Throughout the month of February, while celebrating Black History Month, PBS has made it easy for Charley Pride fans and new audiences alike to learn more about his history in country music and the impact he made throughout the world. As part of their On-Demand exclusive for Passport members, American Masters - Charley Pride: I'm Just Me, Ken Burns' Country Music, Episode 5: The Sons and Daughters of America (1964-1968), and GRAMMY SALUTE TO MUSIC LEGENDS™ are available on PBS.com and the PBS Video app. American Masters - Charley Pride: I'm Just Me will air in NY on Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE) on Tuesday, February 9 at 9 PM ET. PBS SoCal (KCET) aired the documentary on February 4th. Check your local listings for all available air times. The documentary is also available on DVD at charleypride.com.
PBS Passport Members can view American Masters -
Charley Pride: I'm Just Me by visiting
HERE.
American Masters -
Charley Pride: I'm Just Me traces the improbable journey of
Charley Pride, from his humble beginnings as a sharecropper's son on a cotton farm in segregated Sledge, Mississippi to his career as a Negro League baseball player and his meteoric rise as a trailblazing country music superstar. The new documentary reveals how Pride's love for music led him from the Delta to a larger, grander world. In the 1940s, radio transcended racial barriers, making it possible for Pride to grow up listening to and emulating Grand Ole Opry stars like Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. The singer arrived in Nashville in 1963 while the city roiled with sit-ins and racial violence. But with boldness, perseverance, and undeniable musical talent, he managed to parlay a series of fortuitous encounters with music industry insiders into a legacy of hit singles, a Recording Academy "Lifetime Achievement Award" and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The film includes original interviews with country music royalty, including
Garth Brooks,
Dolly Parton,
Brad Paisley,
Darius Rucker, and
Marty Stuart. It also includes several on-camera conversations between Pride and special guests, including Rozene Pride (his wife of 63 years),
Willie Nelson, and other fellow musicians. The film also features many songs from his repertoire of classic country hits, along with more modern cuts like "Standing In My Way," from his latest album Music In My Heart, released in 2017.
"At a time when African-American singers were more notable for R&B hits,
Charley Pride followed his passion for country music, overcoming obstacles through determination and raw talent to make a lasting impact on the genre and create a legacy that continues today," said Michael Kantor, executive producer of American Masters. "We are honored to share the inspiring, and largely untold, story of this barrier-breaking performer with viewers nationwide."
On January 30, 2019, the film made its world premiere at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The premiere featured an appearance by
Charley Pride himself, along with special guest artists featured in the film, including the film's narrator
Tanya Tucker, Jimmie Allen, Janie Fricke, and Sylvia Hutton. Members of the media and other family and friends of Pride also attended. After the film, a Q&A was hosted by the film's director
Barbara Hall, and journalist Robert K. Oermann, Country Music Hall of Fame's Peter Cooper, and
Charley Pride.
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