Arts & Entertainment - Lubbock Online.comCD box set delves into history of black contributions to country music

Published: Monday, February 23, 1998









CD box set delves into history of black contributions to country music

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Name a black country singer other than Charley Pride. If you can't, don't feel too bad. There aren't many.

"If this generation passes, it's a possibility that there will be no African-Americans interested in country music at all, because there are no role models," laments Dr. Cleve Francis, a heart surgeon from Washington, D.C., who recorded for Liberty Records in the early 1990s.

That's partly because there is a false belief that only whites like country music and blacks have no history in it, he said. He's looking to change that.

Francis is one of the forces behind "From Where I Stand," a new three-CD package highlighting the contributions of blacks to country music. His single, "Love Light," appears on Disc 3.

As the album documents, blacks have played a part in country music since its inception. The set features black string bands from the 1920s, versions of country songs sung by Ray Charles, The Staple Singers, The Supremes and others, and singles from black country singers such as Pride.

With 29 No. 1 hits from 1966-1989, Pride is, by far, the most successful black performer in country music history.

Still, even after 30 years, he hears the same question: Why would a black man choose a country music career? He and Francis have the same answer: They grew up in the South, heard the music and liked it.

"I don't know why more haven't come along. Perhaps they didn't want to put up with the laughing and so forth," said Pride, who early in his career put white audiences at ease when he joked about his "permanent tan."

Francis realized how wrongly blacks perceive country music when he performed for a black audience in San Antonio about five years ago.

"Before I finished three numbers, out of like 500 there were 50 people left in the room," Francis said. "They walked out because they were insulted by the music. They associated country music with racism and all this kind of stuff."

After returning to medicine, Francis took his idea for "From Where I Stand" to the Country Music Foundation, the historical arm of the Country Music Association.

It turned out the idea for such a project had been on the back burner for a decade. At Francis' urging, the CMF and Warner Bros. records released "From Where I Stand" this month.

The album features 50 black artists who've left a mark on country music. It starts with DeFord Bailey, a Grand Ole Opry star who performed from 1926-41.

Highlights include an incendiary version of Webb Pierce's "There Stands the Glass" by Ted Hawkins, four RCA hits by Pride, and Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" and "Rock Island Line."

Bill Ivey, director of the CMF, said Leadbelly is a good example of a performer who was mislabeled because of his skin color. Known as a blues great, Leadbelly actually was closer to folk and country, he said.

mrocamnriuegetnguilnrhruldaThere are some new black country performers on the horizon. Pride recently recorded a duet with Trini Triggs, and the group Wheels is working on its debut album.

Francis wished them luck. He doesn't harbor any ill will toward Nashville, but still wonders if he would have been more successful if he were white.

"You can't say the only reason I didn't make it in country music was because I was black," he said. "Tons of people go to Nashville and there are reasons that they don't make it.

