THE SNAKES CRAWL AT NIGHT by CHARLEY PRIDE

THE SNAKES CRAWL AT NIGHT by Charley Pride
1966 written by Mel Tillis

Charley Pride From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charley Frank Pride (born March 18, 1938) is a country music artist. During his career, he has had thirty-six number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. He was one of the few African-American country musicians to have considerable success in the largely white country music industry.
While he was still trying to make it in baseball, Pride had heard much encouragement to join the music business from country stars such as Red Sovine and Red Foley. Soon, he was working towards this career. In 1958, in Memphis, Tennessee, Pride visited Sun Studios and recorded some songs.[4] One song has survived on tape, and has been released in the United Kingdom as part of an LP-box. The song is a slow stroll in walking tempo called "Walkin' (the Stroll)." [5]
After struggling to get a contract with a record company, he finally caught the ear of record producer Chet Atkins. Atkins was the longtime producer of RCA Records, and made stars out of country singers like Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis and others. Pride was signed to RCA in 1966. In 1966, he released his first single with RCA, "Snakes Crawl at Night". When the song was promoted to radio stations, the label called Pride "Country Charley Pride". At this time, country music was a white medium.
Soon after the release of "Snakes Crawl at Night", Pride released another single called "Before I Met You". Soon after, Pride's third single, "Just Between You and Me", was released. This song was what finally brought Pride success on the Country charts. The song reached #9.