Charlie Rich
Encyclopedia
Charles Rich (December 14, 1932 July 25, 1995) was an American
country music
singer and musician. A Grammy Award
winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly
, jazz
, blues
, country
, and gospel
genres.
In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver Fox. He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors
" and "The Most Beautiful Girl
". "The Most Beautiful Girl" topped the U.S. country singles charts, as well as the pop singles charts.
, Arkansas
, most of his life, Rich was born in Colt, Arkansas
, to rural cotton
farmers. His professional musical career began while he was in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s. His first musical group, the Velvetones, played jazz and blues and featured his fiancée, Margaret Ann, on lead vocals. Rich left the military in 1955 and tried to farm five acres in Tennessee
. He also began performing in clubs around the Memphis
area, playing both jazz and R&B. It was during these hard times that he began writing
his own material.
for Judd Records
, owned by Judd Phillips, the brother of Sun Records
founder Sam Phillips
. After recording some demos for Sam Phillips at Sun Records that Phillips didn't find commercial enough, and too jazzy, legend has it that he was given a stack of Jerry Lee Lewis
records and told: "come back when you get that bad." A September 6, 2010 NPR airing of 1992 interview with Fresh Air
host Terry Gross
Charlie Rich tells the story himself of Sam Phillips telling Rich's wife those exact words. In 1958, Rich became a regular session musician
for Sun Records playing on records by Lewis, Johnny Cash
, Bill Justis
, Warren Smith
, Billy Lee Riley
, Carl Mann
, and Ray Smith
. He also wrote songs for Lewis, Cash, and others.
His third single for the Sun subsidiary, Phillips International Records
, was the 1960 Top 30 hit, "Lonely Weekends," noted for its Presley-like
vocals. None of his seven follow-up singles was a success, though several of the songs became staples in his live set, including "Who Will the Next Fool Be," "Sittin' and Thinkin'," and "No Headstone on My Grave." These songs were often recorded by others to varying degrees of success, such as the Bobby Bland
version of "Who Will the Next Fool Be."
Rich's career stalled, and he left the struggling Sun label in 1963, signing with a subsidiary of RCA Records
Groove. His first single for Groove, "Big Boss Man," was a minor hit, but again his Chet Atkins
-produced follow-ups all stiffed. Rich moved to Smash Records
early in 1965. Rich's new producer, Jerry Kennedy
, encouraged the pianist to emphasize his country and rock & roll leanings, although Rich considered himself a jazz pianist and had not paid much attention to country music since his childhood. The first single for Smash was "Mohair Sam," an R&B-inflected novelty
-rock number, and it became a Top 30 pop hit. Unfortunately again for Rich, none of his follow-up singles were successful. Rich was forced to change labels, moving over to Hi Records
, where he recorded blue-eyed soul
music and straight country, but none of his singles made a dent on the country or pop charts. One Hi Records track Love Is After Me from 1966 belatedly became a Northern Soul
favourite in the early 1970s.
signed Rich in 1967, mainly on the recommendation of producer Billy Sherrill
. Sherrill helped Rich refashion himself as a Nashville Sound
balladeer during an era when old rock n' rollers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Conway Twitty
were finding a new musical home in the country and western format. This new "Countrypolitan" Rich sound paid off in the summer of 1972, when "I Take It on Home" went to number six in the country charts. The title track from his 1973 album, Behind Closed Doors, became a number one hit early in that year, crossing over into the Top 20 on the pop charts. This time his follow-up did not disappoint, as "The Most Beautiful Girl
" spent three weeks at the top of the country charts and two weeks at the top of the pop charts. Now that he was established as a country music star, Behind Closed Doors won three awards from the Country Music Association
that year: Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year. The album was also certified gold. Rich won a Grammy Award
for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and he took home four ACM
award
s. One of RCA's several resident songwriters, Marvin Walters, co-wrote for three years with Charlie producing four recordings including a very popular "Set Me Free".
