tracks.
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1.StopJealous Lies – Ray Price 02:35
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2.StopIf You're Ever Lonely Darling – Ray Price 02:34
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3.StopWeary Blues (From Waiting) – Ray Price 03:00
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4.StopTalk to Your Heart – Ray Price 02:43
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5.StopRelease Me – Ray Price 02:42
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6.StopI'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) – Ray Price 02:28
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7.StopCrazy Arms – Ray Price 02:32
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8.StopYou Done Me Wrong – Ray Price 02:24
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9.StopWasted Words – Ray Price 02:41
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10.StopI've Got a New Heartache – Ray Price 02:43
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11.StopMy Shoes Keep Walking Back to You – Ray Price 02:35
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12.StopCurtain in the Window – Ray Price 02:33
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13.StopInvitation to the Blues – Ray Price 02:49
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14.StopCity Lights – Ray Price 02:58
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15.StopHeartaches by the Number – Ray Price 02:59
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16.StopThe Same Ole Me – Ray Price 02:44
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17.StopOne More Time – Ray Price 02:47
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18.StopI Wish I Could Fall in Love Today – Ray Price 02:40
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19.StopHeart Over Mind – Ray Price 02:43
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20.StopSoft Rain – Ray Price 02:45
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21.StopSan Antonio Rose – Ray Price 03:21
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22.StopI've Just Destroyed the World (I'm Living In) – Ray Price 02:22
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23.StopPride – Ray Price 02:37
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24.StopWalk Me to the Door – Ray Price 03:07
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25.StopNight Life – Ray Price 04:46
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26.StopMake the World Go Away – Ray Price 02:34
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27.StopBurning Memories – Ray Price 02:31
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28.StopThe Other Woman – Ray Price 02:59
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29.StopDon't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me – Ray Price 02:47
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30.StopA Way to Survive – Ray Price 03:02
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31.StopI'm Still Not Over You – Ray Price 04:02
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32.StopI Let My Mind Wander – Ray Price 02:37
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33.StopDanny Boy – Ray Price 05:00
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34.StopShe Wears My Ring – Ray Price 03:18
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35.StopYou Wouldn't Know Love – Ray Price 02:56
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36.StopFor the Good Times – Ray Price 03:49
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37.StopI Won't Mention It Again – Ray Price 03:41
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38.StopI'd Rather Be Sorry – Ray Price 02:48
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39.StopYou're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me – Ray Price 03:50
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40.StopFaded Love – Willie Nelson, Ray Price 03:47
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, Rovi
- Genre: Religious, Country
- Category Country Gospel, Country-Pop, Traditional Country, Honky Tonk, Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan
- Label: SONY
- Release Date: May 29, 2007
- Artist: Price Ray [1]