[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES AND CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF CHARLEY FRANK PRIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 16, 2020

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is with great sorrow that I 
acknowledge the passing of Charley Frank Pride, but with great joy that 
I recall his storied career as an artist, gifted musician and 
professional baseball player, and with even greater joy that I recall 
our significant friendship.
  Charley Frank Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi, on March 18, 
1938. Charley's parents were both sharecroppers and cotton pickers. 
Since he was young and couldn't decide for himself what he could or 
couldn't do, he was forced to pick cotton as a child. However, he grew 
up listening to country music. He walked around the house singing songs 
of Hank Williams and Roy Acuff.
  At the age of six, he found himself listening to the Grand Ole Opry 
on the country music radio station. At one time, Charley was given the 
nickname ``Mocking Bird'' by a neighbor who says Charley's daily chores 
were to sing each morning and to play baseball.
  When Charley Pride was fourteen, he bought his first guitar from 
Sears and Roebuck and taught himself how to play by listening to 
different songs on the radio. Charley didn't want to follow his 
father's footsteps. His plan was to become famous in baseball, but his 
dream was to be a country singer. At the age of seventeen, he began to 
seek his fortune.
  In 1958, he played baseball in the American Negro League for the 
Birmingham Black Barons. But his baseball career didn't last long. 
Charley stated ``I'm not a black man singing white man music, I am an 
American singing American music. I worked out those problem years ago, 
and everybody else will have to work their way out of it too.'' That 
was the end of Charley Pride's baseball career.
  Later Charley had an audition for Jack Clement, a song writer and 
record producer.
  After the audition, Charley proved to Chet Atkins and the manager for 
the Mets that he wasn't trying to fit in with the whites, he was just a 
business man singing American music. Chet Atkins, vice-president of RCA 
recording in Nashville, realized that Charley Pride's country singing 
was a talent. This led Pride to a RCA recording contract.
  Two of his best and popular records are Snakes Crawl at Night, and 
Just Between You and Me, which earned a Grammy in 1968. Pride's first 
number one hit on the singles chart was (``All I Have to Offer You Is 
Me'' in 1964. ``Kiss an Angel Good Morning'' was a million-selling 
crossover single recorded in 1971. Charley Pride has more than 36 
number one country singles. He has produced more than 35 albums.
  On May 1, 1993, Pride joined the Grand Ole Opry. In 1994, the Academy 
Of Country Music presented him with its prestigious Pioneer Award. In 
1994 his autobiography Pride: The Charley Pride Story was published by 
William Morrow. In 1996, he received a Trumpet Award by Turner 
Broadcasting, marking outstanding African-American Achievement.
  His song ``Roll On Mississippi'' was considered as the official song 
of his home state, a stretch of Mississippi highway was named for him, 
and he performed a special Christmas performance for President and Mrs. 
Clinton at the White House.
  He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2008 
Charley Pride's talent earned him the state of Mississippi's top arts 
award for Lifetime Achievement in the 2008 Governor's Awards for 
Excellence in the Arts.
  Madam Speaker, on Saturday, December 12, 2020 Texas and this Nation 
has lost the presence of one of its most humble and talented 
individuals on many fronts in American life. Charley's loss will be 
deeply felt among many, but his work will not. His caring nature, his 
artistic work and for me more importantly, his friendship will live 
forever.

                          ____________________