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 Tenn-o-see       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,   There ain't no money in it, it'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 a-pickin' out 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 only 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   Well, I know there's a lotta 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