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.
Loving Her Was Easier
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aching with the feeling of the freedom of an eagle when she flies
Turning on the world, the way she smiled upon my soul as I lay dying
Healing as the colors in the sunshine and the shadows of her eyes
Loving her was easier than anything I'll ever do again
Coming close together
With a feeling that I'd never known before in my time
I don't know the answer to the easy way she opened every door in my mind
But dreaming was as easy as believing it was never gonna end
Loving her was easier than anything I'll ever do again
Waking in the morning to the feeling of her fingers on my skin
Wiping out the traces of the people and the places that I"ve been
Teaching me that yesterday was something that I never thought of trying
Talking of tomorrow and the money, love and time we had to spend
The lyrics of Ray Price's song Loving Her Was Easier describe the singer's deep love for a woman who has brought him a sense of freedom and healing. The song opens with a vivid image of the morning sun on a mountain, a symbol of the beauty and power of nature that the woman embodies. The singer feels as though he is dying, but her smile brings him comfort and healing like the colors in the sunshine and shadows of her eyes. The experience of loving her is presented as something that cannot be replicated or surpassed, a feeling that is more intense and meaningful than anything he has experienced before.
The second verse speaks to the woman's strength and independence, and the way that her openness and warmth have helped to unlock the singer's mind and heart. He is struck by the ease with which she opens doors in his mind, and how natural and effortless it feels to be in her presence. The idea of dreaming and believing in this love is presented as a way of escaping the limitations and mundanity of ordinary life, a way of transcending the difficulties and pain that the singer has experienced in the past.
The final verse focuses on the intimacy and tenderness that the singer shares with the woman in the present moment. She has a calming influence on him, wiping away the traces of his past and helping him to focus on the present and the future. He feels a sense of hope and possibility with her, a sense that they have all the time, money, and love in the world to explore and enjoy together. The song ends on a bittersweet note, with the recognition that this experience of loving her may never be repeated, but that it will always remain a cherished memory.
Line by Line Meaning
I have seen the morning burning golden on the mountain in the skies
I have witnessed the majestic sight of the sun rising over the mountaintops and filling the sky with a radiant golden hue
Aching with the feeling of the freedom of an eagle when she flies
My heart yearns to experience the liberating sensation of soaring through the air like an eagle in flight
Turning on the world, the way she smiled upon my soul as I lay dying
When I was at my lowest point, her radiant smile illuminated my soul and gave me the strength to live on
Healing as the colors in the sunshine and the shadows of her eyes
Being with her brought me a sense of peace and restored my spirit, much like the vibrant hues of the sun and the soft shadows cast by her eyes
Loving her was easier than anything I'll ever do again
The love I shared with her was so effortless and natural that I don't think I'll ever experience it again in the same way
Coming close together
Whenever we were close to each other, we felt an undeniable connection that transcended the physical realm
With a feeling that I'd never known before in my time
Her presence made me experience emotions that I had never felt before, making me feel alive in a way that I never had before
She ain't ashamed to be a woman or afraid to be a friend
She is comfortable in her own skin and is not afraid to embrace her femininity while also being a great friend to me
I don't know the answer to the easy way she opened every door in my mind
I'm not sure how she was able to enter into my thoughts so effortlessly and without any barriers, opening up every part of my mind
But dreaming was as easy as believing it was never gonna end
Whenever I dreamed of our future together, it felt like it was an inevitable reality that would never end
Waking in the morning to the feeling of her fingers on my skin
The sensation of her touch on my skin as I woke up in the morning filled me with a sense of comfort and contentment
Wiping out the traces of the people and the places that I've been
Being with her made me forget about my past and all the people and places I had known before, as if they were irrelevant to my current happiness
Teaching me that yesterday was something that I never thought of trying
She showed me that dwelling on the past and trying to change it was a futile effort, and that it was better to focus on the present and future instead
Talking of tomorrow and the money, love and time we had to spend
Our conversations revolved around our plans for the future, the resources we had to accomplish them, and the love and time we had to share with each other
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kris Kristofferson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind