Personnel: Charlie Rich (vocals, piano); The Jordanaires, The Nashville Edition.
Producer: Billy Sherrill.
Reissue Producer: Al Quaglieri.
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in between 1971 and 1973. Originally released on Epic (32247). Includes liner notes by Chet Flippo and Raul Malo.
Digitally remastered by Joseph Palmaccio (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
Personnel: The Jordanaires, The Nashville Edition (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Thom Cadley.
Liner Note Author: Robert Tubert.
Recording information: Nashville, TN (05/23/1968-02/10/1973).
Photographers: Ginny Winn; Urve Kuusik; David Redfern; Jim Marshall ; Billy Barnes.
Unknown Contributor Role: Charlie Rich.
Charlie Rich had been heading toward full-blown country-pop on his previous Epic records, but Behind Closed Doors is where Billy Sherrill pulled out all of the stops and created a heavily orchestrated, pop-oriented album. It's to Rich's credit that he never sounds like he's drowning amid the grand production and layers of instruments -- in an odd way, he thrives. While Behind Closed Doors doesn't have the casual eclecticism that distinguished all of Rich's past recordings, it is an expertly crafted album -- it's easy to see why it made the Silver Fox a superstar. All of the material, from the hit singles ("Behind Closed Doors," "The Most Beautiful Girl," "I Take It On Home") to the album tracks, are classy songs, designed to appeal to a maturing country audience. Furthermore, the arrangements expertly walk the line between pop and schmaltz -- the sound of Behind Closed Doors is the sound of early-'70s countrypolitan and numerous artists used the record as a template for their own style. Rich made better, grittier records, but the combined collaborative effort of the vocalist and Sherrill resulted in a seamless, influential work -- even if it is one that earned the scorn of hardcore country purists. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A truly great voice of American music, Charlie Rich began pursuing his musical vision in the 1950s, but it wasn't until this 1973 release that he achieved a major commercial breakthrough. Along the way, he tackled a mix of blues, pop, country, and R&B with such grace that many critics put him on par with Elvis Presley, and Rich's early work easily marks him as Elvis's peer aesthetically, if not commercially. That all changed with BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. To capture the ear of mainstream America, Rich adopted the strings-and-choir-enhanced "countrypolitan" aesthetic so popular in Nashville at the time.
While others rode that approach to crossover schlock, Rich kept it classy, and the songs here are always served (but never overpowered) by the arrangements. On "I Take it on Home" and "A Sunday Kind of Woman," Rich's R&B roots can be detected, but it's the romantic ballads, "The Most Beautiful Girl" and the title tune that made Rich a superstar after years of flirting with success. For a summary of Rich's eclectic early work, turn to the FEEL LIKE GOING HOME collection, but for an introduction to the Charlie Rich embraced by millions, look no further than this reissue, which comes complete with tasty bonus cuts.
Charlie Rich finally had a genuine hit with Behind Closed Doors, an exceedingly lush expansion of the sound he had essayed with producer Billy Sherrill on his first Epic albums. Here, Sherrill ups the ante considerably by adding layers of strings and choirs, and the two move the material toward the mainstream. The key to the record's success is that Rich's signature blend of country, jazz, blues, rock, and pop retains its character throughout it all, resulting in an album that's a twin peak: the pinnacle of Sherrill's countrypolitan sound, while standing as one of Rich's great albums. The hit singles -- "Behind Closed Doors," "The Most Beautiful Girl," "I Take It On Home" -- deservedly receive most of the attention, but the record is filled with great songs, including two from his wife Margaret Ann ("A Sunday Kind of Woman," "Nothing in the World (To Do With Me)") that stand as highlights. Throughout it all, Rich delivers the kind of shaded, nuanced performances that earned him a devoted cult -- a cult that might not cherish Behind Closed Doors as much as some of his other records because of its lushness, but if that lushness introduced a new audience to the wonders of Charlie Rich, it can't be bad at all. [The 2001 CD reissue features remastered sound and four bonus tracks, one of which was previously unreleased ("I've Got Mine").] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize