CHARLEY Vinyl Records and CDs

Charley Pride's silky-smooth baritone ruled the country airwaves in the '60s and '70s. Discovered as a teenager by the great Red Sovine, Pride went on to tear down the accepted belief that country music's primarily white audience would never accept a black performer. To the contrary, Pride's pure Nashville style has remained a staple of the scene, as evidenced by the rousing 1998 live set Branson City Limits. His better known hits "Kiss an Angel Good Morning" and "I Don't Think She's in Love Anymore," as well as excellent interpretations of Hank Williams songs and a laundry list of choice covers, are marked by a slick overlaying of acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel and piano, the traditional Nashville set-up; but what sets him apart is his effortless vocal phrasing. A country singer of the tallest order, Pride is one of the few true traditionalists left.