Charlie Rich - Midnight Blue: The Early Recordings 1958-1960 (2017)

The great Charlie Rich was Sun Records' founder Sam Phillips' last major discovery, coming to the company after three leading members of Phillips' 'Million Dollar Quartet' had defected to other labels. His recordings for Phillips were not massively successful in terms of chart activity. But as can be heard in this new Jasmine compilation, their excellence and diversity provided the groundwork for the huge global success that would eventually come his way in the early to mid 1970s with his like "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl". 'Midnight Blue' shows every facet of Charlie's massive talent, from the convincing rock n roller of "Whirlwind", "Rebound" and his hot 100 hit "Lonely Weekends" to the jazzy crooner of "Apple Blossom Time" to the inventive pianist of "Red Man". It also gives a sneak preview of the kind of hit that Charlie would score over and over again in the 70s, via the original version of his classic song "Sittin' And Thinkin'". Every track that Phillips issued on Charlie between 1958 and 1962 is included in this collection, amounting to several singles and an album. Although very few of these recordings charted at the time, they do include some of the best music he every made and several of the most important sides in his discography. Beautifully remastered from the best available sources, as always, this collection is the ideal introduction to the titanic career of one of country music's undisputed legends.