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.
Each Time
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the blue tide that's rising around my feet is breaking inside my heart
And though I fight with all of my might the burning desire remain
For each time I see your picture I lose my heart again
I hide the frame to shut out the pain then wake up searching the dark
Oh I just can't rest until I caress the cold glass that's holding my heart
I haven't yet learned how to forget and the burning desire remain
The lyrics to Ray Price And The Cherokee Cowboys' song "Each Time" depict the emotional turmoil that the singer goes through every time he sees a picture of his lost love. The singer explains that every time he looks at his lover's photograph, memories come flooding back, and he is overcome with emotion. The metaphor of the rising blue tide around his feet breaking inside his heart implies that he is drowning in a sea of emotions that he cannot control, no matter how hard he tries.
Despite his efforts to move on, the singer is unable to overcome the burning desire he has for his ex-lover. He admits that he hides the picture frame to avoid the pain, but he ultimately wakes up in the dark searching for the very picture that causes him so much heartache. He hasn't yet learned how to forget his ex, and the burning desire remains. The last line of the lyrics, "For each time I see your picture, I lose my heart again," sums up the singer's hopeless situation beautifully.
Line by Line Meaning
Each time I see your picture a flood of memories starts
Every time I come across your picture, my mind is flooded with memories of the past.
And the blue tide that's rising around my feet is breaking inside my heart
The overwhelming emotions that your image triggers inside me is tearing me apart bit by bit.
And though I fight with all of my might the burning desire remain
Despite my best efforts, I cannot help but feel a strong and persistent yearning for you.
For each time I see your picture I lose my heart again
Every time I view your picture, I find myself falling in love with you all over again.
I hide the frame to shut out the pain then wake up searching the dark
To escape the pain of missing you, I sometimes hide your picture frame. Then, in the middle of the night, I wake up and look for it.
Oh I just can't rest until I caress the cold glass that's holding my heart
I cannot find peace or contentment until I hold the frame that contains your picture close to my chest, as if that will bring you closer to me.
I haven't yet learned how to forget and the burning desire remain
I haven't found a way to forget about you, and the intense longing that I feel for you continues to smolder within me.
For each time I see your picture I lose my heart again
One glance at your picture is all it takes for me to lose my heart to you once more.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PRICE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@miltonmoore2527
SOMETIMES IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME TO COMPREHEND THAT A VOICE AS GLORIOUS AND HEART-STIRRING
AS THIS ACTUALLY EVER EXISTED. CERTAINLY
RAY PRICE WAS ONE OF THE IDOLS OF EVERY COUNTRY SINGER THAT EVER HEARD HIS IMMORTAL VOICE. ACTUALLY, HE SANG WITH THE BEAUTY, ELOQUENCE AND POWER OF AN OPERATIC TENOR! THE PEDAL STEEL GUITAR WAS EXEMPLARY, BUT I WISH THE PLAYER HADN'T BACKED OFF HERE AND THERE AND PLAYED STRAIGHT THROUGH. I SUPPOSE THIS IS BY ORDER OF THE ARRANGER. SO OFTEN IN COUNTRY RECORDINGS THE STEEL GOES SILENT WAY TOO LONG FOR MY EARS.
(I WAS SHOCKED TO LEARN THAT YOUR FINE CHANNEL HAS POSTED ONLY
ELEVEN VIDEOS IN THE NINE YEARS OF IT'S EXISTENCE. AND
THOSE FEW VIDEOS WERE POSTED DURING THE FIRST THREE YEARS. SO 2007 WAS THE LAST
YEAR A VIDEO HAS BEEN POSTED. I AM SURE ELATED THAT
THIS VIDEO BY RAY EXISTS, BUT ALSO VERY CURIOUS AS TO WHY SO LITTLE MATERIAL IS HERE.)
RESPECTFULLY
@caseyboy132003
Damn now this is country music!!!!!!!!
@jimfiedler2704
My Mom and Dad were huge Ray Price fans and on Saturday mornings would occasionally call in a song request to a local radio station and dance while it played...Sometimes if I blink real fast thru the tears I can still see them dancing...
@janejenkins7476
I sincerely wish Ray had released this song. It would have been a huge hit.
@lannyfoster4875
I have listen to this song 5 times today because I had never heard Ray sing it before and by darn this may be the greatest song he ever sang. I LOVE THIS SONG and THE WORDS. GREAT RAY
@julieroeters9718
Hard to believe it was never released for air play. Simply masterful!
@johnmurray2214
Possibly the best
@TEXAS.N8V
Mis saludos for the Cherokee cowboy.
What an amazing song that captures every amazing element Ray and the band harnessed!
@lannyfoster4875
Ray was the greatest male country singer of all time!
@michaelcass3482
Ray Price and Buddy Emmons....it don't get no better than that. and to top it off, Ray wrote the song.
@johnbuffington9004
What a combination, Ray Price and the Big E. What a tone, Buddy Emmons had while working with Ray Price. In my opinion, Buddy Emmons defined what a steel guitar should sound like. His touch and tone, often imitated but never duplicated! Thank You, for sharing this most incredible song!