying hipped-up version of "School Days"), R&B ("Everything I Do Is Wrong"), pop ("Caught in the Middle"), and blues ("Who Will the Next Fool Be"), and while the accompaniment doesn't always seem to fit (especially those slick-as-mayonnaise vocal choruses) and some of the material is clunky, Rich's vocals and piano work are superb throughout. This collection also features two of Rich's signature tunes, "Lonely Weekends" and "Sittin' and Thinkin'," both of which show off the bluesy undertow of his vocal style to superb advantage. Complete Singles Plus is a solid overview of Charlie Rich's early recordings, and if this wasn't his most musically or commercially fruitful period, there are enough solid sides here to confirm that his talent was in place from the start, even if his sense of musical direction wasn't quite so certain. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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