Charlie Rich (aka the Silver Fox) sang the saddest songs with a voice of velvet honey. If George Jones was dubbed King of the Broken Hearts, Rich should have been named the Emperor. The man was a country music Jedi. His regal songwriting talents were honored by critics everywhere, but he modestly eschewed the concepts of stardom and fame. Prior to his own hits, Rich was a much wanted session musician playing and singing for the likes of Johnny Cash, Warren Smith, Carl Mann, Ray Smith, Billy Lee Riley, and many others. He also penned "Break Up" for the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as "The Ways of a Woman in Love" for Johnny Cash, and "I'm Comin' Home" for Carl Mann, (which was later recorded by none other than the King himself, Elvis Presley). Rich had a way of creating a silk spun country sound by blending the smoother elements of country, jazz, blues, Gospel, Rockabilly, and soul into his own personalized flowing musical textures. Listening to his near weeping voice on songs such as "I Take it on Home," "Don't Put No Headstone on My Grave," or the more commercially successful "The Most Beautiful Girl" gives hope that real music will one day grace the airwaves again. Rich died from a blood clot in his lung while he and his wife were travelling to Florida in the summer of 1995, three years after releasing the critically acclaimed Pictures and Paintings.
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