Neal McCoy Honors His Country Music Mentor With ‘Pride’
Neal McCoy and Charley Pride go way back. After McCoy won a Dallas talent contest in 1981, he was introduced to the country legend and became his opening act for many years -- an experience for which McCoy says "there was no substitute."
"He took me under his wing. Him and his wife Rozene became like parents to my wife Melinda and I," McCoy tells The Boot. "[He] let me travel the road with him for about five or six years ... let me use his band to open his shows, gave me the opportunity to be in front of audiences and that experience."
In 2013, McCoy released 'Pride: a Tribute to Charley Pride,' which featured 11 of Pride's many tunes, but "when you get guy that has 39 No. 1s and 50-something big ol' hits, it's hard to narrow it down," McCoy says. So on Nov. 3, he'll debut the album's deluxe edition, which contains two additional tracks and is available exclusively through Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores and CrackerBarrel.com.
"I thought it was a terrific thing that Cracker Barrel got involved and wanted a couple extra ones put on there," McCoy says. "I showed [Pride] the list, and he said he thought it was a well-rounded list with some different tempos and would give everybody a pretty wide spectrum of what he was able to do from a music standpoint, so he approves of it."
The first bonus track is 'Why Baby Why,' a George Jones song that Pride took to No. 1 on the country charts in 1983. McCoy says Pride "is a big George Jones fan ... so I knew Charley would appreciate that one."
The other additional song is 'Let Me Live,' a gospel tune that Pride won a Grammy Award for in 1972.
"I'm a big gospel fan and knew it was going to be going into Cracker Barrel, where a lot of those folks like that type of music, so I just thought it made sense," McCoy says of the selection, "and I just love the song.
"But, you know, we could have picked any of 'em," he adds.
Both the original and deluxe editions of the album also include three duets: 'Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'' with Darius Rucker, 'I'm Just Me' featuring Raul Malo and 'Roll on Mississippi' with Trace Adkins. McCoy says the guest artists are all fans of Pride's music, but Rucker was a great addition because of another connection as well.
"With Darius, I told him ... that we'd love to have him for two reasons, being an African-American [in country music] and his love for Charley Pride," McCoy says.
Of all the tracks on the album, McCoy says 'Roll On Mississippi' is probably his favorite for a few different reasons.
"I've always loved that song," he says. "I just thought it had a beautiful melody, I love that it's in a baritone register because I'm a true baritone ... and then from a lyrics standpoint, it really reached out to me in that it's talking about, let's go back to when days were simple ... It's so melodic, and the timing on it is just like, 'Golly.'"
McCoy remembers watching Pride sing the song during his years as the legend's opening act. Every night, the young country singer would "stand on the side of and watch [Pride's] show, just watch some of his silliness and his banter with the audience, and then his great songs," he says -- but there's one moment in particular that really stands out.
Pride and McCoy toured overseas in the 1980s, and one of their shows was in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. (McCoy thinks it was 1983 or '84, probably.) Standing on the side of the stage that night, McCoy got to watch Pride sing 'Danny Boy' to the Irish crowd.
"Oh my gosh, it was just," he says, pausing. "[He got two lines in], and by that time, the whole crowd was singing along ... He could have just completely stopped ... It's been one I've remembered my whole life, just having that audience sing with him, and what the song meant to him and then what it meant to those folks in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day."
Aside from the memories, McCoy says he also learned an incredibly important piece of advice that has served him well during his career: "'Put on a great show every night, and just be nice to people, and you'll continue to work a long time,'" he says Pride told him.
"And we followed that, and we've proven that. I mean, we still continue to have a lot of work every year, and I think that's from putting on good shows every night and just being good to people," McCoy says. "Pretty simple. Don't be a jerk!
"It's probably better life advice than it is entertainment advice," he adds, "but I've used it for both of 'em."