Endlessly: A Tribute to Brook Benton

Brimming with vintage country, R & B and pop music sounds, this long-lost, retro-sonic homage to legendary singer/songwriter Brook Benton clearly demonstrates that Charley Pride’s versatility as an artist extended well beyond the confines of country music.

Unlike Pride’s prior RCA Records catalog which was largely recorded by Nashville “A-Team” musicians operating within Music City’s lucrative assembly-line studio system, these Brook Benton tribute recording sessions all took place in Pride’s adopted home base of Dallas, TX. And as good fortune would have it, they feature an impressive array of world-class musicians who proudly called North Texas home during the mid-1980s, including legendary bassist Chuck Rainey (Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones), drummer/percussionist Gene Glover (Ricardo Arjona), jazz pianist Fred Crane (Al Belletto, Johnnie Mercer, Al Hirt, Doc Severinsen), guitarist Jerry Matheny (LeAnn Rimes) and Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame inductee Billy Briggs Jr. (Bob Wills) on sax.

Pride’s co-producer, engineer Bob Pickering (Nitzinger, Thunder, Bloodrock), also charted some lush string arrangements for the project that were tracked by a first-rate ensemble of orchestral strings led by violinist, conductor and music educator Anshel Brusilow (Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, New Orleans Symphony).

Previously lost and then rediscovered in 2017, the original multi-track masters were mixed and mastered under the late Bob Pickering’s supervision following Pride’s death. Other than digitally transferring, mixing and mastering the original performances, virtually no other post-production has been applied--no instrumentation has been added and no trendy artificial intelligence has been used to modify or enhance Charley’s vocals or the recordings in any way.