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.
Sittin' and Thinkin'
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But when I'm drinkin' I am nobody's friend
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
I know the same thing has happened before
And everytime it does I hate it more and more
But when I'm drinkin' I am nobody's friend
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
Sittin' and just thinkin' bout you
We'd still have the love that we once knew
Oh I won't promise that it won't happen again
But I can promise it'll be a long long time till then
Cause when I'm drinkin' I am nobody's friend
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
The song "Sittin' and Thinkin'" by Ray Price and The Cherokee Cowboys is about the aftermath of a night filled with drinking and fighting with a loved one. The lyrics capture the feeling of regret and the promise to do better in the future, while acknowledging that it may not be easy. The singer admits that they become a different person when they are drinking, and that person is not a friend to anyone.
Despite the mistakes made and the apologies offered, the singer asks their partner to wait for them. They know that they have hurt their loved one in the past and cannot guarantee it won't happen again, but they are willing to try to make things right. Throughout the song, the singer reflects on their behavior and realizes that if they had spent less time drinking and more time focusing on their relationship, they may not be in this situation.
Overall, "Sittin' and Thinkin'" is a heartfelt plea for forgiveness and a call to action to do better in the future. It captures the struggle many people face when dealing with alcoholism and the impact it can have on relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I got loaded last night on a bottle of gin and I had a fight with my best girl friend
I drank heavily on gin last night and ended up having an argument with my closest female friend.
But when I'm drinkin' I am nobody's friend
I tend to be unfriendly when I am drinking alcohol.
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
I am asking for forgiveness and pleading to my love interest to wait for me until I am released from detention.
I know the same thing has happened before
This is not the first time that something like this has occurred.
And everytime it does I hate it more and more
With each occurrence, I loathe the situation even more.
Sittin' and just thinkin' bout you
I am sitting and reflecting solely on thoughts of you.
If I didn't spend so much time sittin' and drinkin', We'd still have the love that we once knew
If I were not so preoccupied with alcohol and idle behavior, we would still share a healthy romance.
Oh I won't promise that it won't happen again
I am not capable of committing to the assurance that this will not transpire again.
But I can promise it'll be a long long time till then
However, I can pledge that it will not occur again for a significant period of time.
Please baby wait for me until they let me out again
Once more, I implore my love interest to wait for me until I am freed from confinement.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: MUFF WINWOOD, PETER YORK, SPENCER DAVIS, STEVE WINWOOD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@giniagarner3085
Can't NOBODY beat him. He was and always will be the BEST!!!!
@cgtjei
Rest in peace ray you will be missed
May god rest your soul
@jessicaliverett9471
Great thats all.
@sergiosturgeon1
Such a good song! Describes me to a tee.
@ALLOUTWildlife
From the pen of Charlie Rich, who belongs alongside Ray Price in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
@tomforsythe7024
I didn't know that. How is Rich not in the Hall of Fame? Maybe the lighter incident with John Denver?
@ALLOUTWildlife
I doubt it--a lot of country artists have behaved in a less-than-stellar manner when they were imbibing favorite beverages. It's usually forgiven. With Charlie Rich, I think it's more that his music is so hard to pigeonhole, and he could just as easily be called a rock n roll singer, a rockabilly singer, a blues singer, a gospel singer...he could do it all. And do it all better than anyone. VERY underrated. It's a shame he's remembered mostly for "Behind Closed Doors"; he put out a hundred songs better than that one.
@chberry26
@ALL OUT Wildlife Control, LLC more like 1000 songs better than that, and it's not even that bad of a song! I totally get what you're saying about Rich being hard to categorize, but so was Elvis, and he's in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I think the Nashville establishment never really warmed up to Charlie Rich, and he never really felt comfortable as a "Country" singer.
@yukonnoka
Thanx, this is a hard album to find :)
@wikawi50
Superrrrrrrrrrrrrrr