Ray Price (musician)
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| Ray Price | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ray Price |
| Also known as | The Cherokee Cowboy |
| Born | January 12, 1926 |
| Origin | Perryville, Texas, USA |
| Genre(s) | Country Music Western Swing |
| Occupation(s) | Singer Songwriter Guitarist |
| Years active | 1948 – Present |
| Associated acts | Johnny Bush, Merle Haggard, Harlan Howard, George Jones, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Johnny PayCheck |
| Website | www.raypricefanclub.net |
| Members | |
| Country Music Hall of Fame Grand Ole Opry |
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Ray Price (born January 12, 1926 in Perryville, Texas) is an American country and western singer/songwriter/guitarist. Some of his more famous songs include "Release Me", "Crazy Arms", "Heartaches By the Number", "City Lights", "My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You", "For The Good Times", "I Won't Mention It Again", "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me", and "Danny Boy." He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996.
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[edit] 1940s-50s success
Price served in the Marines, 1944-1946, and began singing on KRBC in Abilene, Texas in 1948. He joined the "Big D Jamboree" in Dallas in 1949. He hit Nashville in the early 1950s, rooming for a short time with Hank Williams. When Williams died, Price took over his band, the Drifting Cowboys, and had minor success. He was the first artist to have a hit with "Release Me" (1954), a top five pop hit for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967.
Price became one of the stalwarts of the grinding, honky-tonk music that became even more popular in the early 1950s with such singers as Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Webb Pierce and others. Price developed the famous "Ray Price Shuffle Beat" (the 4/4 shuffle) that is heard on "Crazy Arms," which served as the beat for many honky-tonk classics since then.
In 1953, Price formed his famous band, the Cherokee Cowboys. Among its members in the late 1950s and early 1960s were Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Johnny Paycheck, and Johnny Bush. In fact, Miller wrote one of Ray Price's classics in 1958, "Invitation to the Blues," and sang harmony on the recording. In addition, Nelson penned the Ray Price classic "Night Life."
Besides his numerous country hits, Ray Price also was a favorite of pop music fans for his 1967 hit "Danny Boy" and "For the Good Times" in 1970.
[edit] Later career
Price's first #1 hit since "The Same Old Me" in 1959 was "For The Good Times" in 1970. Written by Kris Kristofferson, the song also made it to #11 on the pop chart and featured a more mellow Price backed up by sophisticated musical sounds, quite the opposite from the honky-tonk sounds Price pioneered two decades before. Price had three more #1 country hits in the 1970s, "I Won't Mention It Again", "She's Got To Be A Saint", and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me." His final top-ten hit was "Diamonds In The Stars" in early 1982. Price continued to have songs on the country chart through 1989. Today he is singing gospel music and has recorded such songs as "Amazing Grace", "What A Friend We Have in Jesus", "Farther Along" and "Rock of Ages" [1].
In 2006, Price was living near Mount Pleasant, Texas and still performing in concerts throughout the country.
Ray Price worked on a his latest album entitled Last of the Breed with fellow country music legends Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. This album was released on March 20, 2007 on the Lost Highway Records label. The two-disc set features 20 country classics as well as a pair of new compositions. The trio toured the U.S. from March 9 until March 25 starting in Arizona and finishing in Illinois. This is Price's third album with Willie Nelson and first album with Merle Haggard.
[edit] Discography
| Year | Title | US Country | US | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Sings Heart Songs | Columbia | ||
| 1958 | Talk To Your Heart | Columbia | ||
| 1960 | Faith | Columbia | ||
| 1961 | Greatest Hits | Columbia | ||
| 1962 | San Antonio Rose | Columbia | ||
| 1963 | Night Life | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1964 | Love Life | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1965 | Burning Memories | 8 | Columbia | |
| 1965 | Western Strings | 18 | Columbia | |
| 1965 | The Other Woman | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1966 | The Same Old Me | Columbia | ||
| 1966 | Another Bridge To Burn | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | Touch My Heart | 1 | 129 | Columbia |
| 1967 | Greatest Hits 2 | 17 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | Danny Boy | 3 | 106 | Columbia |
| 1968 | Take Me As I Am | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1968 | She Wears My Ring | 6 | Columbia | |
| 1969 | Sweetheart Of The Year | 37 | Columbia | |
| 1969 | Christmas Album | Columbia | ||
| 1969 | You Wouldn't Know Love | 12 | Columbia | |
| 1970 | The World | 18 | Columbia | |
| 1970 | For The Good Times | 1 | 28 | Columbia |
| 1970 | Make The World Go Away | Columbia | ||
| 1971 | I Won't Mention It Again | 1 | 49 | Columbia |
| 1971 | Welcome To My World | 21 | 146 | Columbia |
| 1972 | All Time Greatest Hits | 7 | 165 | Columbia |
| 1972 | The Lonesomest Lonesome | 3 | 145 | Columbia |
| 1973 | She's Got To Be A Saint | 4 | 161 | Columbia |
| 1974 | You're The Best Thing | 24 | Columbia | |
| 1974 | This Time Lord | Myrrh | ||
| 1975 | Like Old Times Again | 7 | Myrrh | |
| 1975 | If You Ever Change Your Mind | 33 | Columbia | |
| 1975 | Say I Do | 29 | Dot | |
| 1976 | Rainbows And Tears | 45 | Dot | |
| 1976 | Hank'N Me | 42 | Dot | |
| 1976 | The Best | 25 | Columbia | |
