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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Folsom Prison Blues Lyrics

Charley Pride

I hear the train a comin' it's rollin' round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone
When I was just a baby my mama told me son
Always be a good boy don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry
[ guitar ]
I bet there's rich folks eatin' in a fancy dining car
They're prob'ly drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
But I know I had it comin' I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin' and that's what tortures me
But if they freed me from this prison if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison that's where I want to stay
And I'll let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away