“Welcome to Mankato!”
“Charley, Charley, It’s Treasure Island!” the band starts yelling.
“I knew that. I was just seeing if you guys were paying attention!”
That’s the first line from the famous storyteller Charley Pride. While Charley may have been around for a day or two, his charisma, charm, and wit are tack sharp. If you are an aspiring Musician, this would be a great artist to take notes and examples from. Old Charley could sell ice cubes in Alaska (or here), folks.
If you came to listen to him sing, you were in luck. He sang hit after hit after hit of his classic country and gospel music. He only has 52 top ten hits, of which 40 went to #1 on the Country Charts.
It wasn’t just the music though, it’s also the stories behind some of the songs. In one song, “God’s Coloring Book,” he tells the tale of how he wanted to sing a gospel song. His wife wanted him to call Dolly Parton (could you imagine being able to just pick up a phone and call someone famous anytime you want?) He said ‘no,’ so his wife said ‘I will’ and she did. Dolly said, ‘not only do I have a song for him, I will also sing it with him!’ Or there was the time he sang at Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew‘s Funeral (his wife was in the front row for tonight’s show).
The overall interaction with the crowd was overwhelmingly sincere. Several fans throughout the night yelled, “I (or we) love you!” Charley acknowledged them, and when it kept happening throughout the night, he finally said, “The feeling is mutual.”
The night consisted of a 90 minute, 25 song set, including his only song that crossed over into the pop charts (peaked at #21), “Kiss An Angel Good Morning.” Pride also did a couple tribute songs to stars Jim Reeves, Harold Dorman, Kriss Kristofferson and Hank William Sr.
Overall, it was an enjoyable night as Charley and the band put on a memorable show in front of the sold-out Event Center audience. The night did have a couple of bumps in the road, as Pride’s Guitarist managed to slip and fall on the stage. Mr. Pride, being a spry 84 years young, seemed to make light of it, pretending to fall off stage on a couple of different occasions. He also forgot a few of the lyrics on a couple of the new songs from his new album, Music In My Heart.
Even with the few hiccups, Charley Pride was everything a concert goer could ask for on this night. The classic country music, with strong vocals, for the most part, was true to the original recordings. He was very engaging, witty, light-hearted and charming. It was everything you’d want on a night bringing you back to yesteryear.