Charley Pride - “Burgers and Fries”
Several decades before the coming of Cowboy Troy and the stillborn “hick-hop” non-phenomenon, Charley Pride sold millions of records to the largely conservative, lily-white country audience by presenting as safe an image and as traditional and palatable a sound as possible. Maybe he wasn’t exactly a real-life Don “No Soul” Simmons, but at end of the day his race likely didn’t make a difference whatever: He was a great singer, a serviceable entertainer and he consistently worked with top-notch material. The Rick Astley-in-reverse effect of folks being astonished at the color of his skin after hearing him sing quickly lost its novelty.
“Burgers and Fries” was one of Pride’s late-seventies hits, and it encapsulates his work perfectly: it’s impeccably performed, naggingly catchy, and relentlessly all-American.
