Ian Durkacz writes:
>A couple of weeks ago here in Sheffield I heard a local band do a
>great version of 'Crazy Arms' - which song I have been singing to
>myself ever since ...
>
>If that's typical of Ray Price, then it looks like I've got a big
>gap in my record collection, and I'd like to hear more. Can anyone
>recommend to me which of the many 'best of' collections would
>be a good place to start to hear more of his honky tonk sounds.
Price is a titan, alright. He started out - typically of young male
country performers in the first two or three years of the '50s - as kind
of a Hank Williams/Lefty Frizzell wannabe and evolved into one of the
most innovative country artists of his generation. To this day the beat
on "Crazy Arms" is referred to as "a Ray Price shuffle" (which was
actually kind of a Bob Wills shuffle, but that's another story). And -
love 'em or hate 'em - his more schmaltzy post-"Danny Boy" hits of the
'60s and '70s were incredibly popular. Oddly enough, a bit of a career
risk, too, given the vehement reaction of some of his longtime honky tonk
fans to the new approach.
Probably the best single-disc Price collection that I know of is
Sony's 1991 collection "The Essential Ray Price: 1951-1962," which one
can usually find in the U.S. for ten bucks or so. Here's the track
listing:
1. If You're Ever Lonely Darling
2. The Road Of No Return
3. Talk To Your Heart
4. Move On In And Stay
5. I'll Be There
6. Release Me
7. I Can't Go Home Like This
8. You Done Me Wrong
9. Falling Falling Falling
10. Wasted Words
11. Crazy Arms
12. I've Got A New Heartache
13. My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You
14. Invitation To The Blues
15. City Lights
16. Heartaches By The Number
17. The Same Old Me
18. One More Time
19. Heart Over Mind
20. Pride
Also highly recommended: "Night Life" on Koch; a brilliant
late-nite album of booze, lament, lost love, and pure atmosphere. And
"The Other Woman," also on Koch, a fascinating album of songs about
cheatin' and hurtin' featuring a slowed-down shuffle beat. Don't miss
out on either of 'em.
--Jon Johnson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wollaston, Massachusetts
