Our Big Frog 104 "Country Classic Double" at 11:30 a.m. weekdays, gives us an opportunity to showcase artists of days gone by. When Charley Pride first entered the music scene, he was one of the few African-American artists to perform country music.

As a former baseball player, Charley Pride had a great transition into a music career. Today on the "Double", we feature Charley's big #1 hit from 1971 "Kiss An Angel Good Morning". Here's a video of Charley signing his big hit.

And, a brief bio of Charley Pride courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Charley Frank Pride (born March 18, 1938) is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. His chart success and recordings since the late 1980s have been sporadic, but Pride continued touring successfully.

Pride is one of the few Black country musicians to have had considerable success in the largely Caucasian country music industry and the only one to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In 2010, Pride became a special investor and minority owner of the Texas Rangers.

Though he also loved music, one of Pride's life-long dreams was to become a professional baseball player. In 1952, he pitched for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. He pitched well, and, in 1953, he signed a contract with the Boise Yankees, the Class C farm team of the New York Yankees.

He pitched for several other minor league teams, his hopes of making it to the big leagues still alive."

When he didn't make to the majors, he began making it in country music.

 

 

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