| 1976 | Precious Memories | Word | ||
| 1977 | Reunited | 47 | Dot | |
| 1977 | Help Me | Columbia | ||
| 1978 | How Great Thou Art | Word | ||
| 1979 | There's Always Me | Monument | ||
| 1980 | San Antonio Rose with Willie Nelson | 3 | 70 | Columbia |
| 1981 | Tribute To Willie and Kris | 59 | Columbia | |
| 1981 | Town And Country | 17 | Dimension | |
| 1982 | Somewhere In Texas | Dimension | ||
| 1982 | Master Of The Art | 48 | Warner Brothers | |
| 1986 | Welcome To Ray Price Country | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Portrait Of A Singer | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Greatest Hits 1 | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Greatest Hits 2 | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Greatest Hits 3 | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Revival Of Old Time Singing | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Heart Of Country Music | Step One | ||
| 1986 | Christmas Gift For You | Step One | ||
| 1987 | Just Enough Love | 64 | Step One | |
| 1988 | By Request | Step One | ||
| 1990 | Memories That Last with Faron Young | Step One | ||
| 1990 | Hall Of Fame Series | Step One | ||
| 2000 | Prisoner Of Love | Justice | ||
| 2002 | Time | Audium | ||
| 2007 | Last Of The Breed with Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson | 7 | Lost Highway |
[edit] Singles Discography
| Year | Title | US Country | US | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Run Boy | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1956 | Crazy Arms | 1 | 27 | Columbia |
| 1956 | You Done Me Wrong | 7 | Columbia | |
| 1956 | I've Got A New Heartache | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1956 | Wasted Words | 4 | Columbia | |
| 1957 | I'll Be There (When You Get Lonely) | 12 | Columbia | |
| 1957 | My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You | 1 | 63 | Columbia |
| 1958 | Curtain In The Window | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1958 | City Lights | 1 | 71 | Columbia |
| 1958 | Invitation To The Blues | 3 | 92 | Columbia |
| 1958 | That's What It's Like To Be Lonesome | 7 | Columbia | |
| 1959 | Heartaches By The Number | 2 | Columbia | |
| 1959 | Same Old Me | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1960 | One More Time | 2 | Columbia | |
| 1960 | Wish I Could Fall In Love Today | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1961 | Heart Over Mind | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1961 | 24th Hour | 13 | Columbia | |
| 1961 | Under Your Spell Again | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1961 | Soft Rain | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1962 | I've Just Destroyed The World (I'm Living In) | 12 | Columbia | |
| 1962 | Pride | 5 | Columbia | |
| 1962 | Walk Me To The Door | 7 | Columbia | |
| 1962 | You Took Her Off My Hands | 11 | Columbia | |
| 1963 | Make The World Go Away | 2 | 100 | Columbia |
| 1964 | Burning Memories | 2 | Columbia | |
| 1964 | That's All That Matters | 34 | Columbia | |
| 1964 | Please Talk To My Heart | 7 | Columbia | |
| 1964 | Thing Called Sadness | 38 | Columbia | |
| 1965 | Other Woman (In My Life) | 2 | Columbia | |
| 1965 | Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me) | 11 | Columbia | |
| 1966 | I'm Not Crazy Yet | 28 | Columbia | |
| 1966 | Touch My Heart | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | Danny Boy | 9 | 60 | Columbia |
| 1967 | Crazy | 73 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | Way To Survive | 7 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | I'm Still Not Over You | 6 | Columbia | |
| 1967 | Take Me As I Am (Or Let Me Go) | 8 | Columbia | |
| 1968 | Night Life | 28 | Columbia | |
| 1968 | She Wears My Ring | 6 | Columbia | |
| 1969 | Sweetheart Of The Year | 11 | Columbia | |
| 1969 | April's Fool | 14 | Columbia | |
| 1969 | You Wouldn't Know Love | 8 | Columbia | |
| 1970 | For The Good Times | 1 | 11 | Columbia |
| 1970 | Grazin' In Greener Pastures | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1971 | I Won't Mention It Again | 1 | 42 | Columbia |
| 1971 | I'd Rather Be Sorry | 2 | 70 | Columbia |
| 1972 | Lonesomest Lonesome | 2 | Columbia | |
| 1972 | She's Got To Be A Saint | 1 | Columbia | |
| 1973 | You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me | 1 | 82 | Columbia |
| 1975 | If You Ever Change Your Mind | 31 | Columbia | |
| 1976 | Mansion On The Hill | 14 | ABC/DOT | |
| 1978 | Feet | 19 | Monument | |
| 1979 | There's Always Me | 30 | Monument | |
| 1979 | That's The Only Way To Say Good Mornin' | 18 | Monument | |
| 1979 | Misty Morning Rain | 43 | Monument | |
| 1980 | Faded Love with Willie Nelson | 3 | Columbia | |
| 1982 | Somewhere In Texas | 55 | Dimension | |
| 1982 | San Antonio Rose | 70 | Viva | |
| 1984 | Better Class Of Loser | 73 | Viva | |
| 1986 | Five Fingers | 67 | Step One | |
| 1986 | You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You | 60 | Step One | |
| 1986 | All The Way | 73 | Step One | |
| 1986 | When You Gave Your Love To Me | 55 | Step One | |
| 1987 | Just Enough Love | 52 | Step One | |
| 1988 | Don't The Morning Always Come Too Soon | 55 | Step One |
[edit] References
- Cooper, Daniel. (1998). "Ray Price." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 422-23. lpdiscography.com
[edit] See also
- List of country musicians
- Country Music Association
- Academy of Country Music
- Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame (1996 Inductee)
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ray Price |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | The Cherokee Cowboy |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Country Music Artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 12, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Perryville, Texas, United States of America |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
