I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died
They said for
the last two weeks
that he suffered and cried
It made a big
impression on me
Although I was a barefoot kid
They said he got religion
at the end
And I'm glad that he did
Clayton was the best
guitar picker in our town
I thought he was a hero
And I used to follow
Clayton around
I often wondered
why Clayton
Who seemed so good to me
Never took his guitar
And made it down
in Tennessee
Well daddy said
he drank a lot
But I could never understand
I knew he used
to pick up in Ohio
with a five-piece band
Clayton used to tell me
Son you better put
that old guitar away
Ain't no money in it
lt'll lead you to
an early grave
I guess if I'd admit it
Clayton taught me
how to drink booze
I can see him half stoned
pickin' up the Lovesick Blues
When Clayton died
I made him a promise
I was gonna carry
on somehow
I'd give a hundred dollars
if he could see me now
I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died
Nobody ever knew it
But I went out in
the woods and I cried
While I know there's
a lot of big preachers
That know a lot more than I do
But it could be that
the good Lord
Likes a little pickin' too
Yeah I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died