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’m Just Me
Down at the railroad station there’s people getting off
Some are going north, some are going south
I’m just going to be gone
Some people are born to be takers,
Others just want to give
Some people live just to love
I just love to live
(Chorus)
Oh I was born to be exactly what you see
Nothing more or less, in other words for the best
I just try to be exactly what you see
Today and every day, I’m just me
When people say that life is rough
I wonder compared to what
Some are wanting more
And more are getting less
I just want what I got
Some want to live on a hill
Others down by the sea
Some want to live inside my walls
I just want to live free
(Repeat chorus)