On this day (December 12) in 2020, Charley Pride died at the age of 86. He was one of many superstars who fell victim to the pandemic. Few artists in country music history can claim a legacy as impressive as Pride’s. He faced open racism from fans, radio programmers, and fellow artists while climbing to the top of the country music world.
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Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi, to a family of sharecroppers. While he found his love for music early and started learning to play guitar and sing when he was 14, being a country star wasn’t his goal. Instead, he wanted to play baseball, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Mack, and Jackie Robinson. He followed that dream, playing in the Negro American League for a while. However, he never reached the Big League. His time on the diamond was instrumental in making him a country star, though.
Charley Pride Enters the Country World
Charley Pride is widely remembered for his incredible voice. Before he began his music career, a team manager heard him singing and offered to pay him to sing before games. His performances drew larger crowds and doubled his salary. Soon, he began doing local gigs.
According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Pride was performing in Helena, Montana, when Red Sovine and Red Foley heard him. They knew his voice would make him a star and encouraged him to go to Nashville and give it a shot. A year later, he auditioned for manager Jack Johnson, who was immediately impressed.
Johnson introduced pride to legendary producer Cowboy Jack Clement, who was also in awe of his talent. They cut some demos, and Clement took those tapes to Chet Atkins, who was so impressed that he flew to the West Coast to convince RCA’s executives to sign him. However, Atkins chose not to mention that Pride was a Black man until after the ink had dried.
Pride’s first single, “The Snakes Crawl at Night,” shipped to radio stations across the United States with a blank label. They wanted the music to speak for itself. Furthermore, Atkins, Clement, Felton Jarvis, and Bob Ferguson–four of the most powerful players in country music at the time–were listed as producers on Pride’s early work.
Pride and His “Permanent Tan”
Charley Pride took everything in stride. His recollection of his first big concert illustrates the attitude that helped him become one of the genre’s biggest stars.
It was in Detroit and, after a warm introduction from Ralph Emery, Pride took the stage to the applause of roughly 10,000 fans. However, when he stepped into the light and the crowd saw him, the applause almost abruptly stopped. “It was like turning the volume down. You could’ve dropped a pin,” Pride recalled. Fortunately, he was prepared.
Jack Johnson, his longtime manager, told him, “Charley, we’ve got to come up with something. You can’t just go into singing once you done shocked the hell out of the people. You’ve got to say something.” Standing on that stage, Pride delivered the “something” he and Johnson cooked up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I realize it’s a little unique, me coming out here on a country music show wearing this permanent tan,” he said, receiving more applause.
At the time, he had three singles out–“The Snakes Crawl at Night,” “Before I Met You,” and “Just Between You and Me.” He told the crowd he wanted to play those songs for them. Then, if he had time, he wanted to perform a Hank Williams song. “I didn’t have time to talk about pigmentation. I didn’t have but ten minutes,” he recalled.
There were two shows that day, one at 3 PM and a second at 8 PM. Pride introduced himself during the afternoon show. Then, he spent the time between shows signing autographs for those whom he won over.
Charley Pride: The First Black Country Star
Charley Pride was far from the first Black country artist. Black musicians helped form the foundation of country music. For instance, Lesley Riddle traveled with A.P. Carter of the Carter Family on song-catching trips. He also helped Mother Maybelle develop the “Carter scratch” guitar style for which she is widely remembered. Pride was, however, the first Black country star.
He had 29 No. 1 singles and 52 top 10 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart. Twelve of his albums went to the top of the country albums chart. A further 27 made it into the top 10. He took home multiple CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. His work in country and gospel music brought him a combined four Grammy Awards. Additionally, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
“I get a lot of questions asked me. ‘Charley, how’d you get into country music and why don’t you sound like you’re supposed to sound?’” he said during a 1968 concert in Fort Worth, Texas. “It’s a little unique, I admit. But I’ve been singing country music since I was about five years old. This is why I sound like I sound.”
Featured Image by Joseph Llanes
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