Posted on 03/25/2020 12:34:53 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Country Music Hall of Famer, who turns 86 today, made a return appearance to show and sang Lead Belly’s “Cotton Fields”
Born March 18th, 1934, singer Charley Pride, left his birthplace of Sledge, Mississippi, at age 16 and later became one of the most successful country artists of all time. But that wasn’t exactly what he had first planned. The son of a sharecropper, Pride first left his family’s 40-acre cotton farm 50 miles south of Memphis to play professional baseball in the Negro American League. Pride would go on to work at a smelter in Montana, playing ball and also singing in local clubs at night. He signed his first management deal in 1964, with longtime manager Jack D. Johnson, and in August 1965 had his first Nashville recording session. A month later, he signed with RCA, which released his debut single, “The Snakes Crawl at Night.” The single, however, failed to chart.
Pride had better luck with his sophomore LP The Pride of Country Music, which featuring the first two of what would be 13 consecutive Top Ten singles – six of which topped the chart. In January 1967 he became the first African-American solo singer to appear on the Grand Ole Opry, and on April 29th of that year, he made his first-ever national TV appearance on bandleader Lawrence Welk’s popular ABC music series, which aired on Saturday nights.
A lifelong disciple of Hank Williams, Pride’s debut on The Lawrence Welk Show presented his vibrant take on Williams’ 1949 hit “Lovesick Blues,” with accompaniment by steel guitarist Lloyd Green. The performance was enough to earn him a return visit the following April, with Welk noting that Pride “impressed all of us with his talent and his personality.” Backed on steel this time by Gene O’Neal, Pride introduced the other musicians before his two-song set, which spotlighted Hank Williams again (“Kaw-Liga”) in the first segment. During a chat with Welk, Pride talked about his three young children at home before singing Lead Belly’s oft-covered folk tune “Cotton Fields,” a song which he said “reminds me of what I don’t ever go back to doing because it hurt my fingers and my back and my knees.”
Charley Pride went on to become CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1971, has to date won four Grammys and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. He has been married to wife Rozene Pride since 1956.
Awesome. Thanks for posting
You are welcome.
Happy Birthday.
Good stuff indeed. I started following Charlie Pride in the 70s. He’s great with this cover. I’ve long loved his signature song, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” (1971).
an extraordinary American story. I love this. And each of the other personalities mentioned, Lawrence Welk, Hank Williams and Lead Belly, have their own distinct (and raw, to say the least) American stories.
oh WOW....this music!!!! this is the link to the Welk performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brW8DYz7YlU
I normally think of Pride as a bit too much country-pop for my tastes...but this is freaking amazing, and has that rockabilly influence....awesome!
and his rendition of Cotton Fields! WOW!
The oldest dance hall in Texas is a mile from my home. Charlie was there a couple of years ago. My wife and I saw Ray Price there a few months before his death. Still had the golden pipes.
That is the hardest song to sing along to AND be in tune! Hank Jr also does an admirable job with it.
awesome
Also from the Welk show - Charley with Lloyd Green - Just Between You and Me. It’s just goose bumps city.
I’m surprised, I thought he was 80 or 81, having a hard time to even process that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQdR0ciwYg
This is wonderful on so many levels. The performance is perfect from the Marty Stuart Show. This is a reaction video, and it’s so funny. He got so distracted at the beginning thinking Marty Stuart was Jay Leno, he didn’t see Charley right away It’s priceless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PzkCfnspZU
Thanks so much for posting!
I didn’t see this posted!
Great Minds!
Great thread
What an incredible American
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