Customer Reviews

Essential Charley Pride

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Charley Pride's RCA catalog history on disc has always puzzled me. Here's a guy that RCA claims is second only to Elvis in company record sales and who managed over fifty country hits for them (twenty-nine of which went number one). Yet up till now, all you could get on disc was a few Pride collections of eight (!) to ten songs. This Essential volume contains all of Pride's milestone recordings: his first hit "Just Between You And Me," his first number one "All I Have To Offer You Is Me," and his signature tune "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'." The rest, like "Is Anyone Going To San Antone," and "You're My Jamaica" are just as good. My only complaint is that the Essential series always limits their sets to twenty tracks and Pride of course had a lot more hits than that. Hopefully, he will get an additional Essential volume sometime soon, like Parton did (actually, it would take three volumes to get the full picture of his productive tenure at RCA). For now, The Essential Charley Pride is a fine introduction to a talented country music trailblazer.

While this compilation focuses mainly on Charley's hits from 1967-1973, it is definitely a keeper. Two of my favorite lesser-known Pride songs, "I'd Rather Love You" and "A Shoulder to Cry On" (the latter written by fellow country legend Merle Haggard) are included on this great compact disc. Charley's distinctive style rose above "Outlaw" movements and "pop-country" sounds to offer a voice of TRUE country; this CD highlights that fact. Take it from me, I don't think you'll regret purchasing this CD. RCA/BMG has done a better job in recent years of releasing early Pride material; this CD is just one example of that. These aren't cheap, pathetic re-recordings either---these are the ORIGINAL recordings, which are so much better. Whether you're a long-time Charley Pride fan or a newcomer to this legend's music, I doubt you'll be disappointed with this compilation. Give it a listen! It puts 90% of what today is called "country music" to shame.

This cd is a good overall retrospective of Country great Charley Pride's hits from the mid-1960's to the late 1970's. Though no compilation of Charley's music can do justice to this great talent, this isn't a bad cd. This has my all-time favorite Charley Pride song "Just Between You and Me" and several other early greats "Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger?", and on of his best "All I have to Offer You (Is Me)". A lot of those songs mentioned in the excellent cd booklet notes are missing from this disc. This cd has several of Charley's big 70's hits "Kiss An Angel Good Morning" and about the closest Country Music ever got to Reggae, "You're My Jamaica". This disc shows what a superb talent Charley Pride is to country music. In the day and age of Garths, Dixie Chicks, and all of this newer country music, thank goodness for singers like Charley Pride-a real country classic! Just wish more of Charley's music, especially the late 60's and early 70's recordings were available on cd.

The early years of Charley Pride were his best, although his voice never lost it's richness even his later work of weaker material. This CD contains 20 Original Recordings of nearly an hour of superb Country Music. Included, are "Just Between You and Me", "A Shoulder to Cry ON", and "All I Have to Offer". There's not a bad track on the disc, although the last number, "You're My Jamaica", is the beignning of the "later" Charley Pride sound, and seems out of place on this collection. Too many Greatest Hits collections are rehashed standards by aging and tired artists.....thankfully, this is not one of those. So, if you want the best collection of original early Charley Pride, look no further. A+

THIS IS ONE OF HIS BEST..IF THERE CAN BE A BEST, OF ALL THE SONGS HE HAS RECORDED.."ALL I HAVE TO OFFER YOU IS ME' AND "JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME'ARE GREAT ONES ALSO BUT FRANKLY I LIKE EVERY ONE OF HIS SONGS,,THERE ARENT ANY BAD ONES.CHARLEY PRIDE HAS A STYLE ALL HIS OWN AND A BEAUTIFUL STYLE IT IS.HOPE HE PUTS OUT A NEW ONE THIS YEAR. KEEP SINGING CHARLEY AND WE WILL KEEP BUYING..

Was ordered for an older person. Came in great condition and she loves it!