Music In My Heart

Charley Pride

2017 - Music City Records.  It has been a long time since we have heard anything new from Mr. Charley Pride.  In fact, it has been six years.  Nonetheless, the long wait has been worth it.  If you have a craving for REAL country music, you don’t have to wait any further as it really doesn’t get any more authentic than the thirteen songs contained on this album.  Each of the songs on this highly-recommended album consist of some of the most delightful and moody classic country melodies that consist of fiddles, steel and acoustic guitars that once graced great country music of yesterday.   Eleven of the thirteen songs are new to Pride fans and listeners.  Charley includes an effortless rendition of Bill Anderson’s “You Lied To Me.”  He then  surprises us with his cover of Merle Haggard’s “The Way It Was In ‘51,” as he pays tribute to his long lost friend. I’m not one for covers, nonetheless, Pride does a wonderful job on this one. Right from the start, Charley draws the listener in with “New Patches,” a heartache song performed in an established two-step style melody.  One can hear the professionalism and sophistication within this album as each of the instruments were carefully chosen, especially in “Make Me One More Memory.”  Pride, teams up with some incredible songwriters to capture the essence of what real country music is all about and it’s found in songs like “Natural Feeling For You” and “All By My Lonesome.”  Other songs include “The Same Eyes That Always Drove Me Crazy,” “You’re Still In These Crazy Arms of Mine,” “I Just Can’t Stop Missing You,” and “I Learned A Lot.”  There are two songs on this breathtaking album that stand out amongst the rest.  The first is “Standing In My Way,” written by Jim McCormick and Billy Yates, this elegant song captures your attention with its light refined melody as Pride takes on the persona of the storyteller when he tells his story of the mistakes he has made within his relationships.  The second song is “It Wasn’t That Funny.”  This is a cleverly-written break-up song that comes with a twist.  Both of these songs will hit our list of Top Songs of 2017, while earning a nomination each for The Spirit Award’s Song of The Year Award.  The album closes with a unique song that really doesn’t fit the general mentality of this album.  Majority of the album features timeless songs about heartache, cheating and break-ups.  Then the album closes with the surprising title cut; “Music In My Heart,” contains a danceable melody that is quite uplifting.  It almost sounds as if Mr. Pride was sorry for making us depressed with all of the traditional country heartache songs, that he had to leave us in a better mood.  Amongst the synthetic, manufactured music found on country radio today—it is so nice to hear real country that is masterful, visionary, delightful, danceable, harmonically-rich, timeless and listenable music that is provided on this album.  I just hope that we won’t have to wait another six years for another one! This album is a MUST HAVE in any country music collection! $$$$

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