Songs for a Sunday - 25.10.09

He was one of 11 children born to poor sharecroppers in Mississippi in 1938, and began his singing career in the 1950s.  He taught himself to play the guitar at a young age and subsequently toured with various bands around the United States during the 50s and 60s.  A chance meeting with musician Jack Johnson finally put him on the road to stardom.  He scored his first American number one in 1969 with 'All I Have to Offer You' and went on to score more than 36 American number ones country singles(unfortunately, he has never charted in the UK).  He is about to embark on a tour of Northern Ireland, beginning with an appearance at Belfast's Waterfront Hall in November.

This week's offering hit number 4 in the US country chart.  For me, it always evokes images of the Kurt Russell 1997 thriller Breakdown.  Russell's character is desperately looking for his wife whom he believes to have been kidnapped.  He enters a remote Arizona diner trying to get information on her whereabouts.  The look of sheer anxiety on his face and the consequential fraught atmosphere in the diner contrast brilliantly with the slow, calming lyrics and melodies of this tune playing in the background.

Ladies and gentlemen, from October 1978, I give you Charley Pride singing 'Burgers and Fries.'