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.
Take These Chains From My Heart
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've grown cold and no longer care for me
All my faith in you is gone but the heartaches linger on
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Take these tears from my eyes and let me see just a spark of the love that used to be
If you love somebody new let me find a new love too
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Give my heart just a word of sympathy be as fair to my heart as you can be
Then if you no longer care for the love that's beating there
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
The lyrics to Ray Price’s “Take These Chains from My Heart” depicts a heartbreaking situation where one partner is no longer invested in the relationship. The message is clear- the person singing the song wants to be liberated and freed from the emotional restrains and chains tying them down to an unrequited love. This person has faith in the person they are singing to, but now their faith is gone, and they are searching for salvation from the heartache that still lingers. They implore the other person to set them free, figuratively taking the chains from their heart to allow them to move away from the pain their love has become. It's a plea that is both desperate and resigned, accepting that love is not always requited, and the only way is to move on.
The second half of the song further reveals the singer's desire for freedom, begging the other person to remove the tears from their eyes and allow them to see a little bit of what they used to have. They ask for an ounce of sympathy so at least they can heal from the pain caused by the person they loved. They even go so far as to ask that if the love is no longer there, then they will find someone else to love. The lyrics of this song, with their raw vulnerability and honesty, have touched the hearts of many people who have found themselves in similar situations.
Line by Line Meaning
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
The singer is pleading to be released from an emotional burden or hurt.
You've grown cold and no longer care for me
The singer feels neglected by the person they are addressing.
All my faith in you is gone but the heartaches linger on
The singer has lost trust in the person being addressed but still feels the pain of the relationship.
Take these tears from my eyes and let me see just a spark of the love that used to be
The artist is asking for a glimpse of the affection that was once present.
If you love somebody new let me find a new love too
The artist is implying that if the person they are addressing has moved on, they deserve the same opportunity.
Give my heart just a word of sympathy be as fair to my heart as you can be
The singer is asking for understanding and empathy from the person they are addressing.
Then if you no longer care for the love that's beating there
The singer acknowledges that the person they are addressing may no longer have feelings for them.
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
The artist reiterates their plea for release from emotional pain.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Fred Rose, Hy Heath
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind