Today: Ray Price is 87

Ray Price has covered — and kicked up — as much musical turf as any country singer of the postwar era. He’s been lionized as the man who saved hard country when Nashville went pop, and vilified as the man who went pop when hard country was starting to call its own name with pride.
~Dan Cooper (allmusic.com)

For The Good Times:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Ray Price
Also known as The Cherokee Cowboy
Born January 12, 1926 (age 87)
Origin Perryville, Texas, U.S.
Genres Country, Western swing
Occupations Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Years active 1948–present
Associated acts Johnny Bush, Merle Haggard, Rosetta Tharpe, Harlan Howard, George Jones, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Johnny Paycheck

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”, “Crazy Arms”, “Heartaches by the Number”, “City Lights”, “My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You”, “For the Good Times”, “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.

….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…..

ray price & hank williams

Heartaches by the number:

Industry Awards:

Academy of Country Music

  • 1970 Album of the Year – “For The Good Times”
  • 1970 Single of the Year – “For The Good Times”

Country Music Association

  • 1971 Album of the Year – “I Won’t Mention It Again”

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

  • Inducted in 1996

Grammy Awards

  • 1971 Best Male Country Vocal Performance – “For The Good Times”
  • 2008 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Willie Nelson – “Lost Highway”

Album of the day:

The Essential Ray Price (1951-1962) – (1991)

album-the-essential-ray-price-1951-1962

@Spotify:

More January 12:

  • All Shook Up” is a song recorded (January 12 1957) by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music and composed by Otis Blackwell. Elvis Presley’s single topped the U.S. Pop chart on April 13, 1957, staying there for eight weeks. It also topped the R&B chart for four weeks, becoming Presley’s second single to do so, and peaked at #3 on the country chart. It is certified 2X Platinum by the RIAA. It was ranked #352 onRolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
  • Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972) known by his stage name; Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an AmericanHill country blues singer and guitar player.
  • Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974), better known as Tex Ritter, was an Americancountry music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting (son John and grandson Jason). He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
  • Ruth Brown (January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as “So Long”, “Teardrops from My Eyes” and “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean”. For these contributions, Atlantic became known as “The house that Ruth built” (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).
  • Blixa Bargeld (born Hans Christian Emmerich on 12 January 1959) is a composer, author, actor, singer, musician, performer and lecturer in a number of artistic fields. He is best known for his studio work and tours with the groups Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

-Egil