"I don't have no skin hang-ups. I'm no color. I'm just Charley Pride, the man."There's a powerful lot of dignity in that statement. in 1967, Charlie Pride was the first African-American to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in over 40 years.
His is old school Country Music, although it wasn't the Old School of Hank Williams. Rather, it was "Countrypolitan" - the vanguard of the first of many Country/Pop crossover waves.
And cross over it did. Between 1969 and 1971, Pride had 8 song that reached #1 on both the Country and the Pop Hit Parade. Kiss An Angel Good Morning sold a million copies, and won him the CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1971, and a Grammy in 1972. All while struggling against Bi-Polar Disorder.
He was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1993, becoming its first black member ever. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. That's some crossover, too.
Two months ago, he performed at the White House.
Is Anyone Going To San Antone? (Songwriters: Dave Kirby, Glenn Martin )
Rain dripping off the brim of my hatCharlie Pride trivia: He was a pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox in the old Negro League. Later, he and teammate Jessie Mitchell were traded by the Louisville Clippers to the Birmingham Black Barons for a team bus. In his autobiography he wrote: "Jesse and I may have the distinction of being the only players in history to be traded for a used motor vehicle."
Sure is cold today
Here I am walking down sixty-six
Wish she hadn't done me that way
Sleeping under a table at a road side park
A man could wake up dead
But it sure seems warmer than it did
Sleeping in our king size bed
Is anybody going to San Antone
Or Phoenix Arizona
Anyplace is alright as long as I
Can forget I've ever known her
Wind whipping down the neck of my shirt
Like I ain't got nothing on
But I'd rather fight the wind and rain
than what I've been fighting at home
Yonder comes a truck with the US mail
People writing letters back home
Tomorrow she'll probably want me back
But I'll still be just as gone
Is anybody going to San Antone
Or Phoenix Arizona
Anyplace is alright as long as I
Can forget I've ever known her
Charley Pride's always been a favorite. I don't know if he was quite as countrypolitan as Patsy Cline or Jim Reeves, though; he could nail a stone country song when he wanted to. "The Snakes Crawl At Night" was a great one.
ReplyDeleteCharley Pride has a great voice. A couple of years ago I heard a radio interview on XM radio. The host asked him how a black man from Mississippi ended up a country western singer and not a blues singer.
ReplyDeletePride answered that he grew up with a bunch of white boys and that's all they sang. So, it's what he sang.
I think we're lucky it happened that way.
"The Easy Parts Over Now" is one of my favorites.