“I’m Just Me”
Charley Pride
Written by Glenn Martin
Billboard
#1 (4 weeks)
July 31 – August 21, 1971
This song is so personally connected to Charley Pride’s lived experience that it serves as the title of an excellent documentary on his career.
It may be surprising to many that he didn’t write it, because he brings so much emotion to this performance that it feels revelatory, like we’re getting a window into how he maintains his identity and his confidence against the headwinds of racism, none of which he could publicly comment on at the time.
I wonder what it felt like for him to sing this song, as he had access to most of the best things about being a country music superstar but was never allowed to forget he was the other. I think about what it was like to have someone like Willie Nelson call him the n-word and try to spin it as a compliment, or to have someone like George Jones perform a horrifying prank on tour that faked a hate crime for giggles. I even think about how he couldn’t move to Nashville because he knew he couldn’t keep his children safe.
Maybe that’s why his producer finally got everyone out of his way and built this record around what was his best vocal performance yet at the time. The background singers are still there, but they’re pushed back in the mix so Pride’s vocal stays front and center. He pours his heart out, his voice palpable with emotion as he embraces his own identity in a world that won’t let him forget it.
“I’m Just Me” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Seventies
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This feature has convinced me I’m overdue to buy the most expansive Charley Pride hits compilation that I can get my hands on. I’ve heard this song once or twice over the years, but not nearly as much as its quality and the magnitude of its chart success warrants. Other Charley Pride songs from this era have never once been broadcast over my radio dial. I’d heard about the Willie Nelson comment but hadn’t heard about the George Jones “hate crime prank”. That undoubtedly only scratches the surface of what Pride endured as a consequence of his pioneer spirit. His recurrent radio legacy deserves to be at least as comprehensive as that of T.G. Sheppard, but at least on the classic country stations I frequent, it isn’t.
The next album that I add to my collection will be a Charley Pride compilation album, so I guess I’ll be doing whatever small part I can to get his legacy up to where it deserves to be.