After "The Most Beautiful Girl", number one hits came quickly, as five songs topped the country charts in 1974 and crossed over to the pop charts. The songs were "There Won't Be Anymore" (Pop #18), "A Very Special Love Song
" (Pop #11), "I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore" (Pop #47), "I Love My Friend" (Pop #24), and "She Called Me Baby" (Pop #47). Both RCA and Mercury
(Smash was a subsidiary of Mercury which was absorbed into the main company in 1970) re-released his previously recorded material from the mid-1960s, as well. All of this success led the CMA to name him Entertainer of the Year in 1974. Rich had three more top five hits in 1975, but even though he was at the peak of his popularity, Rich began to drink heavily, causing considerable problems off-stage. His destructive personal behavior famously culminated at the CMA awards ceremony for 1975, when he presented the award for Entertainer of the Year, while visibly intoxicated. Instead of reading the name of the winner, who happened to be John Denver
, he set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter
, before announcing the award had gone to "My friend Mr. John Denver." Some considered it an act of rebellion against the Music Row
-controlled Nashville Sound. But many speculated that Rich's behavior was a protest against the award going to Denver, whose music Rich had considered too "pop
," and not enough "country." Others, including industry insiders, were outraged, and Rich had trouble having hits throughout 1976, and only had one top ten with "Since I Fell For You."
The slump in his career was exacerbated by the fact that his records began to sound increasingly similar: pop-inflected country ballads with overdubbed strings and little of the jazz or blues Rich had performed his entire life. He did not have a top ten hit again until "Rollin' With the Flow" in 1977 went to number one. Early in 1978, he signed with United Artists Records
, and throughout that year, he had hits on both Epic and UA. His hits in 1978 included the top ten hits "Beautiful Woman," "Puttin' In Overtime At Home," and his last number one with "On My Knees," a duet with Janie Fricke
.
movie, Every Which Way But Loose, in which he performed the song "I'll Wake You Up When I Get Home." This song hit number three on the charts in 1979 and was his last top ten single. In 1980, he switched labels again to Elektra Records
, and released a number twelve single, "A Man Just Don't Know What a Woman Goes Through" in the fall of that year. One more Top 40 hit followed, the Gary Stewart
song "Are We Dreamin' the Same Dream" early in 1981, but Rich decided to remove himself from the spotlight. For over a decade, Rich was silent, living off his investments in semi-retirement and only playing occasional concerts.
In 1992, Rich released Pictures and Paintings, a jazzy record that was produced by journalist Peter Guralnick
. It was released on Sire Records
. Pictures and Paintings received positive critical reviews and restored Rich's reputation as a musician, but it would be his last record. One of his opening acts in these years was Tom Waits
, who mentioned him in the song "Putnam County" from his album Nighthawks at the Diner
with the lyric: "The radio's spitting out Charlie Rich... He sure can sing, that son of a bitch."
with his wife from Natchez
, Mississippi
, where he watched his son perform with Freddy Fender
at a local casino, when he experienced a bout of severe coughing. After visiting a doctor in St. Francisville
, Louisiana
and receiving antibiotics, he continued traveling until he stopped to rest for the night. He died in his sleep on July 25, 1995, in a Hammond, Louisiana
motel. He was 62 years old. The cause of death was a blood clot in his lung
. He was buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee
.
At the time, Charlie Rich was survived by his wife of 43 years, Margaret; two sons, Allan and Jack; two daughters, Rene and Laurie; and grandchildren Maggie Carber Yelverton, Wesley Carber, and Christian Cole Lee.
"Behind Closed Doors" -Epic-KE-32247 1973
"Charlie Rich Greatest Hits" -Epic-PE-34240 1976
American Music Awards
Country Music Association
Grammy Awards
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer and musician. A Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
genres.
In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver Fox. He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors
Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich song)
"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell and first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single became Rich's first number-one hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and also became a crossover hit on the pop charts...
" and "The Most Beautiful Girl
The Most Beautiful Girl
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Bill Sherrill, Norris Wilson, and Rory Michael Bourke. The country & western ballad reached #1 in the United States in 1973 on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart ; the country chart ; and the adult contemporary...
". "The Most Beautiful Girl" topped the U.S. country singles charts, as well as the pop singles charts.
Early life
Though he resided in BentonBenton, Arkansas
Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States and a suburb of Little Rock. It was established in 1837. According to a 2006 Special Census conducted at the request of the city government, the population of the city is 27,717, ranking it as the state's 16th largest...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, most of his life, Rich was born in Colt, Arkansas
Colt, Arkansas
Colt is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 368 at the 2000 census. It was the birthplace of country singer Charlie Rich.-Geography:Colt is located at ....
, to rural cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
farmers. His professional musical career began while he was in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s. His first musical group, the Velvetones, played jazz and blues and featured his fiancée, Margaret Ann, on lead vocals. Rich left the military in 1955 and tried to farm five acres in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. He also began performing in clubs around the Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
area, playing both jazz and R&B. It was during these hard times that he began writing
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
his own material.
Early recording career: late 1950s and 1960s
Rich was a session musicianSession musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for Judd Records
Judd Records
Judd Records was started by Jud Phillips, brother of Sun Records co-founder Sam Phillips. Early releases were mostly recorded in Nashville or Memphis, but carried an address of Memphis, New York and Florence...
, owned by Judd Phillips, the brother of Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
founder Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
. After recording some demos for Sam Phillips at Sun Records that Phillips didn't find commercial enough, and too jazzy, legend has it that he was given a stack of Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
records and told: "come back when you get that bad." A September 6, 2010 NPR airing of 1992 interview with Fresh Air
Fresh Air
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
host Terry Gross
Terry Gross
Terry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....
Charlie Rich tells the story himself of Sam Phillips telling Rich's wife those exact words. In 1958, Rich became a regular session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for Sun Records playing on records by Lewis, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Bill Justis
Bill Justis
William E. "Bill" Justis Jr. was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy."-Biography:...
, Warren Smith
Warren Smith
Warren Smith may refer to:*Warren Smith , golf professional, Cherry Hills Country Club*Warren Smith , American Rockabilly artist*Warren Smith , American jazz drummer...
, Billy Lee Riley
Billy Lee Riley
Billy Lee Riley was an American rockabilly musician, singer, record producer and songwriter. His most memorable recordings included "Rock With Me Baby," and "Red Hot".-Biography:...
, Carl Mann
Carl Mann
Carl Mann is an American rockabilly singer and pianist.Mann was raised in rural Tennessee; his parents owned a lumber business. He sang in church and did country songs for local talent shows, playing guitar and piano...
, and Ray Smith
Ray Smith (rockabilly singer)
Ray Smith was an American rockabilly musician.Smith recorded for Vee-Jay Records, Tollie Records, Smash Records, and Sun Records during his career, and had a hit with the song "Rockin' Little Angel" in 1960 on Judd Records. "Rockin' Little Angel" took a portion of its melody from the 1844 song...
. He also wrote songs for Lewis, Cash, and others.
His third single for the Sun subsidiary, Phillips International Records
Phillips International Records
Phillips International Records is a sub-label of Sun Records started by Sam Phillips in October 1957.The label, showed a blue globe with Phillips prominent and the words Sam C --- International Corp on a red white and blue ribbon below....
, was the 1960 Top 30 hit, "Lonely Weekends," noted for its Presley-like
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
vocals. None of his seven follow-up singles was a success, though several of the songs became staples in his live set, including "Who Will the Next Fool Be," "Sittin' and Thinkin'," and "No Headstone on My Grave." These songs were often recorded by others to varying degrees of success, such as the Bobby Bland
Bobby Bland
Robert Calvin Bland better known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of the Beale Streeters, and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues"...
version of "Who Will the Next Fool Be."
Rich's career stalled, and he left the struggling Sun label in 1963, signing with a subsidiary of RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
Groove. His first single for Groove, "Big Boss Man," was a minor hit, but again his Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
-produced follow-ups all stiffed. Rich moved to Smash Records
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...
early in 1965. Rich's new producer, Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Glenn Kennedy is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar player.-Early years:Kennedy was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. As a child, he recalls "beating on broomsticks and other things" as his initial forays into music-making...
, encouraged the pianist to emphasize his country and rock & roll leanings, although Rich considered himself a jazz pianist and had not paid much attention to country music since his childhood. The first single for Smash was "Mohair Sam," an R&B-inflected novelty
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
-rock number, and it became a Top 30 pop hit. Unfortunately again for Rich, none of his follow-up singles were successful. Rich was forced to change labels, moving over to Hi Records
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
, where he recorded blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
music and straight country, but none of his singles made a dent on the country or pop charts. One Hi Records track Love Is After Me from 1966 belatedly became a Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
favourite in the early 1970s.
Career peak in the 1970s
Despite his lack of consistent commercial success, Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
signed Rich in 1967, mainly on the recommendation of producer Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill is a record producer and arranger who is most famous for his association with a number of country artists, most notably Tammy Wynette...
. Sherrill helped Rich refashion himself as a Nashville Sound
Nashville sound
The Nashville sound originated during the late 1950s as a sub-genre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of honky tonk music which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s...
balladeer during an era when old rock n' rollers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
were finding a new musical home in the country and western format. This new "Countrypolitan" Rich sound paid off in the summer of 1972, when "I Take It on Home" went to number six in the country charts. The title track from his 1973 album, Behind Closed Doors, became a number one hit early in that year, crossing over into the Top 20 on the pop charts. This time his follow-up did not disappoint, as "The Most Beautiful Girl
The Most Beautiful Girl
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Bill Sherrill, Norris Wilson, and Rory Michael Bourke. The country & western ballad reached #1 in the United States in 1973 on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart ; the country chart ; and the adult contemporary...
" spent three weeks at the top of the country charts and two weeks at the top of the pop charts. Now that he was established as a country music star, Behind Closed Doors won three awards from the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
that year: Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year. The album was also certified gold. Rich won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and he took home four ACM
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
s. One of RCA's several resident songwriters, Marvin Walters, co-wrote for three years with Charlie producing four recordings including a very popular "Set Me Free".
After "The Most Beautiful Girl", number one hits came quickly, as five songs topped the country charts in 1974 and crossed over to the pop charts. The songs were "There Won't Be Anymore" (Pop #18), "A Very Special Love Song
A Very Special Love Song
"A Very Special Love Song" is the title of a 1974 song by country music singer Charlie Rich. The song was written by Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson, songwriters who had also written Rich's 1973 hit, "The Most Beautiful Girl"...
" (Pop #11), "I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore" (Pop #47), "I Love My Friend" (Pop #24), and "She Called Me Baby" (Pop #47). Both RCA and Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
(Smash was a subsidiary of Mercury which was absorbed into the main company in 1970) re-released his previously recorded material from the mid-1960s, as well. All of this success led the CMA to name him Entertainer of the Year in 1974. Rich had three more top five hits in 1975, but even though he was at the peak of his popularity, Rich began to drink heavily, causing considerable problems off-stage. His destructive personal behavior famously culminated at the CMA awards ceremony for 1975, when he presented the award for Entertainer of the Year, while visibly intoxicated. Instead of reading the name of the winner, who happened to be John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
, he set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter
Lighter
A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...
, before announcing the award had gone to "My friend Mr. John Denver." Some considered it an act of rebellion against the Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
-controlled Nashville Sound. But many speculated that Rich's behavior was a protest against the award going to Denver, whose music Rich had considered too "pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
," and not enough "country." Others, including industry insiders, were outraged, and Rich had trouble having hits throughout 1976, and only had one top ten with "Since I Fell For You."
The slump in his career was exacerbated by the fact that his records began to sound increasingly similar: pop-inflected country ballads with overdubbed strings and little of the jazz or blues Rich had performed his entire life. He did not have a top ten hit again until "Rollin' With the Flow" in 1977 went to number one. Early in 1978, he signed with United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
, and throughout that year, he had hits on both Epic and UA. His hits in 1978 included the top ten hits "Beautiful Woman," "Puttin' In Overtime At Home," and his last number one with "On My Knees," a duet with Janie Fricke
Janie Fricke
Janie Fricke is an American country music singer, best remembered for a series of country music hits in the early to mid 1980s....
.
