Ran originally in Sunday, November 29, 2020 editions of The Times and The News-Star

It was in the early 1990s that I retired from watching country music awards shows, which is about the same time most country music began going the way of the Pet Rock, the woolly mammoth, and any chance of a mandolin showing up on a network television show.

The decision was immediate. Reba McEntire—I’d loved “Little Rock” and “Somebody Should Leave” and “Have I Got a Deal for You”—came out dancing under these disco balls, choreographed backups dancing in shiny jumpsuits behind her, and Reba singing Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Who kidnapped all the country people?, I thought. What is …?

Aaaaaaaand … click. Good night Hollywood.

Of course, as Reba had many times warned me in song, “Somebody should leave,” and I suppose it had to be me. I was trending that way already since it was getting harder to find a Webb Pierce song on the radio than a good haircut; the disco balls and whatnot made it really easy to step away before anybody got hurt.

So it’s only by happenstance that I saw a piece of an awards show recently. It was a clip tagged to the end of the TV news and featured a feel-good piece in the face of an old friend, Charley Pride, singing “Kiss An Angel Good Morning.” The song isn’t one of my favorites but the artist was.

The event was a couple of weeks ago at the 2020 Country Music Association Awards. An 86-year-old Charley Pride performed that song and accepted the highly coveted lifetime achievement award during the 54th annual CMA event.

He admitted during his humble acceptance speech to being very nervous. Remember that this is a guy who once pitched in the minor leagues, who was the CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1971, who earned 52 Top-10 hits on the Billboard Country chart beginning in 1966 and running through the 1980s; 30 of those were No. 1s.

Yet he was “very nervous.”

But maybe the nerves were from coming to the end of a long road and how historical it had been because of himself, one of the few Black entertainers to become members of the Grand Ole Opry.

He was a trailblazer during a tricky time in our nation’s history.

On one of his live albums, he tells the story of walking out on stage, the crowd quiet, wondering who this guy is, and then he starts singing, “Just Between You and Me,” and a woman on the front row yelling, “It’s true! It’s true!”

On the radio he was white. But in real-life, different ballgame. It took a little while those 50 years ago before everyone buying his records realized he was a black country star. Superstar, really.

I was 7 or 8 when my parents took us to see Pride in Fayetteville, North Carolina, by far the biggest social event I’d ever been a part of. Had a tough time sleeping that week, knowing daddy had the tickets in there in his sock drawer. And that night, that fabulous night, when he finally sang “Chrystal Chandelier,” I screamed like those crazy ladies at Conway Twitty concerts.

I am thankful for Charley Pride. He even drove over from his home in Dallas to Shreveport to sing the National Anthem at the Independence Bowl in December of 1978. Cool and humble customer.

As if you need more to discuss around the Thanksgiving leftovers table, here’s a quick Top 10 Charley Pride Songs, According to Me. And if you want to be happy, don’t forget to kiss an angel good morning.

10: “The Easy Part’s Over Now”—We’ve come to the end/The easy part’s over now/And the hard part begins.

  1. “I Know One”—Only a fool would do it/After the way you’ve done/How many fools would have you?/I know one…
  2. “Snakes Crawl at Night”—When the sun goes down, then the snakes will play. (Sort of a passive aggressive thing going on here.)
  3. “Lovesick Blues”—Great cover of a Hank Williams hit.
  4. “Kaw-Liga”—Even better cover of a Hank Williams song; the live version is the one to listen to.
  5. “Is Anybody Going To San Antone”—Or Phoenix, Arizona/Anyplace is all right/As long as I/Can forget/ I’ve ever known her.
  6. “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger”—When you go out at night?
  7. “Mississippi Cotton Pickin’ Delta Town”—One dusty street to walk up and down/Nothin’ much to do but just hang around…
  8. “Just Between You and Me”—You’re too much to forget.
  9. “Chrystal Chandelier”—Will the lively crowd/that had you laughing loud/help to dry your tears/when the new wears off/of your crystal chandelier.