The death of Charley Pride on Saturday from complications of Covid-19 resulted in an outpouring of artists such as Dolly Parton, Maren Morris, Darius Rucker and Marty Stuart. Stuart also honored Pride regularly while he lived, inviting the country’s legend to his RFD television show more than any other artist. After the death of Pride, Stuart and his wife, singer Connie Smith, published a tribute saying, “I was very proud to say my pride to Mr. Pride. He was, and will always be, one of the greatest heroes of country music. ”Here, Stuart tells us about his relationship with the late singer.
I will tell you the first time I heard his voice. He is from Sledge, Mississippi. I’m from Philadelphia, Mississippi. Tan When I was a little kid, I was one of those heroes, like one of ours who got it. I was standing in the living room of the family home, in front of the music console. And there was a country music disc jockey named Marty Collins. He played a Charley Pride song called “All I Have to Offer You Is Me.” He announced it as the new version of Charley Pride. When the record ended, Marty Collins reappeared and it was learned that he had cried. And he said, “I think I need to hear it again.” And he touched it again. And I stood there like a little frozen in front of the stereo, a little fascinated by the sound of his voice and the recording and the song. I just had it all.
And that’s when he came into my life and stayed there. Over time, he has continued to be one of the greatest absolutes of all my old country music heroes, and became a friend. Connie and I went down to Mississippi last week, listening to one of her records. And I said, “You know what? This is my official opinion of knowing everything: if you were introducing someone to the classic sound of country music that Nashville Sound had never heard, the first five Charley Pride albums, Skeeter Davis’ recording of “The End of the World “” Connie Smith’s recording of “Run Away Little Tears” “Burning a Hole in My Mind” sets the standard for everything else. And that’s as good as ever, this little batch of records there same.
I probably met Charley in the early nineties. I always called him Sledge, who was from Sledge, Mississippi. And that Mississippi thing got us started. When I did my TV show, we did 156 episodes. I think I invited him more than anyone. As far as I was concerned, he could have come every week, because [my band] to the superlatives, we worked harder for him than I think anyone else did to make the arrangements of these songs absolutely clear in the way they were recorded. And so, when he went out there, he could rest on the sounds that made him fantastic and made us fall in love with him. And as time went on, it became a common device, coming and going here and there.
Oh man, it was fun. He loved astrology. This is one of his living room gags, when he knew someone: “When were you born?” First, I would try to guess, but if you didn’t, you tell him. And ten years later, when he would meet you again, he would say “You were born on April 16,” or whatever, you know? So that was it. He was simply a popular hero, an American original.
The fact that he was the first African-American to reach the focus of the superstar will be talked about a lot and should be. But the bottom line is that he was as fantastic as anyone who got up there to sing a country music song. He was a true and absolute country singer, whose voice came from the heart. So was he. And that’s what he leaves behind.
“[Cowboy Jack Clement] I knew there was no way to sell a black cat singing country music to white-collar white people. ”
We also need to talk about Jack Clement. Jack Clement was its original producer. Cowboy was the guy who pressed the “Whole Lotta Shakin ‘Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire” button on Sun. And he did all the Johnny Cash records. I always said Cowboy was ready when Charley Pride came in the door because he was used to that low Johnny Cash voice. He was accustomed to scant arrangements. But Cowboy was such a poet. If you could hear Jack’s demos and if you knew Cowboy, you’ll hear those first Charley Pride records; Charley Pride basically plays the role of Cowboy Jack Clement. And Cowboy, when he first had them [Pride] recordings, he knew that in that particular political climate, there was no way to sell a black cat singing country music to white-collar white people in a good old-fashioned society. So Cowboy, again, had a salon trick, because Cowboy was a little renegade. Cowboy carried these people and played them the recordings in person, and of course they had their jaws on the ground, and then he showed them a picture and they couldn’t believe it. That’s how he got the good old man’s system. It was the greatness of the songs, the performance, the sounds. And I think, being Charley the person he was, he knew how to disarm people when that time was a problem. I think I heard him say once that there was a boy in this town named Faron Young. Faron was a very showy and colorful character. And someone told Charley at first, “This is going to be tough. You beat Faron Young, you can beat any of them ”. So Charley said, “Well, let’s take care of it.” And he went to meet Faron, and they both got it right. And I think Faron approved by kissing on the cheek or something in public, so that was an important thing. You know, Charley disarmed him.
The magic of these records was the songs, of course. And two other people we really need to talk about is steel guitarist Lloyd Green. And the other guy who was kind of a hidden weapon was the great pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins. This core of these guys right there, is what made those recordings so special and fantastic. I once asked Cowboy, “The first time you heard Charley’s voice return to the big speakers, what did you think?” He said: “I was surprised. It had more depth and had more nuances down there than I had first imagined. He said, “I thought it would be like Johnny Cash’s big sound, in the middle of the speakers.” He said there were dimensions in Charley’s voice he had never heard before. I thought it was a very funny observation.
He played a Fender Coronado guitar at its peak when he first started. And this guitar was offered to me by a collector about that time last year. I did all my research and found out it was absolutely from Charley, so I bought the guitar for a ridiculous amount of money that Charley couldn’t believe. And we spent some time together in the Ryman Auditorium in January of this year. I picked up the guitar down there, played it again. He scratched his head at what I paid for it. I said, “I know, but I would have given twice as much.” It was January of this year, the last time we had real time together. And so it was pretty cool.
When he died, my wife Connie cried yesterday, and so did I. She said, “It was so important.” And I said, “You’re right.” And I think Charley is one of those people who was quiet under the radar for the last few years of her life, but, man, you have to remember when you would go to Dublin or England. The audience sang every word in every song and it was amazing to see the love they gave him. I hope people take this opportunity to go listen to the records and discover how truly essential and amazing and profound their body work is. The first stretch of seven or eight years is an important thing. I just want people to go to his music and find out not only the fact that he was the first African American to get into the superstar’s spotlight, but what a country music artist he was so profound.