Born to poor sharecroppers, one of eleven children in Sledge, Mississippi, Pride is a timeless everyman, revered by his musical peers and adored by countless millions of fans around the globe. Charley Pride unofficially started his music career in the late 1950s as a ballplayer with the Negro American League’s Memphis Red Sox singing and playing guitar on the team bus between ballparks. Self-taught on a guitar bought at the age 14 from Sears Roebuck, Pride would join various bands' onstage as he and the team roved the country. After a tryout with the New York Mets, Pride decided to return to his Montana home via Nashville. It was there he met Jack Johnson, who upon hearing the singer perform, sent him on his way with the promise of a management contract and a newly forged relationship that would last for over a decade.
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She grew up in the backwood country found her dreams in movie magazines
Now she's gone looking for her castle what chance is there for a poor boy like me
City lights oh you took my darling and the love that she promised me
After wine and big city parties what chance is there for a poor boy like me
Sold my house to Raverend Smith last Sunday left my farm with Abraham McGee
Had to go and rescue my darling from the life like your city folks lead
I found her dressed in fancy silks and satin spending money like it grew on trees
Living high in a big white mansion what chance is there for a poor boy like me
What chance is there for a poor boy like me