November 06, 2008 Earworm

The Fonz was nowhere in sight when I woke up with my internal jukebox on the fritz. No song in the head. Nothing. Nada. I began to wonder if Dan had been slipping Prozac in my Pepsi. The morning news failed to turn it on and even some catty swipes at Beyonce's magic wig cabinet didn't do the trick. Fortunately, Jimmy LouWho mentioned that he'd been listening to Charley Pride at the same moment that another image of Barack Obama hit the tv screen.

"Didn't he do "Kiss An Angel Good Morning"?
"Yep"

Perfect. Charley was a first, too.

After a good start as a pitcher for the American Negro League's Memphis Red Sox, he signed with the C farm team of the New York Yankees where an arm injury lessened his chance for the big league. In 1958 he paid a visit to Sun Records and recorded a few tracks, none of which were released at the time, with only one surviving for posterity. After two years in the army, he tried to return to baseball but, with diminishing returns in that field, he began to focus on a career in music.

By the time he caught the ear of Chet Atkins it was 1966, a time when no African-Americans could get traction in that market. His first few singles were credited to "Country Charley Pride", perhaps to convince disc jockeys that the only thing black about his records was the RCA label. It took three singles to get Charley a major hit and "Just Between You And Me" made him a Grammy winner and the first non-white face to appear at The Grand Ole Opry.

Four years and thirteen top ten country hits later, seven of them number ones, "Kiss An Angel Good Morning" became his eighth country chart topper and the long awaited big cross over to the pop charts, where the single peaked at #21. To be honest, I hated it at the time which is probably why I am surprised to learn that it wasn't a number one. I remember it as being inescapable for years. Listening to it now, it's obvious that producer Jack Clement - who probably had met Charley at those earlier Sun sessions - managed to capture a large helping of happy thoughts on the tapes, creating what has to be the country equivalent of bubble gum music.

Charley never hit the upper reaches of the pop chart again but his trail of country top tens would continue for another twelve years, proving the strength of his fan base. I, however, don't recognize any of them.

Thanks for the kick, Jim.