Search - Charley Pride :: Legends - Charley Pride

The forgotten country superstar

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation originally appeared in Australia, where it was titled Legendary. Now released in Britain, it has a slightly different title (Legends) and different packaging, but the same music.



Charley Pride had nearly thirty number one hits on the American country charts, as well as many other big hits, yet his music his poorly represented on CD in comparison with much less successful singers. This Australian set is the most comprehensive collection available. It would seem that Charley is better remembered in Britain and Australia than in his homeland. For those who do remember, there is much pleasure to be had from the fifty tracks here. The collection covers the whole span of his years at RCA from the sixties to the eighties.



Everybody has his or her own favorites. Crystal chandeliers (the final track here) was not released as a single in America, but it has become his most famous song elsewhere. The other tracks will be familiar to Americans and include Mississippi cotton picking delta town, All I have to offer you is me, Just between you and me, Is anybody going to San Antone?, Kiss an angel good morning, I'm just me, Does my ring hurt your finger? and Snakes crawl at night.



With songs like these, how is it that there seems to be so little interest in Charley's music compared to some of his contemporaries? I can't answer that, but it is likely that this will remain the strongest collection of Charley's music on CD although the American double CD (Anthology) is also an excellent collection."