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There was a previous Ray Price compilation on Columbia/Legacy, The Essential Ray Price: 1951-1962, with an almost identical title to this 2007 release. This one is an entirely different anthology, however; not only is it merely titled The Essential Ray Price, but it's considerably bigger and its chronological span is much wider, as the two-CD, 40-track set covers material from 1950 to 1980. An astonishing 31 of these recordings were Top Ten country hits, which alone makes it a valuable summary of Price's most well known music. Of more importance, however, is how it charts Price's artistic journey from a fairly raw honky-tonker to one of country's most popular country-pop crooners. Hard country fans, of course, will be most impressed by the honky tonk sides (especially on disc one, all of which was cut in 1950-1961), and those who know Price primarily for smoothies like "For the Good Times" (which is on disc two, of course) will be surprised by the relatively hard-kicking tracks from his early years (including huge hits like "Heartaches by the Number" and "Crazy Arms"). There's a mixed blessing to a Price comp that covers thirty years, though; for all the success of his later work, there's no denying that it helped paved the way for bland countrypolitan, particularly when he started piling on strings and vocal choruses. Even in those years, however, he was recording songs by top composers like Willie Nelson, Hank Cochran, the team of Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant, and (on his 1970 smashes "For the Good Times" and "I'd Rather Be Sorry") Kris Kristofferson. The Essential Ray Price: 1951-1962 is probably essential enough for those who prefer to remember Price in his honky-tonkiest days, but this two-disc anthology gives a more complete view of why he was a country music giant, without sacrificing much from the early years in which he was truest to his roots.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - L. FRIZZELL, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1951. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - Hiriam Williams, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1951. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - C.M. Bradley, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - L. Ulrich, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1952. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - E. Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - D. Williams, Composer, Lyricist - R. Yount, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1953. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Composer, Lyricist, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - Rusty Gabbard, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1954. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Charles Seals, Composer, Lyricist - R. Mooney, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally released 1956. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - R. Price, Composer, Lyricist - S.Jones, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally released 1956. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - D. Gibson, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1956. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - W. WALKER, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1956. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - L. Ross, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - B. Wills, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1957. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - L. Ross, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1958. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - R.Miller, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1958. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - B. Anderson, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1958. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - H. Howard, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1959. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - F. Owen, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1959. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - M. Tillis, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1960. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - H. Howard, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1960. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - GREGG GELLER, Producer - Don Meehan, Engineer - Mel Tillis, Composer, Lyricist
Originally Released 1961. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - R. Price, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Grady Martin, Producer
Originally released 1961. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
DISC 2
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - B. Wills, Composer, Lyricist - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1961. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - Willie Nelson, Composer, Lyricist - Frank Jones, Producer - R. Price, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1962. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - W. WALKER, Composer, Lyricist - I. Stanton, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
(P) Originally Released 1962. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - C. Twitty, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1964. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Willie Nelson, Composer, Lyricist - P. Buskirk, Composer, Lyricist - W. Breedland, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1963. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Hank Cochran, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1963. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - M. Tillis, Composer, Lyricist - W. WALKER, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1964. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - D. Rollins, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally released 1965. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - H. Cochran, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally released 1965. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - H. Cochran, Composer, Lyricist - M. Carpenter, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1966. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Willie Nelson, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer - Frank Jones, Producer
Originally Released 1967. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - Willie Nelson, Composer - Frank Jones, Producer - W., Lyricist
Originally released 1967. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. (P) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Frederic Edward Weatherly, Composer, Lyricist - Cam Mullins, Arranger - Grady Martin, Conductor - Don Law, Co-Producer - Frank Jones, Co-Producer
Originally released 1967. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Felice Bryant, Composer, Lyricist - Boudleaux Bryant, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1968. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - H. Cochran, Composer, Lyricist - D. KIRBY, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally Released 1969. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - K. Kristofferson, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1970. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - C. Mullins, Composer, Lyricist - C. J. Yates, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - Don Law, Producer - K. Kristofferson, Composer, Lyricist
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Sony Music Entertainment
Ray Price, Associated Performer, Main Artist - J. Weatherly, Composer, Lyricist - Don Law, Producer
(P) 1973, 2007 Sony Music Entertainment
Willie Nelson, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer - Ray Price, Associated Performer - Willie Nelson with Ray Price, Associated Performer - B. Wills, Composer, Lyricist - J. L. Wills, Composer, Lyricist - Jody Payne, Guitar - Grady Martin, Guitar - Buddy Emmons, Steel Guitar - Paul English, Drums - Moises Calderon, Keyboards - Bee Spears, Bass - Chris Ethridge, Bass - Johny Gimble, Fiddle - Mickey Raphael, Harmonica
(P) 1980 Sony Music Entertainment
Album review
There was a previous Ray Price compilation on Columbia/Legacy, The Essential Ray Price: 1951-1962, with an almost identical title to this 2007 release. This one is an entirely different anthology, however; not only is it merely titled The Essential Ray Price, but it's considerably bigger and its chronological span is much wider, as the two-CD, 40-track set covers material from 1950 to 1980. An astonishing 31 of these recordings were Top Ten country hits, which alone makes it a valuable summary of Price's most well known music. Of more importance, however, is how it charts Price's artistic journey from a fairly raw honky-tonker to one of country's most popular country-pop crooners. Hard country fans, of course, will be most impressed by the honky tonk sides (especially on disc one, all of which was cut in 1950-1961), and those who know Price primarily for smoothies like "For the Good Times" (which is on disc two, of course) will be surprised by the relatively hard-kicking tracks from his early years (including huge hits like "Heartaches by the Number" and "Crazy Arms"). There's a mixed blessing to a Price comp that covers thirty years, though; for all the success of his later work, there's no denying that it helped paved the way for bland countrypolitan, particularly when he started piling on strings and vocal choruses. Even in those years, however, he was recording songs by top composers like Willie Nelson, Hank Cochran, the team of Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant, and (on his 1970 smashes "For the Good Times" and "I'd Rather Be Sorry") Kris Kristofferson. The Essential Ray Price: 1951-1962 is probably essential enough for those who prefer to remember Price in his honky-tonkiest days, but this two-disc anthology gives a more complete view of why he was a country music giant, without sacrificing much from the early years in which he was truest to his roots.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 40 track(s)
- Total length: 01:58:41
- Main artists: Ray Price
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Columbia - Legacy
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
(P) 2007 Sony Music Entertainment
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