For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price [LP]

by Willie Nelson

Overview

Willie Nelson joined Ray Price's Cherokee Cowboys in 1961, the first step in a lifelong friendship between the two men. From that point on, the pair never fell out of touch. At the height of his superstardom in 1980, Nelson cut a duet album with Price called San Antonio Rose, the first of three joint efforts they'd cut over the years. Whenever the pair got together, they'd sing the old songs, Western swing standards and honky tonk classics from the '50s and '60s -- the songs that form the core of For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price, a salute Willie delivered three years after Price's 2013 death. Supported by producer Fred Foster and arranger Bergen White -- a duo who also were friends with Price and completed his final album, Beauty Is -- Nelson doesn't make any attempt to freshen up these songs, which is the album's charm. Nelson salutes every phase of Ray's career, reviving the lush Nashville strings of Price's early-'70s hits in addition to the dry, dusty Texas two-steps and Ray Price shuffles. All of these sounds are considered traditional from the vantage of 2016 and, in effect, For the Good Times extends the tradition, not through reinvention but rather adherence. Nelson has been singing these songs all of his life, recording them several times a decade, but instead of seeming recycled, For the Good Times underscores how the song may remain the same but the singer does not. Nelson is showing his age -- his voice is leathery and tattered, much thinner than it was just ten years ago -- and yet that's part of the point of the album. Willie sang these songs with Ray and now that Price is gone, Nelson sings them a little differently, his love and melancholy accentuating his weathered voice. It makes for an affectionate and bittersweet album, one that is a fitting tribute to a lifelong friend. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/16/2016
Label:	Legacy
UPC:	0889853142415

Tracks

1. Heartaches by the Number
2. I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)
3. Faded Love
4. It Always Will Be
5. City Lights
6. Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me
7. Make the World Go Away
8. I'm Still Not Over You
9. Night Life
10. Crazy Arms
11. Invitation to the Blues
12. For the Good Times

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Willie Nelson   Primary Artist
Paul Franklin   Pedal Steel
Bergen White   Conductor,Vocals (Background)
Kristin Wilkinson   Viola
Mickey Raphael   Harmonica
Larry Paxton   Bass
Carl Gorodetzky   Strings
Larry Franklin   Fiddle
David Davidson   Violin
John Hobbs   Piano
John Willis   Guitar (Acoustic)
Joe Spivey   Fiddle
Jim Grosjean   Viola
Mary Kathryn Van Osdale   Violin
Charlie McCoy   Vibraphone
Vince Gill   Vocal Harmony,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Lisa Silver   Vocals (Background)
Steve Gibson   Guitar (Electric)
Catherine Umstead   Violin
Kira Small   Vocals (Background)
Bruce Christensen   Viola
David Angell   Violin
Alan Umstead   Violin
Ellen Dockery   Vocals (Background)
Anthony LaMarchina   Cello
Kenny Sears   Fiddle
Billy Thomas   Drums
Jack Jezzro   Bass
Jim Horn   Flute,Saxophone
Shane McConnell   Vocals (Background)
Eddie Bayers   Drums
Andy Reiss   Guitar (Electric)
Bruce Wethey   Violin
Julia Tanner   Cello
Keith Nicholas   Cello
James Button   Oboe
The Time Jumpers   Featured Artist
Jeff Taylor   Piano,Accordion
Janet Darnall   Violin
Craig Nelson   Bass
Carole Neuen-Rabinowitz   Cello
Jon Mark Ivey   Vocals (Background)
Wei Tsun Chang   Violin
Jordan Lehning   Vocals (Background)
Brad Albin   Bass
Stefan Petrescu   Violin
Christopher Farrell   Viola
Seanad Chang   Viola
Karen Winklemann   Violin
Conni Ellisor   Violin
Kirsten Greer   Cello
Michael Samis   Cello
Simona Rusu   Viola
Eli Lara   Cello

Technical Credits

Bergen White   Arranger
Bill Anderson   Composer
Bob Wills   Composer
Kyle Lehning   Mixing
Fred Foster   Producer
Roger Miller   Composer
Walt Breeland   Composer
Ralph Mooney   Composer
Ray Price   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Kris Kristofferson   Composer
Pat McMakin   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Rusty Gabbard   Composer
Hank Cochran   Composer
Mark Neuman   Photography
Eberhard Ramm   Music Copyist
Frank Harkins   Design,Art Direction
Hank Williams   Mastering
Jordan Lehning   Assistant
Johnny Lee Wills   Composer
Charles Seals   Composer
Josh Ditty   Assistant
Dalton Campbell   Cover Photo
Kevin Solinicki   Assistant
Paul Buslirk   Composer