...in that this features many more different songs by Charlie Rich than the previous compilations did. Obviously,"Lonely Weekends" (his best song at Sun Records & his only hit there, at Pop #22 (unless you want to count the #111 "Just a Little Bit Sweet")) is on here. A great many other songs were already released, including the other singles. However, there're also some unreleased songs on here, helping to make this the best replacement for the now out-of-print compilation "The Sun Years: 1958-1962" I think it was called. That compilation has more takes on many songs, but doesn't have as much material. This has the original versions of many tunes as well. "There Won't Be Anymore"- Recorded 4Xs in his career; the 2nd a hit for RCA, 3rd a track on Charlie's CMA Album of 1974 "Very Special Love Songs." "Mountain Dew"- Also called "My Mountain Dew", the 2nd version went #24 on the country chart in 1977 for RCA. "Sittin' and Thinkin'"- A gem, this was later rerecorded for "The Fabulous Charlie Rich", released around 1969-70. "Don't Put No Headstone On My Graves"- A blues gem, as lampshaded by Charlie himself on his 1974-5 album "The Silver Fox", where he does the song, it was recorded for a 3rd (& final) time for his "Pictures and Paintings" album, released 4/12/1992. "Juicehead Baby"- The version here is quick & funny, as opposed to the blusier and more serious version on "Pictures and Paintings." "Lonely Weekends" & "Everything I Do Is Wrong"- Both were rerecorded for his 1965 album for Smash Records "The Many New Sides of Charlie Rich." "On My Knees"- This was later a duet w/ Janie Fricke for his out-of-print album "Take Me", but wasn't released until 1978; it became the last Country #1 for Charlie & the 1st for Fricke. "Stay"- Another album track from "Very Special Love Songs." "Who Will the Next Fool Be"- This was rereleased in 1970, peaking at #67 on the country chart. Also rerecorded for Hi Records. Another gem. "Midnight Blues"- Mistitled "Midnite Blues", this was rerecorded for his "Every Time You Touch Me" album. "Break Up"- Another gem, rerecorded for "The Silver Fox." "The Ways of a Woman In Love", "You Never Know About Love", "Now Everybody Knows"- all rerecorded for Groove Records, an RCA imprint, the middle as "It Just Goes to Show (You Never Know About Love)", and the latter Country #56 in late 1975/early 76. If you're looking for a few collections of Charlie Rich recordings to buy for an introduction to his eclectic talents, this is one of the best places to start. This is him in the early stages (both in songwriting in many cases & as a recording artist), and he was already great!
For those who have considered buying the 3 CD Bear Family Box Set containing his Sun recordings, I would recommend this collection instead. The sound quality is outstanding and this box set is much cheaper than what Bear Family offers.
The only problem I have with this collection is that Amazon made mistakes when listing the song titles and this release is poorly represented on here. There are songs on my version of this box set that are not listed on Amazon's audio sample list when you click to preview the tracks.
