On this day (July 25) in 1995, eclectic countrypolitan crooner Charlie Rich died in his sleep at a motel in Hammond, Louisiana. Just 62 years old at the time of his death, he had suffered a pulmonary embolism. In his 40s by the time he found commercial success in the 1970s, Rich brought country music to the pop charts with crossover hits like “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl”. While his antics outside the studio later dampened Rich’s popularity, there’s simply no denying his lasting impact on the industry. Today, we’re reflecting on the life and legacy of Charlie Rich on the 31st anniversary of his passing.
Born December 14, 1932, to rural cotton farmers in Colt, Arkansas, Charles Allan Rich learned the blues from C.J. Allen, a Black tenant farmer on the family land.
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Rich’s parents were also early musical influences, as his mother, Helen, played piano in church and his father, Charles, sang in gospel quartets.
After studying music for a semester at the University of Arkansas, Rich left to join the U.S. Air Force in 1953.
His military service brought him to Enid, Oklahoma, where he formed a jazz-blues ensemble called the Velvetones. With Rich on piano and saxophone, and wife Margaret Ann on vocals, the Velvetones made the rounds at local honky-tonks and clubs.
Why Charlie Rich Owes His Stardom to His Wife
After leaving the Air Force in 1956, Charlie Rich planned to return to his father’s cotton farm in Arkansas.
However, Margaret Ann secretly took her husband’s demo tape to the Sun Records studios in Memphis, Tennessee—the cultural linchpin of a burgeoning rockabilly movement that included Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Roy Orbison.
She shared it with Sun’s musical director, Bill Justis, who reportedly handed her a Jerry Lee Lewis record and said, “Go tell Charlie when he can play that bad, come see me.”
At first, Rich tried to emulate the rock-and-roll pioneer’s sound. He even wrote songs for Lewis, Cash, and others. In 1958, he landed a gig as a session musician with Sun, playing on records by Lewis, Cash, Carl Mann, Ray Smith, and more.
Two years later, Rich recorded the single “Lonely Weekends”—which he wrote himself—for the Sun subsidiary Phillips International Records. Selling more than one million copies, it reached the top 30 in 1960.
“If it hadn’t been for my wife, probably the tape would never have gotten to Bill and I don’t know where I’d be now, maybe driving a tractor or something,” Rich told NPR in 1992.
The Pivot to Country
Charlie Rich’s career stalled in the 1960s as he bounced around various label without any notable commercial success. However, he signed with Epic Records in 1968—mostly thanks to budding producer Billy Sherrill.
With Sherrill’s help, Rich remodeled his image as a “Nashville sound balladeer”, a sound now better known as “countrypolitan.” He scored his first top 10 hit with 1972’s “I Take It Home”.
The following year brought not one, but two number-one country hits that also conquered the pop charts. First came the title track from his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors, which soared to number one on the country charts and number 20 on the pop charts despite radio bans due to its steamy subject matter.
Next, “The Most Beautiful Girl” topped both the country and pop charts.
While Rich never again reached the pinnacle, he became quite familiar with the charts over the next year. In 1974, the Country Music Association bestowed upon him the highly-coveted Entertainer of the Year award.
Following a well-documented incident involving his successor, John Denver, at the following year’s CMA Awards ceremony, Rich’s superstar status began to decline.
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In the early 1980s, he voluntarily withdrew from the spotlight and lived off his investments, only stepping out to perform the occasional concert.
Charlie Rich released his final album—the critically acclaimed, jazz-inflected Pictures and Paintings—in 1992, three years before his death.
Featured image by Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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