CHARLIE RICH & ROY ORBISON

CHARLIE RICH:

Born: 1932, Arkansas.
Death: July, 1995.
Nickname: The Silver Fox.
Genres: Blues, Country.
Style: Jazz, R&B, Blues, Country, Boogie, Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Influences: Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Ray Charles, Stan Kenton, Dave Brubeck, Eddie Vinson.
Similar artists: Jerry Lee Lewis, Moon Mullican, Merrill E. Moore, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Carl Mann, Ronnie Milsap, Mickey Gilley.

Charlie Rich, in many ways, was the most unusual performer to record at Sun. Like the rest of the guys at Sun (Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, etc.), Rich was born into a farming family (in 1932, in Arkansas). His roots were quite different to his contemporaries. Favorite artists of the young Rich included Dave Brubeck & Stan Kenton.
Rock ‘n’ roll sprang from the R&B & Blues of the South & by 1958 bluesy Sun Records artists like Jerry Lee Lewis were hitting big. Charlie thought he had a chance & decided to record at Sun. Rich played jazz & swing but Sam Phillips instructed him to sound like Jerry Lee & gave him some of Lewis’ records to help change his direction. Rich initially didn’t care for boogie blues but soon was converted to artists like Jerry Lee & Ray Charles (who were Rich’s biggest influences while on Sun).
Rich’s early Sun (1958/59) records like "Whirlwind", "Philadelphia baby" & "Rebound" typified his early boogie rock ‘n’ roll style. During this time Rich also wrote for others, notably Jerry Lee (Jerry Lee’s "It hurt me so" was an R&B ballad with Ivory Joe Hunter written all over it, while the similar R&B ballad "I’ll make it all up to you" was a No.19 country hit. Both were written by Rich). Rich also wrote the rocker "Break up" for Lewis & also intended the jazzy rocker "Lonely weekends" for the Killer (Jerry Lee waited 12 years to cut his version, but Rich did it in 1960, sounding not unlike the Killer & securing a No. 22 hit).
The bluesy ballad "Who will the next fool be" reaked of Ray Charles, was a No. 67 hit for Rich & went on to become a blues standard covered by Jerry Lee, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland & Charles Brown.
Other moments of note from Rich’s Sun era include the Ray Charles-style "There won’t be anymore" (a tamer country-politan version was a major hit for Rich later, but didn’t compete with the soulfulness of the original), a Jerry Lee Lewis-type gutbucket blues, "No headstone on my grave", which was probably intended for Jerry Lee, who eventually recorded an outstanding version in 1973 & many R&B-slanted tracks like "Easy money, take it on a way from me", "Midnite blues", etc. Tracks like "Sittin’ & thinkin’" cemented Rich’s country style & this one was covered by Jerry Lee in Rich’s 1970s country hit period.
After Rich left Sun, in followed in Jerry Lee’s footsteps to become a soul & R&B star & recorded for R.C.A & Smash/Mercury. He had a hit with "Mohair Sam" in the mid ‘60s, which was very similar to the style Jerry Lee recorded in on albums like "Memphis beat" & "Soul my way".
Rich received his country stardom in the 1970s, but his music suffered. He had huge hits with crossover pop & country numbers like "Behind closed doors" & "The most beautiful girl". Unlike Elvis Presley & Ray Charles, though, Rich wasn’t ever comfortable in this territory & by 1980 his hits dried up & he returned to the jazz & blues he loved. His last album, "Pictures & Paintings", represents his true love: Jazz. He died in July, 1995, suddenly.

ROY ORBISON:

Born: 1936, Texas.
Death: December, 1988.
Genre: Country.
Style: Country-Pop, Rockaballad, Rockabilly, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Country.
Influences: Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Glenn Miller.
Similar Artists: Charlie Rich, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chris Isaaks.

Roy Orbison was born in 1936 in Texas & grew up in an isolated area in Texas. Unlike many Sun artists like Jerry Lee or Carl Perkins, Roy never came into much contact with blues & R&B. His influences mainly came from country music on the radio (undoubtedly Hank Williams & probably white Texan country-bluesman Moon Mullican) & oldtime pop singers. Nevertheless, he came to Sun Records to record & tried his hand as a rock ‘n’ roller. His first record was "Go go go (Down the line)"/"Ooby Dooby", which was naturally bluesy for a man who never had that much of a blues influence.
Roy also wrote songs that were hits for others including "So long I’m gone" (Warren Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis), "Claudette" (Everley Brothers), "Down the line" (Jerry Lee Lewis), etc. For a man who claimed to ‘have no interest in blues & R&B & left Sun because Sam Phillips wanted him to do blues’, Orbison always had a bluesy feel to his singing. Fair enough, he was never a pure bluesman, but the blues were always present in Roy’s style. Roy even covered R&B standards like Chuck Willis’ "Too late, she’s gone" or Shirley & Lee’s "Let the good times roll" (not the Louis Jordan or Jerry Lee song). Roy had only minor hits at Sun.
Roy Left Sun for many labels but his main successes were on the Monument label. In the ‘60s, he took over the pop world with bluesy country-flavoured ballads like "Pretty woman", "Only the lonely", "Leah", "It’s over" & "Running scared". He also recorded some blues like a revival of Jerry Lee’s "Mean woman blues", the original "Candy man" & others like "Dream baby". These were hits, too.
For much of the ‘70s & ‘80s, Roy was lost in the music world & felt out of place on the "Class of ‘55" album with Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash from 1985, but 2 years later, he was making a major comeback with his "Mystery girl" album, his contributions to the Travelling Wilburies (which also featured another ‘60s giant, Bob Dylan & Beatle George Harrison) & an excellent concert called "Black & white night". He died of a heart attack in December, 1988, but records like "Anything you want, you got it" & "I drove all night" were hits after his death.
Patrick Wall,
July 19th, 1998.

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