Charlie Rich
Rich’s parents were cotton farmers and he heard the blues from the pickers and gospel music from his parents, as his father sang in a choir and his mother played organ. Rich himself played piano and saxophone and studied music at the University of Arkansas. While in the US Air Force, he formed a small group in the vein of the Four Freshmen, the Velvetones, with his wife-to-be, Margaret Ann.

After the forces, they bought a farm, but following bad weather, he opted for playing in Memphis clubs for $10 a night. Soon Rich was working on sessions at Sun including some for Jerry Lee Lewis (‘I’ll Sail My Ship Alone’), Bill Justis and Carl Mann. He wrote ‘The Ways Of A Woman In Love’, ‘Thanks A Lot’ (both recorded by Johnny Cash), ‘Break Up’ (Ray Smith and Lewis), ‘I’m Comin’ Home’ (Mann and then covered by Elvis Presley) and the continuation of ‘Don’t Take Your Guns To Town’, ‘The Ballad Of Billy Joe’ (Lewis and Rich himself).

Rich recorded 80 songs at Sun although only 10 singles and one album were released at the time. Rich’s heavy drinking prompted his wife to leave with the children, but he convinced her that he would change. In 1962 Rich, like Presley before him, went from Sun to RCA Records, albeit to their subsidiary, Groove. From then on, Rich recorded in Nashville. He had no hits at the time but his reflective ballad ‘There Won’t Be Anymore’ was a US Top 20 hit 10 years later; similarly, ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore’ and ‘Tomorrow Night’ were to become US country number 1s. Many regard Rich’s period with producer Jerry Kennedy as his most creative, particularly as Margaret Ann was writing such excellent material as ‘A Field Of Yellow Daisies’.

In 1967, Billy Sherrill, who had worked as a recording engineer with Rich at Sun, signed him to Epic. He knew Rich’s versatility but he was determined to make him a successful country singer. Choosing strong ballads, often about working-class marriage among the over-30s, and classy middle-of-the-road arrangements, he built up Rich’s success in the US country charts, although it was a slow process. His first substantial US country hit was with ‘I Take It On Home’ in 1972. In view of the material, Rich’s lined face and grey hair became assets and he was dubbed ‘The Silver Fox’. Although Rich’s piano was often relegated to a supporting role, it complemented his voice on Kenny O’Dell’s ballad ‘Behind Closed Doors’. The 1973 song gave Rich a number 1 country and Top 20 pop hit and became the Country Song of the Year.

Rich’s follow-up single, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl’, partly written by Sherrill, was a US number 1, and the b-side, ‘Feel Like Goin’ Home’, was almost as strong. In the UK, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl’ made number 2 and was quickly followed by a Top 20 placing for ‘Behind Closed Doors’. Behind Closed Doors, which contained both hits and songs written by himself, his wife and son Allan, was a smash and he topped the US country charts with ‘There Won’t Be Anymore’ (number 18, pop), ‘A Very Special Love Song’ (number 11), ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore’, ‘I Love My Friend’ (number 24) and ‘She Called Me Baby’. ‘Everytime You Touch Me (I Get High)’ also reached number 3 in the country and number 19 in the pop charts.

In 1974 Rich was voted the Entertainer Of The Year by the Country Music Association of America. The next year, instead of announcing the winner (John Denver) on a live television show, he burnt the envelope. He says, ‘I was ill and I should never have been there’, but country fans were not so sympathetic and Rich lost much support. His records, too, were starting to sound stale as Sherrill had difficulty in finding good material and began to put too much emphasis on the strings. Nevertheless, there were gems, including ‘Rollin’ With The Flow’, which returned Rich to the top of the US country charts, and a duet with Janie Fricke, ‘On My Knees’, also a country number 1.

In 1978, Rich moved to United Artists Records where Larry Butler continued in the same vein. Occasionally the material was right - ‘Puttin’ In Overtime At Home’, ‘I Still Believe In Love’ and the bluesy ‘Nobody But You’ - but, by and large, the records found Rich on automatic pilot. In 1980 he relocated to Elektra Records where he recorded a fine cover version of Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’ and had a country hit with ‘I’ll Wake You Up When I Get Home’. There followed a long decade or more of silence from Rich, amid rumours that his occasionally self-destructive lifestyle had taken its toll. However, he returned triumphantly in 1992 with Pictures And Paintings, an album overseen by his long-time champion, journalist Peter Guralnick. Mixing jazzy originals with reinterpretations of songs from his past, the album proved to be Rich’s most satisfying work since The Fabulous Charlie Rich. He died in 1995 following a blood clot in his lung.