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.
You Took My Happy Away
Ray Price Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You'll have to go leave me lonely and my lonely just won't go away
I told you I told you I'm sorry my sorry gets bigger each day
With you in my arms I'd be happy but you took my happy away
You must know by now how I need you but you treat my need you so wrong
You must know by now how I love you so don't wait till my love you is gone
I told you I told you I'm sorry...
The lyrics to Ray Price's song You Took My Happy Away speak of a feeling of loss and loneliness after the end of a relationship. The singer speaks of experiencing happiness when they were with their partner, but since they have left, the happiness has been taken away. The feeling of loneliness seems to have taken over, and despite apologizing for whatever may have led to the other person's leaving, the emptiness remains.
The singer continues to plead, expressing how much they need the other person, but their needs have been treated poorly. They express their love for the other person, urging them not to wait until it's too late to recognize it.
The song overall conveys a feeling of heartbreak and the difficulty that comes with letting go of a past relationship. This feeling is universal and speaks to the experiences of many people who have gone through similar situations.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was with you I was happy but you took my happy away
Being with you brought me happiness, but now that you're gone, my happiness has disappeared.
You'll have to go leave me lonely and my lonely just won't go away
If you choose to leave me, I'll be left feeling lonely, and that feeling will linger.
I told you I told you I'm sorry my sorry gets bigger each day
I've expressed my regret to you before, but with time, it only grows stronger.
With you in my arms I'd be happy but you took my happy away
Having you close to me used to bring me joy, but now that you're gone, that joy has been taken from me.
You must know by now how I need you but you treat my need you so wrong
I've made it clear how much I rely on you, yet you continue to mistreat me and our relationship.
You must know by now how I love you so don't wait till my love you is gone
My love for you is strong, but if you don't treat me better, it may eventually disappear.
I told you I told you I'm sorry...
I've apologized to you before, and my remorse remains.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: NELSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Johnny stricklin
Best country voice and band of all-time even up til his death at 87.Out sing all these young singers of today in myo
caseyboy132003
This is just killer country music!! The steel guitar is just sooooo fine!!!
wot342
I saw Ray in Ft. Worth at Panther Hall Ballroom the time he introduced the album. You could have a pin drop and it was a full house as usual when he appeared there.
Neeraj Kumar Dabgotra
Beautiful and painful in 2020