Decline in activity and semi-retirement
Rich struggled throughout 1979 having hits with United Artists and Epic. His singles were moderate hits that year, the biggest of them on either UA or Epic was a version of "Spanish Eyes," which became a top 20 country hit. Rich appeared as himself in the 1979 Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
movie, Every Which Way But Loose, in which he performed the song "I'll Wake You Up When I Get Home." This song hit number three on the charts in 1979 and was his last top ten single. In 1980, he switched labels again to Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, and released a number twelve single, "A Man Just Don't Know What a Woman Goes Through" in the fall of that year. One more Top 40 hit followed, the Gary Stewart
Gary Stewart (singer)
Gary Stewart was a country musician and songwriter known for his distinctive vibrato voice and his southern rock influenced, outlaw country sound...
song "Are We Dreamin' the Same Dream" early in 1981, but Rich decided to remove himself from the spotlight. For over a decade, Rich was silent, living off his investments in semi-retirement and only playing occasional concerts.
In 1992, Rich released Pictures and Paintings, a jazzy record that was produced by journalist Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick
Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...
. It was released on Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
. Pictures and Paintings received positive critical reviews and restored Rich's reputation as a musician, but it would be his last record. One of his opening acts in these years was Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, who mentioned him in the song "Putnam County" from his album Nighthawks at the Diner
Nighthawks at the Diner
Nighthawks at the Diner is a 1975 album by Tom Waits, released on Asylum Records. The title was inspired by Edward Hopper's 1942 painting Nighthawks....
with the lyric: "The radio's spitting out Charlie Rich... He sure can sing, that son of a bitch."
Death
Charlie Rich was traveling to FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with his wife from Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, where he watched his son perform with Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...
at a local casino, when he experienced a bout of severe coughing. After visiting a doctor in St. Francisville
St. Francisville, Louisiana
St. Francisville is a town in and the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,712 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:St...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and receiving antibiotics, he continued traveling until he stopped to rest for the night. He died in his sleep on July 25, 1995, in a Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
motel. He was 62 years old. The cause of death was a blood clot in his lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
. He was buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
At the time, Charlie Rich was survived by his wife of 43 years, Margaret; two sons, Allan and Jack; two daughters, Rene and Laurie; and grandchildren Maggie Carber Yelverton, Wesley Carber, and Christian Cole Lee.
Discography
"Charlie Rich" -Groove-GM/GS-1000 1964"Behind Closed Doors" -Epic-KE-32247 1973
"Charlie Rich Greatest Hits" -Epic-PE-34240 1976
Awards
Academy of Country MusicAcademy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
- 1973 Album of the YearAcademy of Country MusicThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
– Behind Closed DoorsBehind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich album)Behind Closed Doors is a 1973 album by Charlie Rich. The album received three Country Music Association awards: Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year, for the title song written by Kenny O'Dell. The album also went gold... - 1973 Single of the YearAcademy of Country MusicThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
– "Behind Closed DoorsBehind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich song)"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell and first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single became Rich's first number-one hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and also became a crossover hit on the pop charts...
" - 1973 Top Male VocalistAcademy of Country MusicThe Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
American Music Awards
American Music Awards
-Conception:The AMAs were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC...
- 1974 Favorite Country SingleAmerican Music Award for Favorite Country SingleThe American Music Award for Favorite Country Single is a major music industry award that was created in 1974. However, the award was discontinued after 1995....
– "Behind Closed Doors" - 1975 Favorite Country Male ArtistAmerican Music Award for Favorite Country Male ArtistThe American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist has been awarded since 1974.Years reflect the year in which the American Music Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year .The all-time winner in this category is Garth Brooks with 8 wins.-2010s:*American Music Awards of...
- 1975 Favorite Country SingleAmerican Music Award for Favorite Country SingleThe American Music Award for Favorite Country Single is a major music industry award that was created in 1974. However, the award was discontinued after 1995....
– "The Most Beautiful GirlThe Most Beautiful Girl"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Bill Sherrill, Norris Wilson, and Rory Michael Bourke. The country & western ballad reached #1 in the United States in 1973 on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart ; the country chart ; and the adult contemporary...
"
Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
- 1973 Album of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
– Behind Closed Doors - 1973 Single of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
– "Behind Closed Doors" - 1973 Male Vocalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1974 Album of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
– "A Very Special Love Song" - 1974 Entertainer of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
Grammy Awards
- 1974 Best Country Vocal Performance, MaleGrammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance was awarded between 1965 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Male...
– "Behind Closed Doors" - 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame AwardGrammy Hall of Fame AwardThe Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"...
– "Behind Closed Doors"