Elton John's newest single, released in the fall of 1973, was a sure-fire No. 1 hit. There was no doubt that the title song from his new album, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," was going to be his second chart-topper of the year, practically bookending the year after hitting the top in February with "Crocodile Rock."
When it debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 62 on October 27, 1973, there was no doubt he was off and flying. And one week later, the artist born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinder, England on March 25, 1947 found immediate vacancy at the Top 40 Inn at No. 40 with that new song.
A week later to flex some chart muscle, "Goodbye" leaped 13 notches from No. 40 to No. 27, passing by a number of songs ahead of it on the climb the week before -- including a song that had jumped from No. 35 to No. 28 that same week, a new hit by a country artist who had debuted at No. 40 the week before John debuted at No. 40 with his new hit.
One week later, John's newest single -- a play on the famous yellow brick road from the 1939 movie The Wizard Of Oz, where in the end of John's two-verse song, the narrator wants to go back to a simpler time after realizing all the good things they got were at the expense of being treated like some pawn in the process, leaped up another 12 notches to No. 15.
Three weeks, No. 15 -- that's the telltale sign you are going to have a No. 1 hit.
One week later, the week of November 24, 1973, Thanksgiving weekend, when The Wizard Of Oz was a favorite movie shown that night on network television, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" stormed the Top 10 castle, leaping from No. 15 to No. 9.
Our "David" in this story was at No. 12 the same week, also moving up at a swift pace. More to come.
"Goodbye," which became John's third Top 10 hit in 1973 and fourth Top 40 hit overall, made another impressive climb the next week, from No. 9 to No. 3. After five weeks in the Top 40, it was looking like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was going to live up to the expectations as a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. And as Karen and Richard Carpenter settled in for what was to be their second and last week at the top with "Top Of The Word," John was poised to hit the top the next week when his hit moved up another notch from No. 3 to No. 2 on December 8, 1973.
The crowning moment was inevitable when the rankings would come out the next week.
Except when the December 15, 1973 issue of Billboard came out, it showed one of the biggest upsets in Hot 100 history.
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was still lodged at the runners-up spot. And the Carpenters were no longer at No. 1, dropping to No. 3.
So who was the intruder that stole Elton Hercules John's thunder and lightning?
Turns out, a guy with the nickname "The Silver Fox" did him in at the end -- the "David" of our David & Goliath story.
A country star named Charlie Rich, who scored a pair of Top 40 pop hits in the 1960s with "Lonely Weekend" and "Mohair Sam," the latter a hit in 1965, had nailed down the No. 1 spot with his latest country crossover hit, "The Most Beautiful Girl," co-written by Billy Sherrill, Rory Michael Bourke and the man who originally recorded the song as "Hey Mister" in 1968, Norris "Norro" Wilson.
Rich, a Colt, Ark.-born singer with a baritone voice, had switched over to country music in 1967 when his pop career appeared to be fading. He had four country chart singles that missed the Top 40 before "Nice'n Easy" made it to No. 37 in 1970. "I Take It On Home" would be Rich's first Top 10 country hit, a No. 6 smash on that chart, in 1972.
Then came the song that broke Rich as a country music star, the legendary and sexy "Behind Closed Doors," one of country music's finest compositions. The Kenny O'Dell-penned tune hit No. 1 on the country chart the week of April 28, 1973, spending two weeks at the top. Epic Records green-lighted the song to be played on Top 40 pop radio and it proved to be a big hit there, peaking at No. 15 in the summer of '73.
That gave the record label the confidence to release "The Most Beautiful Girl," the next single from the "Behind Closed Doors" album simultaneously on the pop and country chart in the late summer of '73. It scorched up the country chart, hitting the top the week of November 24, 1973 and spending three weeks at No. 1 on that chart.
On the Hot 100, the song made significant moves before finally hitting the Top 40 on October 27, 1973, at No. 40 -- one week before "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" stormed the Top 40 at the same position. From its debut, "The Most Beautiful Girl" moved from No. 40 to No. 35 to No. 28 to No. 20 to No. 12 to No. 10 to No. 3 before leaping over Captain Fantastic himself to pull off a major chart upset.
It was the first No. 1 country crossover hit since Jeannie C. Riley hit the top of both pop and country charts with "Harper Valley P.T.A." in September 1968.
But it turns out that "The Most Beautiful Girl" had quite a bit of Goliath in it, too. It would spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 before Jim Croce's posthumous release, "Time In A Bottle" jumped to No. 1. In Canada, the song had the same fate, hitting the top of the chart on both the pop and country charts. And in England, where music fans are diverse, the single was a smash hit, peaking at No. 2 in the spring of 1974. It also was a No. 2 hit in Ireland, No. 3 in the Netherlands and No. 5 in Denmark. And back in the U.S., it was also a No. 1 hit on the adult contemporary chart.
"The Most Beautiful Girl" was an international smash hit. And Rich would follow it up with seven more No. 1 country hits between 1974-78. He would have three more Top 40 crossover hits until 1975's "Everytime You Touch Me (I Get High)" that summer.
Then came the "infamous" night at the Country Music Awards ceremony on October 13, 1975 in front of a televised audience. Rich was to give out the biggest award of the night for "Entertainer Of The Year." Appearing intoxicated when he went up to give the honor, Rich saw the name of the winner, pulled out a ligher, lit the card on fire and announced the winner as "My dear friend, John Denver." The moment was considered a rebellious move against the biggest honor country music gave out to a "pop establishment" star who traipsed into country music.
Rich's career was never the same after that night. He continued to perform live and record albums and CDs right until his death on July 25, 1996, in his sleep from a pulmonary embolism in a Hammond, La. motel at the age of 63.
As for Elton John -- he did OK for himself, scoring at least one Top 40 hit between 1970-99, a consecutive streak of 30 years that will have a hard time ever being broken. It speaks of his staying power. He also scored No. 1 hits with "Bennie And The Jets," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," "That's What Friends Are For" with Dionne & Friends, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with George Michael and "Candle In The Wind '97" in honor of the late Princess Diana.
Again, he would be OK.
Which speaks of what Charlie Rich and "The Most Beautiful Girl" did in stunning "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on its "path" to the No. 1 spot, still a chart upset for the Hot 100 ages.
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