Neal McCoy makes sure mentor gets his due

February 20, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

From one pretty cool old joker to another is what country singer Neal McCoy was thinking about when last year he released “Pride: A Tribute to Charley Pride.”

“It was about a year ago when I started working on the project,” said McCoy, calling from “God’s country” (Longview, Texas). “I didn’t have a record label. Nobody was interested in signing me but I wanted to put something out there for my fans.

“You know, Charley is a guy who has done everything for me in my career. And he’s not getting any younger and I’m not getting any younger. I love him and I just wanted to put out an album in honor of Charley Pride, just a real labor of love. I was hoping I’d get his blessing and he’d like it and sure enough he loved it.”

The 11-track “Pride: A Tribute to Charley Pride” finds McCoy joined by guests Darius Rucker, Raul Malo and Trace Adkins on various classic tracks from country music’s biggest-selling African-American artist.

During the ’70s and ’80s he scored nearly 40 No. 1 hits, but in the decades that passed Pride has somewhat fallen into obscurity.

“When you talk about old school, the Willies and Waylons and Conways, Charlie’s name isn’t thrown around as much as theirs,” McCoy said. “And in reality, he’s just as talented, just as great an entertainer and is still doing it. He’s still popular but I think he gets overlooked. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to do this album.”

Another reason McCoy wanted to record the album was to say thanks to the artist who single-handedly launched his career. A former shoe salesman, McCoy won a country music singing contest in 1981 that led to meeting Pride. Soon McCoy would be opening for the legend around the globe.

By 1990, McCoy had his own record deal and within a few years he scored No. 1 hits “No Doubt About It” and “Wink,” which undoubtedly he’ll be singing Saturday at his show at the Dusty Armadillo. In fact, McCoy said the set list could be all over the place and include plenty of surprises.

“Oh man, we’re doing a little bit of everything,” McCoy said. “Our shows are wide open. It depends on the audience. I don’t have a set list, so I just kind of feel it every night. Our shows are potluck. There is no rhyme or reason. There will be some old or new Neal McCoy stuff in there and then we’ll do anything from Justin Timberlake to Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad.”

That’s when the conversation comes to a screeching halt. Justin Timberlake? What is McCoy thinking?

“‘Suit & Tie,’ for sure, man, I just love that song,” said McCoy, who impromptu sings a few lines of the pop song for good measure. “I’m a music lover, and I love kind of R&B and pop. That song just grabs you. It’s fun. It feels good. And I understand it may not be country but it’s OK. There are a lot of people coming over and listening to country from other formats. There are a lot of kids there who like country but also like other things.

“And if you can hit them in the face with something like that, they’ll say, ‘Oh shoot, this old joker is pretty cool.’”