Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich song)

"Behind Closed Doors"
Cover of the Behind Closed Doors album with the singer Charlie Rich in a cowboy hat.
Single by Charlie Rich
from the album Behind Closed Doors
B-side"A Sunday Kind of Woman"
ReleasedApril 1973
StudioColumbia (Nashville, Tennessee)[1]
GenreCountry pop[2]
Length2:56
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Kenny O'Dell
Producer(s)Billy Sherrill
Charlie Rich singles chronology
"I Take It on Home"
(1972)
"Behind Closed Doors"
(1973)
"The Most Beautiful Girl"
(1973)

"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell. It was first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single was Rich's first No.1 hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and was also a crossover hit on the pop charts. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA for U. S. sales in excess of two million copies.[3] Background vocals were provided by The Nashville Edition.

Rich's producer, Billy Sherrill, encouraged O'Dell to write music for the singer. O'Dell recalled the creation of "Behind Closed Doors" to Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. "It was just a title I had written down, and I had a little guitar riff that I'd carried with me for a couple of years. The chorus was pretty much a little deviation on that." Sherrill later changed some lines at the end of the second verse, but some radio stations banned the record initially as being racy.[4]

"Behind Closed Doors" earned awards for Song of the Year for O'Dell and Single of the Year for Rich from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Both O'Dell and Rich also received a Grammy Awards for "Behind Closed Doors: Best Country Song for O'Dell and Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for Rich. In 2003, it ranked No.9 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

  1. ^ Kosser, Michael (2006). How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: A History Of Music Row. Lanham, Maryland, US: Backbeat Books. pp. 155–160. ISBN 978-1-49306-512-7.
  2. ^ Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 473. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  3. ^ Stambler, Irwin; Grelun Landon (2000). Country Music: The Encyclopedia (Third ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-312-15121-8. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  4. ^ Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2), p. 87.