Search - Willie Nelson, Ray Price :: San Antonio Rose

Tour de force return to honky tonk

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 07/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When F. Scott Fitzgerald said "there are no second acts in American lives," he clearly didn't anticipate how country music stars could slip away from their roots, chase their commercial fortunes to the pop charts, and return with a vengeance to that which made them famous in the first place. Others may have retransitioned more recently (e.g., Dolly Parton's recent mountain-inspired work), but few have so convincingly demonstrated their early powers to still be intact as did Ray Price with this 1980 release.Having inherited Hank Williams backing band upon Williams' death in 1953, Price bucked Nashville's drift towards pop with hard-edged, drum-fueled, honky-tonk tunes like "Crazy Arms" and minted his iconic 4/4 shuffle beat. Ironically, as his interests expanded to pop balladry, he was both vilified and commercially rewarded for hits like 1970's "For the Good Times."Though he had the occasional chart breakthrough, such as 1977's "Mansion on the Hill," Price's fortunes were trending down through the end of the decade. It was at this point that he reunited with his former bass player, Willie Nelson, and other key members of his earlier backing bands for these sessions, hitting with "Faded Love," and minting a stirring, re-energizing album.Nelson brings his usual eclecticism to bear, from his idiosyncratic phrasing and gut-string guitar picking, to sophisticated, jazzy arrangements of songs like "Night Life" (which Price originally released as a single in 1963). The smoothness of Price's voice, tempered by his years as a crooner, fits surprisingly well with the reedier tone of Nelson.Album highlights include the title track's superb dancehall shuffle (revisiting a Bob Wills song that Price and Nelson had first recorded together in 1961 -- in the same studio!), the weeping steel ballad "Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)," and a a signature take (and a top-5 hit single) of "Faded Love," with haunting fiddle from ex-Texas playboy, Johnny Gimble. Also on board are one-time Price steel player Buddy Emmons, and ace studio players like Grady Martin and Leon Russell.It's hard to imagine this record could have come out any better. The creative union of Nelson and Price plays to all of their strengths, re-energizes songs that both of them had played and recorded over nearly two decades, and provides each an opportunity to bask in the light of their combined success. Columbia Legacy's reissue adds two previously unreleased tracks, the first reprising Price's 1965 recording of "Just Call me Lonesome," the second providing a solo take of Nelson singing the western swing "My Life's Been a Pleasure." Both are good spins, and Rich Kienzle's new liner notes are informative, but it's the original eleven tracks that make this a five-star album.Tech note: the Extended CD Features caused a Windows 2000 laptop to lock-up until the CD was manually ejected, and provided no usable extra features on a Macintosh G3 with MacOS 8.6."

An excuse to revive those golden oldies

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ray Price was a major country star in the fifties, sixties and early seventies. As he began to fade from the charts, Willie Nelson took over. He was at the peak of his career when he recorded this album. It sold well, deservedly so, but did not revitalize Ray's career.



As far as the songs go, they include some of Ray's own country hits such as I'll be there if you ever want me (revived by Gail Davies later in the eighties), Night life (written by Willie, who also wrote Funny how time slips away), Release me (which became an international pop hit via Engelbert Humperdinck's cover), Don't you ever get tired of hurting me (revived by Ronnie Milsap later in the eighties) and Crazy arms. There are covers of three Bob Wills classics, these being San Antonio rose, Deep water and Faded love. Faded love is more generally associated with Patsy Cline, who is also represented by I fall to pieces (and she also recorded San Antonio rose). The two bonus tracks are solo recordings, one by each singer.



So there is nothing new about the songs here, many of which had already been recorded by at least one of the two men previously. The appeal of this album is in the performances, which are outstanding. The two contrasting voices provide for some great duets, none more so than Faded love. On this song, the chorus features Willie and Ray joined by Crystal Gayle for an unlikely but brilliant three-part harmony.



If you are a fan of either of these two brilliant but very different country singers, buy this album."

Dynamic duet album is solid all the way through...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 04/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 42 minutes and through 13 songs, Willie and Ray pay homage to the country styles of the '50's, '60's and '70's, and to influences such as Hank Williams and Bob Wills. They also pay tribute to the writing skills of Wills, Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, Floyd Tillman and Nelson himself. The lesser-known titles here are all interesting, but the versions of the classics are superb: San Antonio Rose, I Fall To Pieces, Crazy Arms, Release Me, Funny How Time Slips Away, Night Life and Faded Love. Those seven alone make the CD a good buy. Ray Price gave Willie a job in his band in 1961 before songwriting began to pay off big for Nelson, and by 1980 Willie was riding high, and repaid the favor to a friend who was considered a turncoat to country because he had gone out for crossover success, and then was thought to be too old-fashioned for anymore pop chart appearances. So on this project Ray returned to his roots, to great acclaim, and showed he could still hold his own with the fast-rising Nelson. Read the earlier review by redtunictroll to be further persuaded to add this CD to your shelf."