Pride

 Sorry to hear of the death of Charley Pride, the hugely successful country singer who, being black, was something of a rarity in that world. Born to poor share-croppers, he took a little while to find his musical vocation, but once he did, there was no stopping him. Pride was a middle-of-the-country-road artist, with a classic smooth country voice and a penchant for slightly schmalzy ballads, but he could certainly deliver the goods. My favourite song of his is this one – a lovely simple piece, and a demonstration of the poetical and musical power of American place names. As the Likely Lads once remarked, we Brits just don't have the place names for this sort of thing – Twenty-Four Hours from Cleethorpes, By the Time I Get to Peebles...