Charlie Rich
Also called “The Silver Fox,” this country music singer's career spanned four decades. Born in Colt, Arkansas on December 14, 1932, Rich died in Hammond, Louisiana on July 24, 1995. Throughout his career, Rich fused country, jazz, blues, gospel, rockabilly, and soul. Though he had 45 country hits and released more than 40 albums, he became best-known for his country records from the early 1970s (“Behind Closed Doors,” “Most Beautiful Girl”). Rich shunned the stardom that those records brought him, and retreated in to semi-retirements in the 1980s.
Rich's influence was far reaching. Jakob Dylan listened to his music when Dylan was young and claims that one Rich song is his “all-time favorite.” According to Rolling Stone:
“The Dylan boys had a rec room of their own in the house, crammed with a huge record collection, instruments, a stereo, posters. Somewhere in the piles, Jakob found a rockabilly collection. He put it on because the cover was cool. It contained Charlie Rich's "Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave" and the towering "I Feel Like Going Home." The latter remains Jakob's all-time favorite. It is a song of the road, of a monumental weariness and longing. It poleaxed the 12-year-old listening to it in Beverly Hills.” (6.12.97)
