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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Mississippi Cotton Pickin' Delta Town Lyrics

Charley Pride

Mississippi Cotton Pickin’ Delta Town
(Chorus)
In a Mississippi cotton pickin’ delta town
One dusty street to walk up and down
Nothing much to do but hang around
In a Mississippi cotton pickin’ delta town
Down in the delta where I was born
All we raised was cotton, potatoes and corn
I’ve picked cotton ‘til my fingers hurt
Draggin’ a sack through the delta dirt
I’ve worked hard the whole weeklong
Pickin’ my fingers to the blood and bone
Ain’t a lot of money in cotton bale
At least when you try to sell
(Repeat chorus)
On Saturday night, we’d get dressed up
Catch us a ride on a pickup truck
On a gravel road that nearly strangled us
That cotton pickin’ delta dust
We’d sit across the street on the depot porch
Lookin’ at the folks lookin’ back at us
Munchin’ on a dust covered ice cream cone
Wondering how we’d get back home
(Repeat chorus)