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.
I'm Tired
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A lookin' for your face in ever crowd I meet
Searchin' every honky tonk in this town
Tryin' to find the places where you hang around
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
Well I've been waitin' on you baby night and day
A wonderin' if your love will ever come my way
I'm tired of bein' just another hang around
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
There ain't no happiness in anything I do
I found myself so lonely when I'm not with you
What makes you just a kinda girl a guy will love
You've got so many others that you're thinking of
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
In "I'm Tired," Ray Price is expressing his weariness and desperation in his search for an elusive lover. He stands on street corners and goes to every honky-tonk in town in a desperate attempt to find her. He is tired of waiting for her, wondering if she will ever return his love, and tired of being just another one of her many admirers. He feels that there is no happiness in his life without her and questions why she has so many other men in her life.
The lyrics are full of visceral emotions that anyone who has ever loved and lost can relate to. Price's vocal performance conveys his exhaustion and desperation, giving the song a sense of urgency and poignancy. The simple yet effective instrumentation, with its honky-tonk piano and twangy guitars, perfectly complements the theme of the song and the overall tone of weariness and melancholy.
Overall, "I'm Tired" is a heartfelt country ballad that speaks to the universal experience of love and heartbreak. It is a testament to both Ray Price's songwriting and his ability to convey deep emotions through his voice.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I'm standin' on the corner of a busy street
I am standing in the middle of a bustling street corner pondering my predicament
A lookin' for your face in ever crowd I meet
I am searching for your face in every person I meet
Searchin' every honky tonk in this town
I am scouring all the bars in this town
Tryin' to find the places where you hang around
I am attempting to locate the establishments you frequent
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
All this is leaving me are weary and sick of living this way
Well I've been waitin' on you baby night and day
I have been waiting for you consistently, day and night
A wonderin' if your love will ever come my way
I am questioning if I will ever receive your love
But time's runnin' out and I'm a slowin' down
Time is running out, and I am losing steam
I'm tired of bein' just another hang around
I am tired of being another person waiting in the wings
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
All this is leaving me are weary and sick of living this way
There ain't no happiness in anything I do
I find no joy in any of my actions
I found myself so lonely when I'm not with you
I only feel alone when you are not with me
What makes you just a kinda girl a guy will love
What characteristic of yours makes you so desirable to men
You've got so many others that you're thinking of
You have many other people on your mind besides me
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
All this is leaving me are weary and sick of living this way
Oh Lord I'm tired tired of living this a way
All this is leaving me are weary and sick of living this way
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: A. R. PEDDY, MEL TILLIS, RAY PRICE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
jesse
Ray Price has always been my favorite artist of the many who recorded this song. Not only a teriffic dance tune, but a "memorable ballad of life's growing pains". This is also the version with the Cherokee Cowboys: re. Oklahoma's own- Roger Miller singing background. Thanks for the memory, Verycoolsound
fiftiessoundforever
My favourite version!
webbjr37
Ray Doing a good job on Webb Pierce's big hit,Theres a story here
Andrew Whobrey
webbjr37 Ray and Mel Tillis wrote this one!