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

Ray Price
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews) More about this product

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Frequently Bought Together

The Essential Ray Price (1951-1962) + Vintage Collections + The Essential Hank Snow
Price For All Three: $21.95

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  • This item: The Essential Ray Price (1951-1962) ~ Ray Price

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  • Vintage Collections ~ Hank Thompson

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  • The Essential Hank Snow ~ Hank Snow

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (February 1, 2008)
  • Original Release Date: 1991
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: SBME SPECIAL MKTS.
  • ASIN: B0012GMV8U
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,920 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Listen to Samples

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1. If You're Ever Lonely Darling
2. Road of No Return
3. Turn to Your Heart
4. Move on in and Stay
5. I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)
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. Same Old Me
18. One More Time
19. Heart Over Mind
20. Pride

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Before moving to the greener pastures of string-heavy countrypolitan, Price was a challenger for the honky-tonk crown. These 20 songs marvelously outline the rapid development of Price's emerging style. His 1951 debut, Lefty Frizzell's "If You're Ever Lonely Darling," finds Price emulating Frizzell's sweet delivery, while two ballads from the following year show Price firmly in Hank Williams territory. By 1953, his voice matured into a booming force, balancing the early sweetness with a hint of spice and a new vigor. The defining moment came in 1956 with the release of "Crazy Arms" and the unveiling of the Western swing-influenced "Ray Price Shuffle." From that point, Price would consistently feature this smooth and steady beat, even covering Bob Wills's "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You." --Marc Greilsamer

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Collection of 50's Honky Tonk, April 15, 1999
Don't buy this collection if you're looking for "For the Good Times" and the other "Nashville Sound" productions Ray Price put out in the late sixties and early seventies. However, if you like hard-core honky tonk out of the 1950's, this is a must. The collection takes you from Ray's earliest work (in which he sounds remarkably like Hank Williams) to the string of hits he had after quickly developing his own unique brand. His voice was clear, the arrangments and harmonies oustanding, and the songwriting top-knotch, coming from the likes of Mel Tillis, Roger Miller, Harlan Howard, Lefty Frizzel, Bob Wills, and Bill Anderson. Fear not, these are not re-records but the originals of "Heartaches by the Number", "Please Release Me", "Crazy Arms", "City Lights", and many others. Outstanding!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars It will consume you!, March 1, 2002
By A Customer
The first half of this album reminds me of more classic honky-tonk, Hank Williams-ish voice and musical vibe. It's good, notably "I'll Be There" and "Release Me". To my taste, though, from "Wasted Words" on to the end of the record there isn't a bad note on this album; this is chronologically later material, with a more evolved sound, stellar pedal steel guitar playing (some, if not all of which is probably the great Buddy Emmons), Ray's voice is fantastic, the cuts are beautifully put together, not overdone, and it'll have you screaming, singing, and crying. This is music for whoopin' it up, or for bourbon and heartbreak. One of my desert-island discs, truly. Night Life, also Ray Price, is another absolutely fantastic record.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars serious honky tonk, March 16, 2002
By T. Jackson "TJ" (north carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
if you want a disk that defines honky tonk after hank williams, this is a great place to start. every tune is outstanding. i guess ray price in these years is about as good as it gets. the steel doesn't just whine, it bleeds. and the fiddles cut in just the way they ought to. then there's ray's really superior voice, and then there are those HARMONIES. the best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars My Opinion
This was a big diasppointment to me. I donated it to the public library. It was not what I expected of a man with a marvelous voice.
Published 4 months ago by RC

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome country singer
unfortunately there are not many singers coming out to sing like Ray Price does. new generation singers are more interested in money than singing real country music
Published 14 months ago by Jessie Rhynes

5.0 out of 5 stars only 3 classic singers left on this planet
When I first heard Ray I thought he was schmaltzy you know music for old people. Since I am old now I realize what an anthem he is for classic country music. Read more
Published 14 months ago by David C. Engdahl

4.0 out of 5 stars So Much To Choose From
Ray Price, born January 12, 1926 in Perryville, Texas, and a U.S. Marine from 1944 to 1946, delivered no less than 70 hit singles for Columbia from 1952 to 1982, and added another... Read more
Published 21 months ago

3.0 out of 5 stars THE ESSENTIAL RAY PRICE
I was looking for a cd with all of his great songs spanning the decades of his career. This compilation begins with his early days when he sounds exactly like Hank Williams. Read more
Published on April 10, 2007

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential
This is essential country music. The "Ray Price Shuffle" sound has been copied by thousands of country artists all over the world and for one very good reason; it sounds... Read more
Published on April 8, 2007 by Anthony S. Prowse

5.0 out of 5 stars Ray Price: Country Music Giant
No country music fan should be without this disc. This is Ray Price's early best. It is all here! That classic ache in his voice makes us feel heartache and "Crazy Arms" is one... Read more
Published on January 11, 2007 by Wayne Choma

5.0 out of 5 stars Where's the 6th Star?
Yeah, I'd give this one 6 stars if I could. Ray Price invented the honky tonk sound, and this album clearly documents the development in wonderful progression. Read more
Published on January 3, 2007 by D. Pitts

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW--great honky tonk!
This is easily one of the greatest honky tonk CDs available. Why we can't we hear this fanatastic music today? If you want twangy, moaning honky tonk, this is it. Read more
Published on October 3, 2006 by James L. Bumbalo

5.0 out of 5 stars A legend
How can you ever attempt a collection of only 20 songs from such a legend as Ray Price???? Well, this CD does just that, and although there will always be other songs that maybe... Read more
Published on January 11, 2006 by Jess

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