On the Charts 52 Years Ago, Charlie Rich Was Back at No. 1 With an Album Featuring Songs Written by His Wife and Teenage Son

Fifty-two years ago today (March 23), Charlie Rich was back at No. 1 with his smash hit album Behind Closed Doors. Between the summer of 1963 and the autumn of 1964, the LP spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It also brought him multiple awards, including a Grammy win.

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Rich saw very little chart success in the early years of his career. Then, in the late 1960s, he changed paths. After signing with Epic Records, he began working with producer Billy Sherrill, moving away from rock and blue-eyed soul and stepping into the Nashville Sound. Other artists, including Conway Twitty, started to see success by transitioning to country music. The same was true for Rich.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1972, Charlie Rich Recorded a Song That Would Be Banned by Radio Stations—Yet Still Become His First No. 1 Hit]

His first major hit came when “I Take It on Home,” the lead single from Behind Closed Doors, reached No. 6 on the country chart. It was his first top 10 single. He followed that with the album’s Kenny O’Dell-penned title track, which went to No. 1 and stayed there for two weeks. The LP’s next single, “The Most Beautiful Girl,” also topped the country chart later in the year.

Charlie Rich Finds a Massive Hit with Behind Closed Doors

Charlie Rich released Behind Closed Doors in May 1973. A month later, it spent its first three weeks at No. 1. The album went back to No. 1 two more times before the end of the year, for a total of seven weeks. Then, it spent the first six weeks of 1974 at the top of the chart. It returned for two weeks in March, three weeks in May, two weeks in June, and one week in August.

Even after the album fell out of the top of the chart for good, the wins kept coming. He won Album and Single of the Year at the 1973 ACM Awards, where he also took home Top Male Vocalist. Rich replicated that success at the CMA Awards, winning Album, Single, and Male Vocalist of the Year. The next year, he took home the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for “Behind Closed Doors.” A little more than two decades later, the song entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Rich shared the album’s success with his family. His wife, Margaret Ann Rich, wrote two songs on the album. She penned “Nothing in the World (To Do With Me)” and “A Sunday Kind of Woman.” Their teenage son, Allan Rich, wrote “You Never Really Wanted Me.”

Featured Image by David Redfern/Redferns