Charley Pride was a legend in country music, but he was also a legend on the baseball diamond. No, he didn’t set any home run records, and his stint in the major leagues was fleeting. But his legacy looms large there as well, especially with the Texas Rangers.
The last decade or so has been a slow and strange awakening to the very unexpected, but also super cool relationship that actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has enjoyed with country music, from shouting out artists, being cast to play Charley Pride.
As bad as 2020 has been for just about everything, believe it or not, country music got it worse than just about every other segment of music, entertainment, sports, etc. when it came to both the amount, and the major names that passed away in the last 12 months.
The long-rumored Charley Pride biopic movie is finally on the way. First announced in 2006 with actor Terrance Howard cast as Pride, then announced later in 2011 with “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson to portray Pride, script issues, production issues, and other problems resulted in delays.
“Every precaution was taken. I think it’s unfortunate that people are out there crusading to stir up some mud. Because I really don’t think the CMAs were negligent in any way. Every time we darkened the door, we got tested,” says Charley Pride’s longtime manager, bass player, and close friend.
Country legend Charlie Pride passed away on Saturday, December 12th due to complications from COVID-19, his family and representative have confirmed. Amid his death, much speculation arose of where Charley Pride may have contracted the virus, and if it was at the 2020 CMA Awards on November 11th
Country Music Hall of Famer, Grand Ole Opry member, and pioneering black country artist Charley Pride has passed away due to complications of COVID-19. He died on December 12th at the age of 86 in Dallas, TX. Born in Sledge, Mississippi as the forth child of 11 children to a sharecropper.
It’s not that ‘Fun’ isn’t without it’s moments. But Garth Brooks is too much of a cheeseball, and too surrounded by yes men to be given the reigns to produce his own stuff. Or what you get is a record like ‘Fun.’
The 2020 CMA Awards will transpire on Wednesday, November 11th (make sure to follow along with Saving Country Music’s LIVE blog), and this year it will be a tribute heavy affair. Tributes, remembrances, and the marking of anniversaries will be a big part of the presentation.
Charley Pride will be the 2020 recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award handed out by the Country Music Association. To be awarded during the 54th Annual CMA Awards set to transpire on Wednesday, November 11th from Nashville and broadcast on ABC.
It’s worth noting that Rolling Stone’s new updated version of their “500 Best Albums of All Time” significantly diminishes iconic titles from the classic country canon. Not only were some titles downgraded, some were eliminated entirely.
When you find a performer this young and talented, it’s not just the entertainment value they posses at that moment, but the possibility of what they could develop into as time goes on that compels you. But Jake Blocker is already writing his own songs in his debut album.
Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg will have a new collaboration coming out in a couple of weeks, and this time it may not just be about the favorite pastime of the two superstars of puffing on pipes, but about something deeper. “Man we got a song coming out in a couple of weeks, how ’bout it? How ’bout it!” Snoop says.
On the day after the CMA Awards, it’s always important to take a deep breath, and remind yourself, “It’s just the CMA’s.” But it does feel important to address what turned out to be the biggest controversy Wednesday night, which was Garth Brooks winning Entertainer of the Year over Carrie Underwood.
The fifth installment of the Ken Burns country music documentary zeroed in on the time period between 1964 and 1968, when the United States at large began to be embroiled in tumultuous times, and two separate epicenters in country music began to emerge. Arguably the most egalitarian of the episodes so far, it covered a lot of performers.
The broadcast of the Ken Burns-produced 8-part, 16-hour documentary on country music could very well be the most significant event to happen in country music in 2019, if not in the next few years. For country music to receive the expansive documentary treatment for America’s preeminent filmmaking archivist could have significant implications.
“Old Town Road” is now the #1 song in all of music. However it wasn’t just the infectiousness of the track that got it there. It was also due to indisputably incorrect and biased reporting by major media outlets, from legacy music magazines such as Rolling Stone, all the way up to NPR and The New York Times.
Oh the irony of so many people demanding all music sound the same in the name of “diversity.” The only reason we’re even having a discussion of where Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” should be placed on the charts is because you can’t tell the difference between most any given piece of popular music anymore.
The aftermath of the removal of Lil Nas X’s viral trap song “Old Town Road” from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart continues, and unfortunately, so do the misconceptions and outright lies surrounding the removal as being motivated by racism.
See, this is the reason why showing concern of where and how songs are placed in music charts is so critical, and how making a simple mistake can cause dramatic reverberations throughout the music ecosystem where now you have long-standing institutions and entire genres of music being accused of outright racism.
For many years, the influence and contributions of African American musicians in country music went mostly overlooked, or overshadowed by their Caucasian counterparts. However there has been a recent trend by media and even some artists to overstate the influence of African Americans.
For many true country music performers, the bug to write, sing, and play country music bit them at an early age, and never left. For others, country music is simply a vehicle for fame and riches. Specifically, many of them first tried to make it in professional sports before flunking out or getting sidelined with injury.
Let’s face it. For a host of reasons, it’s pretty rare to see African Americans making country and roots music. But when they do, more often that not, they’re doing it the right way, pushing the music forward creatively while fiercely helping to preserving the past, becoming part of the solution instead of prolonging the problem.
Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member Charley Pride will release his first album in over six years when Music In My Heart hits the shelves. It will be released via Music City Records. “It was fun getting back into the studio,” Charley Pride says. “My goal was to record the best traditional country album possible.”