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.
If She Could See Me Now
Ray Price Lyrics
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I smiled and said hello like we were still old friends
Don't pitty me it never matter anyhow but oh if she could see me now
If she could see me now when the night life's gone
I'd sat I really looked without my party face on
The way I just give up sit down and cry out loud but oh if she could see me now
And no one sees the hurt that's deep inside of me
I drink too much and say who wants her anyhow but oh if she could see me now
If she could see me now...
The lyrics of Ray Price's song "If She Could See Me Now" depict a man who appears to be happy and content on the surface, but is actually filled with pain and longing for a lost love. He runs into the person he loved and lost, and greets them with a smile and friendly hello as if nothing has changed. He doesn't want pity because it never mattered, but he can't help but wonder what she would think if she could see him now.
The singer of the song seems to have a double life, where he is the life of the party on the outside but broken and hurting on the inside. He describes himself as the first to arrive and the last to leave every party, drinking too much and pretending that he doesn't care about his lost love. However, he knows that if she could see him in private, she would see the person behind the party mask who is struggling to keep it together.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw the one I loved and lost last night again
I saw my former love last night and felt strong emotions.
I smiled and said hello like we were still old friends
I greeted my former love with a friendly smile.
Don't pitty me it never matter anyhow but oh if she could see me now
I don't want anyone's sympathy, as it won't make a difference. However, if my former love could see me now, things would be different.
If she could see me now when the night life's gone
If my former love could see me now when I'm alone at night, without the distraction of partying.
I'd sat I really looked without my party face on
I would admit that without the façade of partying, I am vulnerable.
The way I just give up sit down and cry out loud but oh if she could see me now
I would reveal that sometimes I feel overwhelmed and cry, but things would be different if my former love witnessed this.
I'm first at every party and the last to leave
I always arrive early and stay until the very end of every party.
And no one sees the hurt that's deep inside of me
Despite my outgoing and sociable persona, no one knows the depth of my emotional pain.
I drink too much and say who wants her anyhow but oh if she could see me now
I drink excessively and pretend that I don't want my former love, but things would be different if she saw me now.
If she could see me now...
Overall, if my former love could see me now, she would see a different side of me and how I truly feel.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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