Charlie Rich --- Soul Man

Charlie Rich. If you only know him from "The Most Beautiful Girl" and "Behind Closed Doors", you don't really know him.

Charlie started his recording career for Sun Records' Sam Phillips....whom you should need no introduction to if you're reading this blog. Sam really didn't know what to do with a talent like Charlie, who was an accomplished piano player that could play basically anything. He managed a few hits on Phillips International Records--- the stone-cold classics "Lonely Weekends" and "Who Will The Next Fool Be" amongst them. [An absolutely shredding outtake of "Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave" remained in the vaults until the 80s----too real to release, I suppose!]

His next-to-last single for PI was this floor-pounder, "Finally Found Out", which is nothing but pure Memphis Soul. [And the laugh at the beginning, alone, should endear it to any rock-and-roller's heart!] It's a "told you so!" to a former lover who jilted him, who is now on the receiving end of the heartache....and Charlie is so happy about it, he's "gonna run all over Memphis and shout"! This was on the flip side of "Sittin' And Thinkin', " one of the saddest [and earliest that I can think of] song examples of the downside to unchecked alcoholism--poignantly written by Rich himself, and later covered by Elvis Costello:

'Cause when I'm drinking
I am nobody's friend
So please baby wait for me
Until they let me out again

More arguments in Charlie's favor: he was one of the few white artists signed to Hi Records---that should tell you something right there--and recorded the original version of Sam and Dave's later hit "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby."

And, in 1975, when giving the award for Entertainer Of The Year at the Country Music Association awards----and seeing John Denver's name on the envelope as the winner-----he promptly lit the envelope with his lighter, on live TV. His career never really regained its momentum after that-----but I'd like to think that he was just tired of doing all that syrupy string-laden stuff that he was famous at the time for. :)

His final album, Pictures and Paintings [1992, Sire Records] was the crowning achievement for his career, and finally showed in full what he was capable of. If you see it, pick it up.

As a matter of fact, you cannot go wrong with any Sun, Smash/Mercury, or Hi Records [import-only] compilations by this man. [There is also a really good 2-disc set available on Sony/Legacy, which, alas, does not include this cut---but has plenty of fine ones, in addition to his monster 70s hits.]

[I've had this 45 since I was about three; my dad brought it back from Shreveport in a stack of remaindered 45s that he bought at a record store while on a business trip. Good call, Dad. I have this on a reissue import LP----but, even with the scratches, the 45 still has more 'punch' to it.....as it should!]

Oh.....and don't get startled by the "Ha-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!" at the beginning!

--Treblephone


Charlie Rich - Finally Found Out