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 Can´t Escape from You
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To find a life that's new
But where I go, I always know
I can't escape from you.
A jug of wine to numb my mind
But what good does it do
The jug runs dry and still I cry
These wasted tears are souvenirs
Of a love I thought was true
Your memory is chained to me
I can't escape from you.
There is no end, I can't pretend
That dreams will soon come true
A slave too long to a heart of stone
I can't escape from you.
The lyrics to Ray Price's song "I Can't Escape from You" convey a sense of intense emotional turmoil and desperation in the face of a failed love affair. The singer has tried repeatedly to move on and build a new life for himself, but despite his best efforts, he cannot seem to shake the memories and feelings he has for his former lover. He has turned to alcohol as a means of numbing the pain, but even that proves futile in the end. The tears he sheds are a testament both to the depth of his love and the sheer hopelessness of his situation. Ultimately, he resigns himself to the fact that he will forever be chained to the memory of this person, unable to escape from their hold over him.
The lyrics of "I Can't Escape from You" are deeply poignant and relatable to anyone who has struggled to move on from a past love. The despairing tone of the song is conveyed through Price's soulful vocals and the mournful, almost haunting melody. The use of imagery such as a jug of wine to numb the pain and wasted tears as souvenirs contributes to the overall sense of hopelessness and loss. The repeated refrain of "I can't escape from you" only serves to underscore the singer's sense of helplessness and emotional entrapment.
Line by Line Meaning
I've tried and tried to run and hide
Despite numerous attempts to avoid thinking about you, your memory is constantly on my mind.
To find a life that's new
I have been trying to move on from the past and start living a new life.
But where I go, I always know
No matter where I go or what I do, I am still haunted by your memory.
I can't escape from you.
I have realized that I cannot escape from the memories and feelings associated with our past love.
A jug of wine to numb my mind
I have been drinking to try and forget about you.
But what good does it do
However, drinking does not seem to provide any relief or help me forget.
The jug runs dry and still I cry
Even after drinking all the wine, I am still filled with sadness and cannot stop crying over you.
These wasted tears are souvenirs
My constant tears are evidence of the love I once had for you which turned out to be a waste.
Of a love I thought was true
I truly believed that the love we shared was real, but it was not meant to be.
Your memory is chained to me
The memories of our love are weighing me down and preventing me from moving on.
I can't escape from you.
I cannot seem to escape the emotional pain associated with our past love, regardless of how hard I try.
There is no end, I can't pretend
I have come to the realization that there is no resolution and I cannot pretend otherwise.
That dreams will soon come true
I used to hold onto the hope that things would work out between us, but I no longer believe that will happen.
A slave too long to a heart of stone
I have been a slave to my emotions for too long, and my pain has hardened my heart.
I can't escape from you.
I am plagued by your memory and cannot escape the pain of our past love.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HANK WILLIAMS SR.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tommckenzie4493
Proper country music & 1 of the music’s finest
@JohnWhite-si4xc
One great classic from the man thanks tom for posting
@lisedubois881
Très bon chanteur et très belle chanson. Merci Tom!
@claytonbrowm3984
This is the Ray I like the best. Straight Country. Guitars and fiddles and no strings
@jeweldotson3891
Ray Price sounding good on this Hank SR. composition, just warming up for his journey to greatness,
@ruthboykin9873
Great oldie from one of the BEST! Thanks Tom!
@raymondbusutill2083
Like hank Williams singing
@BISKUPIA
purest of the pure HILL BILLY MUSIC......AMEN
@TheSkaggs54
I wished Ray Price stuck to making traditional country instead of switching to country pop.
@frankchilds9848
It's a Hank Williams composition.