Charlie Rich - So Lonesome I Could Cry

Charlie Rich So Lonesome I Could Cry on LP

"The Hi recordings of Charlie Rich are in many ways the most reckless and adventurous of his career. In 1966 and 1967, Hi, a small Memphis label that hosted acts such as Willie Mitchell (and later Al Green) and the Bill Black Combo believed, like Sun, RCA, and Mercury before them, in Rich's prodigious talent but had no idea where to put him categorically...Most are the songs associated with Hank Williams...They are revelatory in that they reveal just how wide-ranging Rich's vision was.

"Beginning with Williams' own 'My Heart Would Know,' Rich takes the songs deep into his own musical soul and, like Ray Charles before him with Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, makes them his own, turning them into timeless pop classics. Among Rich's recordings, these 12 songs are some of the most enduring. There is 'You Win Again,' where the pedal steel becomes an instrument of timbral control and coloration and the lyric becomes a shimmying doo wop-framed melody; 'Hey Good Lookin' sounds as if Rich is backed by Booker T. & the MG's and the Meters simultaneously. The cool Hammond B3 run at the beginning of 'Nobody's Lonesome for Me' takes a honky tonk tune and turns it inside out, making it a rousing party anthem.

"As for Williams 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry,' Rich's version is among the most beautiful and emotionally naked ever recorded. The set closes with Leon Payne's 'They'll Never Take Her Love Away From Me.' As pedal steel guitar winds out the sang lines, Rich pours virtually everything he has into Payne's deeply moving lyric. This isn't merely a sad song, it's a devastating one; it's a suicide note; but the tenderness evoked by Rich makes it among the most beautifully twisted love songs ever performed. This collection is essential for Rich fans, and something to consider for any fan of timeless, restless country-soul from the 1960s." — AllMusic

 

Side 1

1. My Heart Would Know

2. Take These Chains From My Heart

3. Half As Much

4. You Win Again

5. I Can’t Help It

6. Hey Good Looking

Side 2

7. Your Cheating Heart

8. Cold, Cold Heart

9. Nobody’s Lonesome For Me

10. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

11. Wedding Bells

12. They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me

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