Biography of Ray Price

Ray Price has always seen music trends ahead of other people and has changed to keep up with current tastes. When he started in 1948, he wore suits of sequins and spangles, and to his credit he could easily back up this image with his great voice. When Hank Williams died, many of his Drifting Cowboys joined Price's Cherokee Cowboys, and Price for a while sang honky-tonk in The Williams vein, and sang it beautifully. In 1952 Price joined the Opry with "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," a recent charter. 1954 began a string of major hits stretching into the 70s -- a few are "Crazy Arms," "City Lights," "Release Me," "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You," "Night Life," and "Heartaches by the Number." All of these are now country standards. In the 60s he set a trend by adding lush orchestration and millions of strings behind his great voice. The hits continued, among them "Make the World Go Away" (1963) and "Burning Memories" a year later. Price recorded Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times," a hit on both the country and pop charts as well as internationally. Whether dressed in a cowboy suit or a business suit, Price made hits. Through the 80s he recorded with good success. Now into the 90s, Price is still in excellent voice, appearing occasionally on TV. ~ David Vinopal