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LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): Country singer Charley Pride, the first modern black country music superstar, has passed away. He was 86 years old.
Public relations firm 2911 Media confirmed that Pride died on Saturday (December 12) in Dallas, Texas, from complications related to Covid-19.
Pride had just been seen by millions on live television in November when it received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) on its annual broadcast.
It was on that November 11 broadcast that he did his final performance, a duet of his classic “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin ‘” with Jimmie Allen, a rising black star in the country who expressed his debt to his predecessor.
Pride followed that up with a long and heartfelt speech as the small audience of nominees and their guests were engrossed in attention.
All of the artists on the CMA Awards broadcast were said to have undergone repeated tests for Covid-19 before appearing, with several dropping out as a result of testing positive.
CMA representatives said at the time that none of the artists who tested positive had entered the production area for the broadcast.
Maren Morris, who also performed at the CMAs and was the main winner, was one of those who quickly wondered if there might be a connection, with Pride seemingly contracting Covid-19 so soon after appearing on the show.
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions because no family statement has been made,” Morris tweeted, “but if this was the result of the CMAs being in, we should all be outraged. Rest in power, Charley.”
Among those who paid a quick tribute when the news shocked the country music world was Rissi Palmer, another rising black star in the genre who has celebrated the path that Pride opened for her and others.
“I have no words,” Palmer simply tweeted.
Dolly Parton tweeted, “I am so heartbroken that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Charley Pride, has passed away. It is even worse to know that she passed away from Covid-19. What a horrible, horrible virus. Charley, we will always love you.”
Prior to his honor at the CMA, Pride also returned to the limelight in early 2019 when he promoted “American Masters – Charley Pride: I’m Just Me,” a public television documentary that included interviews with acolytes such as Garth Brooks. , Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Parton and others, as well as Pride himself.
And he also appeared on Ken Burns’ “Country Music” series. Burns reacted to the news on Twitter, writing: “Charley Pride was a pioneer whose remarkable voice and generous spirit broke barriers in country music, just as his hero Jackie Robinson did in baseball. His last performance was his hit, ‘Kiss. an Angel Good morning. ‘ Now it is one. “
Pride, inducted into the 2000 Country Music Hall of Fame and a three-time Grammy winner, Pride was not the first country performer to cross racial lines – harmonica player Deford Bailey was one of the first prominent artists. The Grand Ole Opry and his successors included contemporary 1970s Stoney. Edwards and, much later, former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, who found immense crossover success in the genre.
But none of these black musicians enjoyed the massive appeal of Pride, which recorded 29 hits on the No. 1 country charts and another 21 entries from top-10 countries for RCA Records between 1966 and 1984.
Charts guru Joel Whitburn ranks him as the No. 3 hit-producing artist of the 1970s, behind Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard.
During the 1960s, many R&B artists moved to rural areas; Most famously, Ray Charles enjoyed great success with his number one album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.”
But Pride was the first black artist of the day to be hired and marketed by the country division of a major American label.
Although his first work was promoted by RCA with no images disclosing his race, Pride found his music quickly adopted by a southern, white, and working-class audience who discovered that they could relate to the singer’s sharecropping roots and universal aspirations.
His sharp rendition of expertly written honky tonk songs kept him on top for nearly two decades.
“He was the right singer at the right time in history,” wrote country music historian Bill C. Malone of his remarkable success.
“Pride definitely benefited from the elevated mood of racial tolerance promoted in the United States by the civil rights movement and from the desires of the country music industry to improve its image and broaden its audience.”
He was born in Sledge, Mississippi. One of 11 children, he worked as a child as a cotton picker on a tenant farm.
Although Pride began playing guitar in his teens, he was a talented athlete and for the first time set his sights on a career in baseball. During nearly a decade of play interrupted by Army service, he pitched for the Memphis Black League team, the New York Yankees farm club, the Birmingham Black Barons and the Missoula Timberjacks, the Los Angeles farm team. Cincinnati Reds based in Montana. He also tried out for the California Angels and the New York Mets.
While Pride was working in the minors, he was still thinking about a musical career. While he saw himself primarily as a country singer and took Hank Williams as a great stylistic avatar, his first recording session, held in 1958 at the Sun Studio in Memphis, found him working in an R&B mode.
It would be another seven years before Pride signed a recording contract, after injuries ended his pursuit of a life in baseball. Her singing attracted the interest of country star Red Sovine, who advised her to seek work in Nashville.
Finally, Chet Atkins, director of the label’s country division and its chief producer, signed with RCA. Her manager, Jack Johnson, insisted, however, that photographs of Pride not be released initially, fearing possible backlash due to her race.
Pride burst onto the charts in late 1966, his first year at RCA, with “Just Between Me and You,” a number cleverly produced in the “countrypolitan” vein started by Atkins Productions.
The singer’s taut, broad baritone took the single to No. 9 nationally, beginning an astonishing run in the country’s top 10. Within a year, he became a member of WSM’s incredibly popular radio and stage show Grand Ole Opry; at the time, he was her only black artist.
Having successfully broken down what had previously been a generally rigid racial barrier, Pride enjoyed a dizzying career thanks to other fluently crafted country-pop tunes. It had two number one hits in 1969, three in 1970 and five in 1971; In the past year, she released her biggest single, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” which held the pinnacle for five weeks.
He received the coveted artist of the year award from the CMA in 1971, and was voted best male vocalist by the CMA in 1971 and 1972.
In all, Pride had 20 No. 1 hits and nine more top-10 hits during the 1970s. These included “Is Anybody Goin ‘to San Antone” (soon heard on a popular Sir Douglas Quintet rock cover); “I can’t believe you stopped loving me”; “I would rather love you”; “It’s just me”; and “She’s too good to be true.”
He also collaborated with Henry Mancini on “All His Children,” a number for Paul Newman’s 1972 feature film “Sometimes a Great Idea”; the single reached number 2.
Both sides of Pride’s 1971 gospel single “Let Me Live” and “Did You Think to Pray” received Grammy Awards in 1972.
He also captured a trophy in 1973 for best male country vocal performance for the album “Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs.”
In the early 1980s, Pride faced a bit of the country formula and rehearsed more forceful material, piecing together number one singles with covers of Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Blues” and “You Win Again” and “Why Baby Why.” by George Jones. “
However, at the same time, his career reached its debatable nadir with another hit on the charts, the 1983 disco-country fusion “Night Games.” It turned out to be his latest number one hit.
In 1986, Pride parted ways with RCA and became the first act to be signed to 16th Avenue Records, a division of Opryland run by former RCA executive Jerry Bradley. He recorded 13 chart singles, mostly minor, for the label; his latest top-five hit, “Shouldn’t It Be Easier This Time,” was released in 1987.
He moved into semi-retirement in the late 1980s, emerging sporadically for releases on independent labels such as Honest and Music City. His autobiography “Pride”, co-written by Jim Henderson, was published in 1994 and he continued to tour at an advanced age.
Pride was a smart investor whose interests included a stake in a Texas bank.
He maintained a life-long interest in baseball. A frequent attendee of Texas Rangers spring training and home games, he sang the national anthem at the 2010 World Series.
He is survived by his wife, Rozene; two children; and a daughter. – Variety.com
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