Charlie Rich – Behind Closed Doors & Every Time You Touch Me (1973 & 1975) [Reissue 2019] MCH SACD ISO + FLAC 24bit/96kHz

Another Dutton Vocalion’s reissue combines a pair albums of Charlie Rich, remastered from the Original Master tapes by Michael J. Dutton. “Behind Closed Doors”, from 1973, received the Country Music Association award for Album of the Year and Rich was named Best Male Vocalist for his performance on the album. Rich won the 1974 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance Male and also took home four Academy of Country Music awards for this album. “Everytime You Touch Me (I Get High)” was released in 1975, and the title track peaked at number three on the country chart.

Behind Closed Doors
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.

Every Time You Touch Me
The 1970s were a magical time for Charlie Rich and producer Billy Sherrill. Sherrill was the first producer who not only understood how gifted Rich was musically – he knew virtually no bounds when it came to popular music styles – but could comprehend and deliver Rich’s vision to record buyers. On the title track, restrained bass notes and minimal, jazzy pianism coast into a space where strings glide into Rich’s verse. Shimmering trills in the piano’s mid-range accent the end of each line, as do the female vocalists of the Nashville Edition. It’s dreamy and ethereal and the listener encounters quite literally what the song’s protagonist is describing. And “All Over Me” is a country tune with Rich’s honky tonk accents caressed by Sherrill’s strings and Pete Drake’s pedal steel in a broken paean to love gone awry. This is the album that pointed to all the various directions Rich wanted to explore musically. Like Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Rich extended it to include new textures and sounds in pop and country. A stunning example is “Since I Fell for You,” where Rich treats the melody like a rhythm & blues crooner and takes it to the breaking point of its country root. Side two holds a surprise in the dark, film noir-ish beauty of Margaret Ann Rich’s “Pass on By.” Again, the deep R&B strains meet doo wop, soul, and early rock in a setting provided by Sherrill that could have been in a 1950s thriller sung in a smoky lounge. And while the rest of the side is terrific as well, Rich’s own “Midnight Blues” walks the edge of rock and soul à la the Memphis sound. Shimmering strings in glissandi, stinging lead guitar, a trio of female verses echoing Rich’s lines, and Hargus “Pig” Robins’ honky tonk piano make the track swagger and shimmy, carrying the listener out on a rough and rowdy, darkly tinted note. Whew!

Tracklist

01. Behind Closed Doors
02. If You Wouldn’t Be My Lady
03. You Never Really Wanted Me
04. A Sunday Kind Of Woman
05. Peace On You
06. The Most Beautiful Girl
07. I Take It On Home
08. Till I Can’t Take It Anymore
09. We Love Each Other
10. I’m Not Going Hungry
11. Nothing In The World To Do With Me
12. Every Time You Touch Me I Get High
13. All Over Me
14. A Little Bit Here A Little Bit There
15. A Mellow Melody
16. Since I Fell for You
17. Pass On By
18. Rendezvous
19. She
20. You and I
21. Midnight Blues

Tracks “01-11” is “Behind Closed Doors” (LP ‘1973)
Tracks “12-21” is “Every Time You Touch Me” (LP ‘1975)
Recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, TN.
Remastered from the Original Master tapes by Michael J. Dutton.

SACD ISO

CharlieRichBehindCl0sedD00rsEveryTimeY0uT0uchMe197375Reissue2019SACDIS0.part1.rar
CharlieRichBehindCl0sedD00rsEveryTimeY0uT0uchMe197375Reissue2019SACDIS0.part2.rar
CharlieRichBehindCl0sedD00rsEveryTimeY0uT0uchMe197375Reissue2019SACDIS0.part3.rar

FLAC 24bit/96kHz

CharlieRichBehindCl0sedD00rsEveryTimeY0uT0uchMe197375Reissue2019FLACSt2496.part1.rar
CharlieRichBehindCl0sedD00rsEveryTimeY0uT0uchMe197375Reissue2019FLACSt2496.part2.rar