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.
Gone
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't let the moonlight shine across the lonely hill
Dry up the raindrops then hold back the sun the world has ended my baby's gone
I'll wake up sometime in the night and realize you're gone
I toss and turn and stare at darkness waiting for the dawn
I try to tell my lonely heart we'll make it all alone
But still the world has ended my baby's gone
Don't let the moonlight shine across the lonely hill
Dry up the raindrops push back the dawn the world has ended my baby's gone
Don't they know the world has ended my baby's gone
The lyrics to Ray Price's song "Gone" are heart-wrenchingly emotive, laying bare the raw pain and devastation that comes with the loss of a loved one. The opening lines, "Hold back the rushing minutes, make the wind stand still, don't let the moonlight shine across the lonely hill", set the tone for the entire song, calling upon the forces of nature to stop time and prevent the world from moving on without the singer's loved one.
The second verse continues in a similarly mournful vein, with the singer struggling to come to terms with the fact that their partner is no longer with them. They describe how they lie awake at night, watching the hours tick by and trying to convince themselves that they can make it through the pain alone. But ultimately, they succumb to the overwhelming grief of their loss, declaring that "the world has ended" now that their baby is gone.
The final verse reiterates the previous pleas for time to stand still and the world to acknowledge the devastation of the singer's loss. The repetition of the line "Don't they know the world has ended, my baby's gone" hammers home just how earth-shattering this loss is for the singer, and leaves the listener with a sense of the enormity of their pain.
Overall, "Gone" is a powerful and poignant testament to the devastating impact of losing a loved one, and Ray Price's sensitive delivery of the lyrics only adds to the emotional impact of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold back the rushing minutes make the wind stand still
I wish time could stop because my heart can't handle reality
Don't let the moonlight shine across the lonely hill
I don't want to see beauty or light without you here beside me
Dry up the raindrops then hold back the sun the world has ended my baby's gone
Nothing else matters, the world as I knew it has fallen apart with the loss of my love
I'll wake up sometime in the night and realize you're gone
I can't escape the truth, even in my sleep I can't help but remember your absence
I toss and turn and stare at darkness waiting for the dawn
I can't rest, my mind is consumed with thoughts of you and our separation
I try to tell my lonely heart we'll make it all alone
I attempt to convince myself that I can survive and heal from this heartbreak, but it's a struggle
But still the world has ended my baby's gone
Despite my efforts to remain strong, your departure has left me feeling like everything is lost
Don't they know the world has ended my baby's gone
It feels like no one around me understands the depth of my sorrow and how utterly changed my life is without you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HAZEL MARIE HOUSER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Károlyné Szépvölgyi
Köszönöm ezt a csodálatos dalt, nagyon tetszett.
Üdvözlettel Budapestről Klára Szépvölgyi
David Cosley
Hi,
Do you know which Ray Price album this song was on? I've been trying to find it.
Thanks :)
jeriw
David Cosley, I researched it and the only place I can find it recorded is the Bear Family 10 CD publication called "Ray Price - The Honky Tonk Years (1950- 1966)", it's pretty pricey even used. I have have it. It also comes with a very large book that includes all kinds of info and photos. If you can find it for under $100 for the 10 CDs and the Book, even used, it's probably a good deal as long as everything is in good condition. There are several songs on that 10 CD set that was never put on an album.
David Cosley
@jeriw thanks for checking. I like his version the best.
jeriw
@David Cosley You're most welcome. And I do like Ray's version.