Personalities | Charley Pride | Nashville & Beyond | Country

(Vocals, b. 1938)

With his richly textured baritone, Pride had a nearly unmatched string of 29 No. 1 country hits from the mid-1960s until the late 1980s. Perhaps more significantly, Pride is merely the symbolic tip of the iceberg – only the most visible of many gifted but far less celebrated black singers who, just like their white counterparts, grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry and earnestly emulating the singers they heard there.

As a youth, Pride was heavily influenced by Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff and Pee Wee King who he heard on the Opry’s Saturday night radio broadcasts. Pride played baseball in the American Negro League for several years and served a stint in the US Army before being signed to RCA Records by Chet Atkins. Some of his biggest hits were ‘All I Have To Offer You (Is Me)’ (1969), ‘Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’ (1971) and ‘My Eyes Can Only See As Far As You’ (1976).

Voted Country Music Association’s ‘Entertainer Of The Year in 1971, Pride joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993, rather late in his career. In recent years he has recorded sporadically, devoting the majority of his time to substantial real-estate and banking investments in the Dallas, Texas area, where he resides. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2000.

Styles & Forms | Nashville & Beyond | Country
Personalities | Jerry Reed | Nashville & Beyond | Country

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.