Charlie Pride Documentary Shows His Montana Ties

I didn't realize country legend Charlie Pride had a Montana backstory.

Pretty cool to learn he even spent a little time in Missoula.

The PBS series "American Masters" features Charlie's story in an episode that debuted this weekend - from his early days, to breaking the color barrier in Nashville, to selling millions of records.

He thought baseball would be his way out of the cotton fields but music eventually led him to fame.

Did you know Pride spent three weeks playing baseball for the Missoula Timberjacks in 1960 before moving to Helena?  Pretty cool!  His dreams of making music his career took him to Great Falls so he could be closer to flights as his career began to take shape.

See his early years and rise to fame in “American Masters – Charley Pride: I’m Just Me”.  It debuted Friday on Montana PBS and is now available for streaming.