Charley Pride's 1969 album
In Person is that rare live album that rates right alongside the artist's studio long-players. Recorded at Panther Hall in Fort Worth, TX, it features impeccable sound and captures
Pride at his most genial -- he shows an amazing sense of humor about his unusual status in the country music pecking order -- as well as in excellent voice, as he offers up concert renditions of his own hits ("Just Between You and Me," etc.) as well as classics by
Hank Williams ("Lovesick Blues," "Kaw-Liga"),
Conway Twitty's "The Image of Me," and
Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road," among others, and closes with an extraordinary rendition of "Cotton Fields." His singing is wonderful, his yodeling superb, and the whole vibe of this show is so positive as to make it the perfect introduction to
Pride's work. Indeed, if there is any flaw to this album at all, it's the 28-minute running time, but what's here is so good that it's substantial regardless of the brevity. ~ Bruce Eder