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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I can see the sadness in your eyes knowing that I'm going to leave
If I told you the reason you'd never understand cause the truth you never could see
So I'm goin' back to the country roads back where the tall corn grows
Back where the stream is running free
Back where the air is clear back where I can hear the whippoorwills sing me to sleep
I've enjoyed the sweetness of your smile
And your soft touch that warms me when I'm cold
If you want me you can find me look down that country road
I'll be walking and looking for my soul
So I'm goin' back...
The whippoorwills sing me to sleep