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.
Pride
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're out with a different party almost every night
And you're making me look like a crazy fool
So why do I have these doubts about leaving you
Because my heart tells me stay but my pride tells me go
But how can I leave you when I love you so
Which way should I turn I'd sure like to know
I'd be so much better off to drive you from my mind
And make you the memories that I'd like to leave behind
I know that these heartaches are what you will put me through
So why do I have these doubts about leaving you
Because my heart tells me stay
But my pride tells me go
So how can I leave you when I love you so
Which way should I turn I'd sure like to know
My heart tells me stay but my pride tells me go
The lyrics in Ray Price's song Pride tell the story of a person torn between love and pride. The singer is in a relationship with someone who is behaving badly, going out with different people every night and making the singer look like a "crazy fool." However, despite knowing that their partner's actions are wrong, the singer is struggling with the decision of whether or not to leave them. The heart tells them to stay because they still love the person, but their pride is telling them to go.
This internal conflict is unfamiliar to anyone who has been in a relationship where they are torn between their emotions and their self-respect. The singer acknowledges the negative emotions and heartache that their partner has caused, but still finds it difficult to leave. The lyrics suggest that, while our emotions may be telling us to stay, sometimes it is necessary to listen to our pride and walk away from a situation that is not healthy.
Line by Line Meaning
You know that you're doing lots of things that ain't right
You are aware of the wrong things that you are doing
You're out with a different party almost every night
You are going out with different people almost every night
And you're making me look like a crazy fool
Your actions are making me look foolish
So why do I have these doubts about leaving you
I am uncertain about leaving you
Because my heart tells me stay but my pride tells me go
My emotions contradict each other, my heart wants to stay but my pride wants to leave
But how can I leave you when I love you so
It is difficult to leave someone you love
Which way should I turn I'd sure like to know
I am unsure of what to do
My heart tells me stay but my pride tells me go
My emotions are still conflicting
I'd be so much better off to drive you from my mind
It would be better for me to forget you
And make you the memories that I'd like to leave behind
I want to remember you differently
I know that these heartaches are what you will put me through
I am aware that leaving you will cause me pain
So why do I have these doubts about leaving you
I am still uncertain about leaving you
Because my heart tells me stay
My heart still wants to stay
But my pride tells me go
But my pride is still telling me to leave
So how can I leave you when I love you so
It is difficult to leave someone you love
Which way should I turn I'd sure like to know
I am still unsure which decision to make
My heart tells me stay but my pride tells me go
My emotions are still conflicting
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Irene Stanton, Wayne P. Walker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind