On This Day in 1973, Charlie Rich Was at No. 1 With an Album Whose Title Track Has Been Covered by Diana Ross and Loretta Lynn

Initially dismissed as “too jazzy,” Charlie Rich hit his stride in the ’70s. The “Silver Fox” racked up multiple accolades with his unique fusion of country, jazz, and blues, finding success in both country and pop spaces. On this day in 1973, Charlie Rich found himself atop the country albums chart with Behind Closed Doors, whose title track managed to also find crossover success despite multiple radio bans.

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Also containing his other No. 1 hit, “The Most Beautiful Girl,” the Country Music Association awarded Rich the Album of the Year trophy for Behind Closed Doors in 1974. Additionally, the Mississippi-born artist earned Best Male Vocalist honors for his performance on the record, which also picked up four awards from the Academy of Country Music. Selling more than 4 million U.S. copies, Behind Closed Doors received quadruple-platinum status from the RIAA in 2002, nearly 30 years after its debut.

[RELATED: How Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” Put Country in the Driver’s Seat on the Pop Charts]

The Title Track Was Charlie Rich’s First No. 1 Hit

Written by Kenny O’Dell, “Behind Closed Doors” got its title from a piping-hot political scandal that may ring a bell. As the Nixon administration scrambled to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972, break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., one phrase rang out on the daily news reports: “Behind closed doors.”

“They’re always talking about no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Having the sessions, another session, behind closed doors,” O’Dell told Bart Harbison of the Nashville Songwriters Association International in 2018. And I’m thinking, I like the title, ‘Behind Closed Doors.”

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♬ original sound – Those Were The Days

O’Dell kept the title in his back pocket until Rich’s producer, Billy Sherrill, asked him to write music for the singer. “I had a little guitar riff that I’d carried with me for a couple of years,” O’Dell recounted to author to Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. “The chorus was pretty much a little deviation on that.”

The song caught heat for what many radio stations deemed “racy” lyrics, particularly the final verse. While some stations outright refused to play it, “Behind Closed Doors” still spent 20 weeks atop the country songs chart and cracked the pop’s Top 20.

Several female artists would go on to record their own gender-swapped versions of the hit, including Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Diana Ross. Ross’ version reached No. 14 in South Africa.

Featured image by David Redfern/Redferns