Country music's hidden black talent

Charley Pride has sold over 70m records worldwide

US country star Charley Pride is to release a new album as he celebrates 40 years in the music industry.

The album, drawing its inspiration from gospel, features duets with friends Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, is due for release in the autumn.

As a black man, Pride's success as a country singer is something of a rarity in an industry traditionally regarded as a white genre.

Many present day African-American country singers say record labels are reluctant to sign them because of commercial timidity.

Pride, 67, has had more than 36 number one country singles, such as Kiss An Angel Good Morning and Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone?, and sold over 70m records around the world during his career.

Hall of Fame

The Mississippi-born singer is the second biggest selling artist on the RCA label after Elvis Presley and has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Music journalist Martin Hodgson told BBC World Service's The Beat programme that Pride was not the first African-American to sing country.

He said black musicians have been playing country since the 20s and 30s, including performing on the Grand Ole Opry radio programme in Nashville.

"A few people had regional hits but Pride was one of the first people to break through to the big time," he said.

Once people heard my singing they said they didn't care if I was green Charley Pride

He said his record company's initial promotional material did not contain any photos of Pride so as not to discourage white audiences, promoters and DJs.

"His first singles were a massive success and you have got to remember that this is at the height of the civil rights movement," he said.

"The segregation in the south was being dismantled and here was a black man playing what was seen to be a white genre which was quite a revolutionary act."

'Race music'

Hodgson said country music's image as a "white genre" has its roots in the way the US recording industry responded to the arrival of the radio.

"It was nervous when radio appeared," he said. "They decided that the best way to sell records was by carving up their market into separate marketing categories.

"They had hillbilly music for people living out in the country. They had what they called race music for black people and they assumed that these must be two separate things.

Parton, the epitome of 'white country', sings on Pride's new album

"Talking to black musicians in Nashville, there is a palpable sense of frustration. They accuse the record companies not so much of racism as commercial timidity.

"Perhaps the record companies think that black people don't listen to country music, which is palpably not true as well."

A Black Country Music Association, based in Nashville, was set up to try to open more doors for African-American singers. But it met with limited success.

"When you speak to black musicians, you hear stories about them sending off their demo tapes to a record company," said Hodgson.

"The record company says 'come in', but when they turn up and they see that the singer is black, a certain coolness enters the whole conversation."

Emotions

Pride puts his success down to his voice and his lyrics.

"I just try to tell people I'm in the business of selling lyrics and feelings and emotions," he said.

He said his father, a poor sharecropper in Sledge, Mississippi, used to listen to country music on the family's radio.

"I just started emulating all the songs people were singing at the time," he said.

After failing to make it as a professional baseball player, Pride decided to dedicate himself to making a career in country.

Despite trying to break through during the turbulent times of the civil rights movement, he said it was his voice that broke down barriers.

"I understood that I wasn't supposed to be singing the music because of segregation but once people heard my singing they said they didn't care if I was green."