AMG Review of 16 Biggest Hits

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Charlie Rich reached the country charts 45 times between 1968 and 1981 with recordings released on six different labels, though 25 of them were on Epic Records. This compilation presents the 15 highest charting of the Epic singles, including some of Rich's most successful ones -- "The Most Beautiful Girl," "A Very Special Love Song," "Behind Closed Doors" -- plus a non-hit recording of "Amazing Grace" to close the album. Since many of Rich's hits on labels like RCA Victor and Mercury came a decade after they were recorded, this album contains all the big hits of Rich's late maturity as a highly produced country crooner in the 1970s. But the buyer should realize that these are his biggest hits on Epic, not his biggest, period.