Behind Closed Doors

Charlie Rich

album cover

Countrypolitan Starts Here

Charlie Rich was the stealth soul singer of country music. The Arkansas native nicknamed the "Silver Fox" got his first break writing songs for Sun Records' Jerry Lee Lewis, and issued his first single, "Lonely Weekends," on a Sun subsidiary in 1959. Then he kicked around, mostly misunderstood, for more than a decade, recording rock, country, and rhythm and blues without consistent success. The tide turned when, in the early 1970s, he encountered veteran Nashville producer Billy Sherrill, who placed Rich's weathered and wounded voice in an almost-too-plush setting, with gentle rocking-chair rhythms and a busy string section. The result was a series of hits that virtually defined the crossover countrypolitan style; of them, Behind Closed Doors is the crown jewel.

The setting might be intentionally middle of the road, but that doesn't stop Rich from treating the songs, which mostly avoid Nashville's cheating hearts story line, like lost classics of bedroom soul. Rich projects an air of gruff cool. Like Ray Charles, whom he emulates, he escapes the velvet handcuff of posh tracks by singing with almost no affectation, emphasizing the weary realness of his voice. Also like Charles, Rich has no problem handling different styles: While the love songs (notably the title track and "The Most Beautiful Girl") make the soul influence clear, Rich is equally convincing interpreting sedate gospel hymns and an anything-but-sedate Neil Diamond–style production number ("Peace on You").

This album represents Rich's commercial peak—the title track and "The Most Beautiful Girl" both hit the upper reaches of the pop and country charts. It's perhaps more important as a template for the country crooner music of the '90s, though few imitators have matched Rich's gift for easygoing and sneakily compelling expression. Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, put it this way: "I don't know anyone who has ever written or sung in a way that depicted more of the humanity of man, with greater melodic beauty, than Charlie Rich."

Genre: Country
Released: 1973, Epic
Key Tracks: "A Sunday Kind of Woman," "Peace on You," "Behind Closed Doors"
Catalog Choice: Pictures and Paintings
Next Stop: Ted Hawkins: The Next Hundred Years
After That: Arthur Alexander: Lonely Just like Me
Book Page: 644

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Comments:

#1 from Mike Sanborn, Abington, MA - 11/12/2008 11:01

The Voice, the Feeling.
Growing up in 1970’s New Hampshire I was baptized in Country driving in my dad’s Orange Step-Side Pickup truck. I have since moved on to a much wider assortment of music, from Punk, to Rock, to Grunge to Jazz but I will always have a place in my heart for the greats. Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash ... and of Charlie Rich.

1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die