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Charley Pride: 10 Essential Songs

From his debut single “The Snakes Crawl at Night” to the crossover smash “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’”

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From 1966 to the early Eighties, Charley Pride was a country chart stalwart, scoring 29 Number Ones on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and more than 50 Top Tens in total. With his rich vocals, Pride, who died on Saturday, showed himself to be a master of heartbroken ballads with hits like “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger” and “Just You and Me.” He also enjoyed considerable crossover success with his signature hits “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” and “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” which propelled him into superstardom at the beginning of the Seventies. As we mourn his death, we look back at 10 essential cuts from the Country Music Hall of Fame member’s remarkable career.

From Rolling Stone US

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“Mountain of Love” (1981)

In early 1981, 21 years after it was first released by its writer Harold Dorman and nearly seven years after Bruce Springsteen performed it during a handful of shows, Pride topped the country chart for the 26th time with his rousing, bluesy rendition of “Mountain of Love,” also a major hit for Johnny Rivers in the early Sixties. The production may date it a bit but Pride’s impassioned performance gets to the heart of the tune’s prevailing misery as he stands atop the mountain, surveying the city below and noting the church where “wedding bells are ringin’ and they shoulda been ours.” S.B.