Library Rock's Backpages

Charlie Rich: Life's Little Ups And Downs

Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone, 27 December 1969

BOB DYLAN HAS SAID more than once that Charlie Rich is one of his favorite musicians – as a songwriter and as a singer. Nik Cohn, in Rock From the Beginning, names Rich as one of the handful of men in the history of rock who've had real talent, along with Phil Spector, John Lennon, Pete Townshend, Eddie Cochran, and a few others. Perhaps you'd remember 'Mohair Sam' from the '50s; perhaps not. His albums, those that are still in print, are not carried by "hip" record stores; ask for them and you'll find yourself handed a stack of big band LPs by Buddy Rich.

Total word count of piece: 336

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.