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Biography
No footnotes|date=December 2008Infobox musical artist|image= Ray_Price.jpg ||name = Ray Price|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Ray Price|alias = The Cherokee Cowboy|birth_date = Birth date and age|1926|1|12|death_date =|origin = Wood County, Texas|Perryville, Texas , United States|U.S. |instrument =|genre = Country music|Country , Western swing |occupation = Singer , songwriter , guitarist |years_active = 1948& ndash;present|label =|associated_acts = Johnny Bush , Merle Haggard , Rosetta Tharpe , Harlan Howard , George Jones , Roger Miller , Willie Nelson , Johnny Paycheck |website =|current_members =|past_members =|notable_instruments = Ray Price (born January 12, 1926) is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music. His more well-known recordings include " Release Me (1946 song)|Release Me ", " Crazy Arms ", " Heartaches by the Number ", " City Lights (Bill Anderson song)|City Lights ", "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You", " For the Good Times (song)|For the Good Times ", " Nightlife (disambiguation)|Night Life ", " I Won't Mention It Again ", " You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me ", and " Danny Boy ". He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996 and—now in his 80s—continues to record and tour.
Biography
1940s& ndash;50s success
Price, born in Wood County, Texas|Perryville, Texas , served with the U.S. Marines from 1944& ndash;1946, and began singing for KYYW|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 (singer)|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 , Johnny Paycheck and Johnny Bush . 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.
1960& ndash;2000s: Nashville sound to gospel
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. Today he is singing gospel music and has recorded such songs as " Amazing Grace ", " What A Friend We Have In Jesus ", " Farther Along (song)|Farther Along " and " Rock of Ages (Christian hymn)|Rock of Ages " http://hometown.aol.com/diamondgospel/Rock-Of-Ages-Rock-Of-Ages.html.
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 (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.
College tradition
"For The Good Times" is the official song of Company A-1 of the Texas A& M University Corps of Cadets. In the early 1980s, representing their time in the corps, the seniors of A-1 sang the song before their last football game. Company A-1 seniors now sing it before every Texas A& M football game and at important outfit functions, and "For The Good Times" has since become the company motto as well.
Discography
main|Ray Price discography
Industry Awards
Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music|1970 Album of the Year - "For The Good Times"
Academy of Country Music|1970 Single of the Year - "For The Good Times"
Country Music Association
Country Music Association Awards|1971 Album of the Year - "I Won't Mention It Again"
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame|Inducted in 1996
Grammy Awards
Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance|1971 Best Male Country Vocal Performance - "For The Good Times"
Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals|2008 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Willie Nelson - "Lost Highway"
See also
Country Music Association
Academy of Country Music
Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame (1996 Inductee)
References
Cooper, Daniel (1998). - "Ray Price". - The Encyclopedia of Country Music . - Paul Kingsbury, editor. - New York: Oxford University Press. - pp.& nbsp;422–23. - ISBN 978-0-19-517608-7
External links
http://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/full-list-of-inductees/view/ray-price at the Country Music Hall of Fame
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ray-price-p1771 Allmusic Ray Price with Biography, Discography, Charts
Persondata|NAME = Ray Price | |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = The Cherokee Cowboy | |SHORT DESCRIPTION = Country Music Artist | |DATE OF BIRTH = January 12, 1926 | |PLACE OF BIRTH = Perryville, Texas , United States of America | |DATE OF DEATH = | |PLACE OF DEATH = | DEFAULTSORT:Price, Ray Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:People from Wood County, Texas Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:Musicians from Dallas, Texas Category:1926 births Category:Living people Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Gold Star Records artists
