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 Go Home Like This
Ray Price Lyrics
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I'm spent down to my last whole dollar
Too late now to gripe and holler
'Cause I can't go home like this
My tongue gets so heavy when I try to talk
My legs turn to jelly when I try to walk
It's closing time but I'll have to balk
Well my baby told me when I left home
She said I'll give you your last warning
You better be home by a quarter to eight
And I don't mean tomorrow morning
My eyes are red my head's in a spin
Look what an awful shape I'm in
I done slipped up and I've done it again
I can't go home like this
Well my baby told me when I left home
She said I'll give you your last warning
You better be home by a quarter to eight
And I don't mean tomorrow morning
Well my eyes are red my head is in a spin
Look what an awful shape I'm in
I done slipped up and I've done it again
I can't go home like this
I'm as loose as a goose and high as a kite
Ain't it a shame ain't I a sight
I guess I'll have to sleep in the attic tonight
'Cause I can't go home like this
Ray Price's song I Can't Run Away from Myself talks about the difficult reality of trying to forget a love that has left. The song begins with the singer recounting how he left town the very night his lover left him, thinking that he could forget her if he was far enough away from her. However, he soon realizes that miles cannot do anything to change how much he still feels for her. Even though he tries to run away from his old life and friends, as well as the thoughts of her, he discovers that he cannot escape from himself.
The song is a poignant tale of heartbreak that many people can relate to. No matter how hard one tries, they cannot escape their own thoughts and emotions. The lyrics are meaningful and deeply emotional, as the singer laments the pain he still feels, even though he has tried to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
I ran away from friends that we once knew...
After you left me, I thought it would be easier to leave town, including the people we knew, in hopes of forgetting you, but I knew deep down it was impossible.
I tried to run from thoughts of losing you...
I attempted to escape the idea of losing you by physically leaving, but my mind still dwells on the possibility of losing you forever.
But you're still a part of me and so I see
You will always be a part of me, and as a result, I can't help but see your influence in everything that I do.
That miles can't change a thing for me
No matter how far away I go, physically distancing myself from you, it doesn't change the fact that I still carry you with me wherever I am.
But I can't run away from myself
Ultimately, I can't escape from myself and the feelings that come with loving you, and that is the hardest thing to face.
It makes no difference just how far I'd go
I've realized that no matter how far away I go, the memories of you will continue to haunt me, making it impossible to forget you.
Your memory will always haunt me so
Your memory is so ingrained in me that it will always have an impact on me, causing me to remember you and the love we shared.
I realize the truth now since I left
After leaving and trying to forget about you, I have finally come to the realization that my emotions and feelings for you can't be ignored or dismissed.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Nellie Wallace Boles, Phil D. Wallace
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind