Ray Price |
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Mon. May 01.2000 8:46 AM EDT |
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Ray Price Poised For ComebackCountry legend who earned his spurs the hard way tries another route: pop. |
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Ray Price's Prisoner of Love is due May 16. ( ) |
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New York Times Syndicate Throughout his 50-year career, Texas-born singer Ray Price has been viewed as a maverick, often vilified for opening doors that eventually broadened the appeal of country
But in 1957, when Price crossed over from country to the pop charts via the #1 hit "Crazy Arms," some bigwigs in Nashville branded him a traitor and showered him with criticism. "They would spit on me as I was walking into a show," said the 75-year-old singer, who was born in the East Texas town of Perryville and lives in Mount Pleasant. "They claimed that I had deserted country music." Price offended purists by using drums on one of his records — which, at that point, was unheard of in country. The industry insiders balked. Price's experimentation with drums and percussion, however, eventually led to the invention of the 4/4 shuffle beat, now a country-music staple that's often referred to as the "Ray Price beat.'' In the '60s, when Price ditched his cowboy garb and started glazing his songs with string arrangements, the industry turned up its nose again. But then Price scored a # 1 hit with a string-laden version of Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times,'' setting a precedent for the mingling of strings and steel, which is now a Nashville norm. So it shouldn't really surprise anyone that Price is still doing things a little differently. Label Looking For A Comeback His forthcoming disc is not a country effort at all. Rather, Prisoner of Love, due May 16 on the Buddha/Justice record label, is a collection of pop songs: covers, standards and Price favorites (and a lone new track) coated in strings and orchestra arrangements, big-band style. It's his first so-called pop album. "But it's really not that different than what I've been doing for years,'' said Price, who has more than two dozen top-10 singles, a good chunk of which went to # 1. "The songs are different, the music really isn't.'' Prisoner, on which the velvet-voiced singer performs interminable tracks such as "What a Wonderful World," "Fly Me to the Moon'' and "Better Class of Losers,'' as well as the Beatles' "In My Life,'' was produced by Randall Jamail, an in-demand studio whiz whose credits include Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestrations were configured by renowned arranger David Campbell, father of pop bohemian Beck. Judging from the muscle and money that Buddha/Justice has sunk into Prisoner, the label's undoubtedly hoping that Price will follow in the footsteps of another comeback success story, George Jones, whose career was revived last year. Jones took home a Grammy in February for his song "Choices,'' which won in the Country Male Vocal category. But Price's expectations for the new record are modest. "I just hope my fans like it,'' he said. "At the very least, it's something a little more refreshing than what's coming out of Nashville these days.'' Always On The Fringes Price speaks freely, and often angrily, about Nashville and the current state of country music. On stage at the South by Southwest music-industry conference in March, Price criticized country radio stations for not playing material from performers over age 45; he also trashed cookie-cutter acts. "The industry thinks you gotta be a young stud that appeals to the girls sexually,'' Price said. "It worked for a while, but it doesn't seem to be working now. People are tired of having 'em crammed down their throats. Very few stars made it, but the industry made tons. I don't even listen to the radio anymore. I don't want to be punished, so I don't listen. That's self-abuse. I'm against that.'' Price has had a stormy relationship with Nashville throughout his career, stemming from the days when he wouldn't conform. He has the Grand Ole Opry and Hank Williams — who pushed Price to perform at the Opry — to thank for giving him air time even though he didn't have a record deal. But even after scoring with 23 top-10 hits, he left Nashville, frustrated by the country-music industry's inability to understand or accept the artistic direction he wanted to take. It was at that point, in the late '60s, that Price started tinkering with smooth, orchestrated sounds. Thus, when most country singers were going for a harder, rawer vibe, Price was seen as going soft. He was a martini to everyone else's shot of whiskey. "I was just trying to make my songs sound prettier,'' he says. Much to the industry's surprise, four of Price's orchestral-country songs went # 1, starting a stampede of imitators. Even though the sound faded in the '70s, Price has stuck to his symphonic guns — he still tours with a mini-orchestra. "My fans still want that,'' he said. "And they have never deserted me. At my age, that's a blessing from God.'' — Malcolm Mayhew |
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