A versatile artist whose recording career spanned five decades and seven labels, Charlie Rich is primarily remembered for his 1970s country crossover megahits "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl." Produced by Billy Sherrill, the architect of the crossover country sound, these two songs propelled a reluctant Rich into country music stardom. Despite his identification with country, Rich's music incorporated jazz, pop, rock, gospel, R & B, and soul, making him one eclectic country musician.

Born in Arkansas in 1932, Rich began his musical career as an enlisted man in the early 1950s, playing piano with a jazzy outfit called the Velvetones at the U.S. Air Force base in Oklahoma where he was stationed. After leaving the service in the mid-1950s, Rich farmed by day and worked as a supper-club pianist in Memphis by night. Margaret Ann Rich, Charlie's wife, biggest fan, and...