People pay attention to lyrics, and the race matter was delicate.

It was unlikely that anyone had ever heard a black person sing country music.

No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and blacks another - I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.

I was sometimes jeered by black soldiers who wanted me to sing something besides country music.

I learned to tune a guitar by ear. That method has served me pretty well.

There were no guarantees that country music, whose roots were in the South, were ready for Charley Pride.

I finally came to terms with manic depression and lithium. I've taken lithium regularly for the past few years and have had no further bouts with manic depression.