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.
The Last Letter
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What have I done that has made you so different and cold
Sometimes I wonder if you'll be contented again
Will you be happy when you are withered and old
I cannot offer you diamonds or mansions so fine
I cannot buy you the clothes that your young body crave
But if you'll say that you long to forever be mine
When you grow weary and tired of another's caress
When you are lonely remember this letter my own
But don't try to answer for there's one thing I'll have to confess
If you don't love me I wish you would leave me alone
The lyrics to Ray Price's song "Last Letter" speak of a love that is in turmoil. The singer is addressing their lover and expressing confusion and hurt over the way they are being treated. The first two lines, "Why do you treat me as if I was only a friend / What have I done that has made you so different and cold," showcase the singer's confusion and hurt. They are questioning why their lover is treating them as if they are just a friend and wondering what they could have possibly done to cause this change in their demeanor.
The singer then goes on to express their love for their partner, but also their limitations. They cannot offer them material possessions, but they are offering them their heart. They plead with their partner to consider a future together, expressing that if they commit to each other, they will save themselves from "heartaches," "sorrow," and "teardrops."
The final stanza is a heart-wrenching confession of sorts. The singer is acknowledging that their partner may grow tired of someone else and become lonely again. In that moment of loneliness, the singer wants their lover to remember them, but not to try to respond to the letter. They end on the bittersweet note of declaring that if their lover doesn't love them, they wish for them to leave them alone.
Line by Line Meaning
Why do you treat me as if I was only a friend
I feel like our connection is not as strong anymore and I am questioning why you are treating me differently
What have I done that has made you so different and cold
I am confused about what caused this change in our relationship and why you are behaving differently towards me
Sometimes I wonder if you'll be contented again
I am concerned if you will find happiness again in our relationship or if I am not enough for you
Will you be happy when you are withered and old
I am questioning if you will regret leaving me when you are old and have no one to share your life with
I cannot offer you diamonds or mansions so fine
I may not be able to give you materialistic things, but I can give you love and devotion
I cannot buy you the clothes that your young body crave
I may not be able to fulfill all your materialistic desires, but I can fulfill your emotional needs
But if you'll say that you long to forever be mine
If you choose to be with me forever, I will promise to love and cherish you till the end
Think of the heartaches the sorrow the teardrops you'll save
Together, we can avoid the pain and hurt of being lonely and unhappy, and instead have a happy and fulfilling life together
When you grow weary and tired of another's caress
In the future, if you ever feel dissatisfied with another person's love, remember me and my love for you
When you are lonely remember this letter my own
If you ever feel lonely, I hope this letter can remind you that there is someone who cares about you deeply
But don't try to answer for there's one thing I'll have to confess
I understand that you may not have the answer I'm looking for, but there is something I need to confess
If you don't love me I wish you would leave me alone
If you do not reciprocate my feelings, I would rather you end things and give me closure instead of leading me on
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: REX GRIFFIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind