''Charley'' is the twentieth studio album by American country music artist Charley Pride. It was released in May 1975 via RCA Victor Records and was produced by Jack Clement. The record was Pride's twentieth studio album released in his career and contained a total of ten tracks. The album included two singles which became major hits that year on the country chart: "

I Ain't All Bad "I Ain't All Bad" is a song written by Johnny Duncan, and recorded by American country music artist Charley Pride. It was released in March 1975 as the first single from his album ''Charley''. The song peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' H ...

" and " Hope You're Feelin' Me (Like I'm Feelin' You)."

Background and content

Charley Pride had nearly a decade of country music success by 1975. This included a string of number one hits during this period, including " It's Gonna Take a Little Bit Longer," " She's Too Good to Be True" and " A Shoulder to Cry On." As the decade progressed, his music took more country pop style, which included this album release. ''Charley'' was recorded mostly in June 1974 at the RCA Victor Studio, which was located in Nashville, Tennessee. The recording sessions were produced by Jack Clement, Pride's longtime RCA record producer. The album contained a total of ten tracks. It contained a cover version of "She's as Close as I Can Get to Loving You," which was originally a minor hit for Hank Locklin in 1971. It also included "Lovin' Understandin' Man," which was also cut by Don Williams around the same time. The project also contained two tracks written by Johnny Duncan and one track written by Gary Stewart.

Release and reception

''Charley'' was released on RCA Victor Records in May 1975. It was his twentieth studio recording released in his career. The album was originally distributed as a vinyl LP, with five songs on each side of the record. In the 2010s, it was re-released in a digital format to streaming services, such as Apple Music. It spent a total of 20 weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top Country Albums and peaked at number five in September. ''Charley'' contained two singles which became top ten hits that year on the ''Billboard'' country chart. The first was "

," which was issued on RCA Victor in March 1975. The song peaked at number six on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart by June 1975. It also reached number one on the '' RPM'' Country Singles chart in Canada. The second single released off the album was " Hope You're Feelin' Me (Like I'm Feelin' You)," which was issued in July 1975. By October of that year, it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. It also became a top ten hit in Canada. ''Charley'' was only given a rating of two stars from Allmusic.

Track listing

Vinyl version

Digital version

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Charley''. Musical personnel * David Briggs – piano, keyboards * Jimmy Capps – guitar * Johnny Gimble –

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* Lloyd Green –

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Buddy Harman – drums * The Jordanaires – background vocals * Charlie McCoy – harmonica * The Nashville Edition – background vocals * Charley Pride – lead vocals * Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano * Hal Rugg – steel guitar * Dale Sellers – guitar * Jerry Shook – guitar * Bobby Thompson –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, guitar * Tommy Williams – fiddle *

Chip Young Chip Young (born Jerry Marvin Stembridge, May 19, 1938 – December 20, 2014) was an American session guitarist, and later record producer who worked primarily out of Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Chip Young was born Jerry Marvin Stembridge in ...

– guitar Technical personnel * Herb Burnette – art direction * Jack Clement – producer * John Donegan – photography * David Roys – technician * Roy Shockley – technician * Bill Vandevort – engineering

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Albums produced by Jack Clement Charley Pride albums RCA Victor albums