Sam Phillips has famously referred to Charlie Rich as the most talented man he had at Sun Records, and these 18 recordings might just bear him out. Rich always leaned toward the R&B side of rockabilly's R&B-country hybrid, and he had the soulful piano chops and wrenching vocal inflections to pull it off. The infectious romp "Lonely Weekends" became his first hit, but there's so much more to discover. The ferocious "Break Up" comes complete with feverish boogie-woogie-inspired piano licks and growling vocals that lend a menacing edge to lyrics that are relatively benign on the surface. "I don't know exactly what I'm a-gonna do," he snarls, and you start to wonder what the range of possibilities are. There's nasty blues ("My Baby Done Left Me") and gritty Ray Charles-influenced soul ("Who Will the Next Fool Be"). Even the vocal chorus and strings can't hide the pain and remorse in Rich's booze-wallowing "Sittin' and Thinkin'." The set closes with two of Rich's most stunning vocal performances: the anguished-but-determined, jazz-inflected "There Won't Be Anymore" and a spare demo of the gospel-influenced "No Headstone on My Grave." --Marc Greilsamer
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