The The Essential in Bloomington, MN

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
's artistic journey from a fairly raw honky-tonker to one of
's most popular
country-pop
crooners. Hard
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
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
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
Felice Bryant
, and (on his 1970 smashes
"I'd Rather Be Sorry"
)
Kris Kristofferson
.
is probably essential enough for those who prefer to remember
in his honky-tonkiest days, but this two-disc anthology gives a more complete view of why he was a
music giant, without sacrificing much from the early years in which he was truest to his roots. ~ Richie Unterberger