Price, born in Perryville, Texas, served with the U.S. Marines from 1944–1946, and began singing for KRBC in Abilene, Texas during 1948. He joined the Big D Jamboree in Dallas in 1949. He relocated to Nashville in the early 1950s, rooming for a brief time with Hank Williams. When Williams died, Price managed his band, the Drifting Cowboys, and had minor success. He was the first artist to have a success with the song "Release Me" (1954), a top five popular music hit for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967.
In 1953, Price formed his band, the Cherokee Cowboys. Among its members during the late 1950s and early 1960s were; Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Darrell McCall, Van Howard, Johnny Paycheck and Johnny Bush, Buddy Emmons, Pete Wade, Jan Kurtis, Shorty Lavender and Buddy Spicher. Miller wrote one of Ray Price's classics in 1958, "Invitation to the Blues", and sang harmony on the recording. Additionally, Nelson composed the Ray Price song "Night Life".
Price became one of the stalwarts of 1950s honky tonk music, with hit songs such as "Talk To Your Heart" (1952) and "Release Me". He later developed the famous "Ray Price Shuffle," a 4/4 arrangement of honky tonk music with a walking bassline, which can be heard on "Crazy Arms" (1956) and many of his other recordings from the late 1950s.
During the 1960s, Ray experimented increasingly with the so-called Nashville sound, singing slow ballads and utilizing lush arrangements of strings and backing singers. Examples include his 1967 rendition of "Danny Boy", and "For the Good Times" in 1970 which was Price's first country music chart No. 1 hit since "The Same Old Me" in 1959. Written by Kris Kristofferson, the song also scored No. 11 on the popular music chart and featured a mellower Price backed by sophisticated musical sounds, quite in contrast to the honky tonk sounds Price had pioneered two decades before. Price had three more No. 1 country music successes during 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 music chart through 1989. Later, he sang gospel music and recorded such songs as "Amazing Grace", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "Farther Along" and "Rock of Ages."
In 2006, Price was living near Mount Pleasant, Texas and still performing in concerts throughout the country. In 2009, Price made two performances for the Fox News show Huckabee. The first was with the Cherokee Cowboys and host Mike Huckabee, and he performed "Crazy Arms" and "Heartaches By The Number". Weeks later he performed with the Cherokee Cowboys and Willie Nelson (again with Huckabee playing bass guitar). This time they performed duets of "Faded Love" and "Crazy."
Price worked on his latest album, Last of the Breed, with fellow country music singers Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. This album was released on March 20, 2007 by the company Lost Highway Records. 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 was Price's third album with Nelson and first album with Haggard. After the tour, Haggard remarked, "I told Willie when it was over, 'That old man gave us a goddamn singing lesson.' He really did. He just sang so good. He sat there with the mic against his chest. And me and Willie are all over the microphone trying to find it, and he found it."
On November 6, 2012, Ray Price confirmed that he was fighting pancreatic cancer. Price told the San Antonio Express-News that he had been receiving chemotherapy for the past six months. An alternative to the chemo would have been surgery that involved removing the pancreas along with portions of the stomach and liver, which would have meant a long recovery and stay in a nursing home. Said Price, "That's not very much an option for me. God knows I want to live as long as I can but I don't want to live like that." The 87-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer also told the newspaper, "The doctor said that every man will get cancer if he lives to be old enough. I don't know why I got it – I ain't old!" Price retained a positive outlook and hoped to play as many as a hundred concert dates in 2013.
As of early February 2013, the cancer appeared to be in remission. Sometime in May 2013, Price was hospitalized with severe dehydration. On December 2, 2013, Price entered a Tyler, Texas, hospital in the final stages of pancreatic cancer, according to his son, then left on December 12 for home hospice care. Price died at his home in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, on December 16, 2013.
Amazing Grace
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Ray Price's rendition of the classic hymn "Amazing Grace" is an intense and introspective song that encourages those who listen to it to take their troubles and concerns to God in prayer. The lyrics of the song describe the immense privilege that believers have in having a friend in Jesus who takes on all of their sins and sorrows. The song shows how often people forfeit the peace that comes with having faith in God and how they bear unnecessary pain because they refuse to entrust their problems to Him. The message of the song is clear- believers ought to take their trials and temptations to God and find solace and comfort in the fact that Jesus knows their every weakness and shares their every sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
What a friend we have in Jesus,
Jesus is an amazing friend that is always there to help us
All our sins and griefs to bear!
Jesus is willing to carry all of our sins and sorrows
What a privilege to carry
It is a privilege to be able to bring everything to God in prayer
Everything to God in prayer!
We can bring everything to God and ask for help through prayer
O what peace we often forfeit,
We often give up our peace by not asking God for help
O what needless pain we bear,
We endure pain unnecessarily because we don't ask God for help
All because we do not carry
We suffer needlessly because we fail to bring our troubles to God
Everything to God in prayer.
We can find peace and relief by asking God for help
Have we trials and temptations?
Do we face difficult situations and feel tempted to give up?
Is there trouble anywhere?
Is there any problem that we are facing?
We should never be discouraged;
We should stay positive and hopeful through our difficulties
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
We should bring all of our problems to God and ask for help
Can we find a friend so faithful
Is there anyone else who would be as faithful as Jesus?
Who will all our sorrows share?
Who can we turn to that will be there for us during our difficult times?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Jesus understands all of our weaknesses and struggles
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
We should bring everything to God and ask for help
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: .TRADITIONAL TRADITIONAL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
jd450lh
Thanks for uploading the rest of the album...it is greatly appreciated!
God Bless,
Jeff :-)
jeriw
+jd450lh You're most welcome Jeff. Enjoy them all. I especially enjoyed "Didn't He", I had never heard that one before.