Charley Pride was born March 18, 1934, in Sledge, Mississippi, and died of complications related to COVID-19, on December 12, 2020. He was 86.
I first learned about Charley Pride in the 1970s, when I heard his song "Kiss An Angel Good Morning." I considered it a bit hokey and typical of the commercial country music I found boring. Pride, however, had something in his voice and style that hooked me in. It would be twenty years later when I purchased his recordings, but over the last ten years he has been in regular rotation for me. I love his voice and pop music sensibilities.
Pride enjoyed massive success on the country music charts, sold a lot of records, and appeared in sold-out concerts around the world. He was a major star.
At his first large venue concert in the 1960s, he walked out to an audience of 10,000 country music fans who didn't know he was African American. He broke the silence by saying: "I realize it's a little unique, me coming out here — with a permanent suntan — to sing country and western to you. But that's the way it is."
In 1967, Pride performed at The Grand Ole Opry, becoming the first black man in twenty-five years to perform there since one of its founders, DeFord Bailey, last performed.
Although not known for working on political or civil rights issues during his career, he played a major role in an international breakthrough most Americans know nothing about. In 1976, during the war in Northern Ireland (the "troubles"), Pride performed a concert even though there was a de facto ban on touring shows. His show is credited with breaking that ban and becoming a unifying cultural moment for Irish on both sides of the conflict. His song "Crystal Chandeliers" is hugely popular there and Charley Pride is a bit of a hero in Northern Ireland.
Pride's music was released by RCA Records, one of the largest labels in the world, and only Elvis Presley sold more records for RCA than Charley Pride.
No matter what we think of country music, and the country music industry, Charley Pride was a major success in his career, and blazed a trail other artists of color would eventually walk.
Charley Pride is an American hero whose achievements and accomplishments deserve more recognition than received.
The question of how a musician of color could choose a musical style, and a part of the music industry that has historically been, and still is, more openly and blatantly racist than any other, still remains a topic of much discussion. As a white man, I can never answer that question. It seems it is a question that music journalists tend to avoid, or only ask in code, and that artists avoid answering altogether. This morning, the BBC World Service show "Music Life" featured a discussion with four artists of color in the country music business. The topic was addressed in much the same manner as it has for fifty years. Listen to BBC World Service Music Life 2/6/2021 here:
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