Saturday, June 14, 2014

Hilarious blast from the past… Charlie Rich embarrasses at the CMA.

When I was a kid in the 70s, my mom and dad used to listen to Charlie Rich-- "The Silver Fox".  I have vivid memories of hearing these songs while strapped into the backseat of the ugly cars my parents drove in those days.





Well, yesterday, someone at Salon.com posted this hilarious clip from the 1975 Country Music Awards program.  Charlie Rich won Entertainer of the Year in 1974, so he was presenting the award in 1975.  The nominees were: Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, John Denver, Conway Twitty, and Ronnie Milsap.



Notice how Glen Campbell introduces Charlie Rich while holding a lit cigarette…  Rich is obviously loaded on something.  My guess is pot and booze, but I have no idea.  It's funny to watch the reactions of the folks in the audience, who realize that he's shitfaced.  Notice Glen Campbell's face when they cut back to him.  He's like "What the fuck just happened here?"  As if Glen hadn't had his own issues with substances...

Frankly, under the circumstances, I think Charlie Rich does okay.  I mean, yeah, he tore up the ballot and then set it on fire.  But he's basically coherent and not falling down.  He manages to announce the winner successfully.  That particular incident got Rich blackballed from Nashville, though, and his career was never the same.

I miss this kind of stuff.  Long live the 70s and people who upload videos from that era.


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