[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING CHARLEY PRIDE, WORLD RENOWN COUNTRY MUSICIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 11, 2017

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize country music singer, guitarist, performer, and business 
owner, Charley Pride. Mr. Pride was inducted into the Country Music 
Hall of Fame in 2000 and is one of only three African Americans to have 
been inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. His rise to stardom 
was an amazing feat given his humble beginnings and the obstacles he 
faced. Nonetheless, he developed a passion for music that could not be 
satiated. At the tender age of fourteen he purchased his first guitar, 
taught himself to play by listening to country music on the radio, and 
the rest is history.
  Throughout his musical career, Charley Pride has accomplished what 
other artists can only dream of: 36 #1 singles, 12 gold albums, 52 top-
10 country hits, millions of records sold worldwide, three Country 
Music Awards, one Grammy Award, and becoming the first major Black 
country music star.
  A man of many talents, Pride also played for the Negro American 
League's Memphis Red Sox and the East Helena Smelterites before being 
signed by RCA Records in 1966. The sacrifices he made in order to craft 
masterpieces such as ``Just Between You and Me'', ``The Snakes Crawl At 
Night'', and ``Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'' will forever pale in 
comparison to the sacrifice he made by putting his musical and 
professional baseball careers on hold to serve our country.
  Despite his undeniable musical talents, Pride faced innumerable 
obstacles as he--a black man in a field predominantly occupied by 
whites--pursued a career as a country musician. Despite the heartaches 
and the challenges, Charley Pride has become one of the most successful 
artists in the history of country music. From being born in Sledge, 
Mississippi to a sharecropper, to becoming a special investor and a 
minority owner of the Texas Rangers, he has lived a life that his 
parents could not have fathomed. Times have changed, but the love of 
his three children and his wife, Rozene, have remained consistent.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call this man my constituent. I 
congratulate and thank him for his role as a trailblazer in music and 
an inspiration for so many. Mr. Speaker, the work and life of Charley 
Pride are worth placing these sentiments in the permanent Record of the 
United States Congress.