(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the char started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Charlie Rich - "The Most Beautiful Girl"
Hit Number 1: December 15, 1973
Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks
There's one thing about pop music that you can always predict: how unpredictable it is. In 1973, funk, philly soul and soft classic rock is what dominated the charts. For the most part, all the #1 hits we've covered in this year can be placed into one of those genres. But apparently at one point in late 1973, the music-buying public were into a country song about potential heartbreak. For some reason, it's extremely rare to see country songs peak in the top ten in the pop charts, let alone #1, but it has happened. It's one of the more fascinating pop music facts around, and since it's so rare to see country music on the pop charts, country has its own designated chart, the Hot 100 Country Songs. I really can't explain why pop music listeners never really explore country music that much, but I can explain why "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich was one of the few country songs to become a big crossover hit.
Not much is known about the making of the song, as the only information I can find is that it was written by country singers Rory Bourke and Norro Wilson, as well as with some help from country music producer Billy Sherrill. Somewhere along the way, the song found its way to Charlie Rich, a 40-year-old dude who by just looking at him, you could tell he was a country singer. He had the look of a 1970s country singer. (Think Kenny Rogers, but with impressive chops) Rich's career dates all the way back to the '50s, when he was a young up-and-comer with Sun Studios at around the same time Elvis Presley was recording there. Rich made some dents on the charts throughout the '60s, but he's best remembered for the Behind Closed Doors album, which was the album with "The Most Beautiful Girl" on it, and one of the rare country albums to produce more than one country-pop hit.
Again, this kind of thing rarely happens. Country music and pop music are two entirely different things, but clearly, Rich found some sort of sweet spot. His Behind Closed Doors album not only produced "The Most Beautiful Girl", but it also produced the title track, another song that found success on the Billboard Hot 100. ("Behind Closed Doors" peaked at #15. It's an 8) "Behind Closed Doors" is a sex song. It's about the routine of two lovers' everyday life, but then getting back home, getting behind closed doors, and I probably don't need to give any more detail, you already know. "The Most Beautiful Girl", however, is a "damn it I screwed up big time" song. The narrator doesn't fill us in on specifics, he only tells us that he "said some things" to his lover and she stormed out on him. The next morning he'd realized what he'd done. He now has to roam around town asking everyone if they'd seen "the most beautiful girl in the world," and if they did tell her he loves her.
This isn't the first song to follow that plot, and normally it's really hard to feel bad for these guys. However, "The Most Beautiful Girl" is different, and it's sincere sorrow and guilt. Rich plays the role of this guy very well, and what I find to be different about this song, is that he really owns his mistakes. Instead of him always being a dick in the relationship, it sounds like this was just a one night thing, a night where your temper gets the best of you, and you just lash out to let off some steam. We've all been there. And Rich's delivery makes you sorry for the narrator in "The Most Beautiful Girl". At the end of the day, I find myself wanting this girl to go back to this guy. I genuinely want this dude to be happy again. I owe that part to Rich's delivery.
All the backing instrumentation is good too. I love the combination of the subtle backing piano and good ol' signature country guitar twangs. But what I love most is that they're only there to support Rich. Rich is telling a story here, and the instruments do their job of sticking behind him, never overpowering him. This is why I think "The Most Beautiful Girl" worked so well for people in 1973, and why it was able to be a country hit as well as a pop hit. It's country, but has enough of a classic rock sound, and it tells a good story. Charlie Rich's career didn't create any more pop hits other than this song and "Behind Closed Doors", but I think he was probably okay with that. I know I'd be.
GRADE: 9/10
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