#67: Ray Price - Night Life (1962)

Ever heard of Ray Price? Me neither. He's (apparently) got one of the best male voices in country music. However, I don't hear it. He doesn't have a bad voice, he just doesn't have the strength to carry this particular instrumentation. There's nothing going on musically throughout the album and really there's not much going on vocally either.

Night Life
There's only one redeeming quality to this track and that's a small vocal part near the end of the song. Other than that, it's a poorly written song from 1962. I hate to be so brutally honest, it's just that there's nothing I can really find in order to compliment it. It's the title track of the album and sadly, it may be the best track on the album.




The Twenty Fourth Hour
There's really nothing original about this song. The lyrics are trite and simple (not in an endearing way). The music has really nothing to it, you could find anyone on the street and have them playing it within hours (not in an endearing way). Usually when the music is very simple it's to showcase the vocals, and when the vocals are exceptionally good - then it can be used to great effect. Here we see simple music coupled with mediocre vocals, this produces a very, very boring environment.

A Girl in the Night
Let's face it, I chose this song so I could go back on the beach and drink beer while I choke down the rest of this album. I'm writing this review quickly because my mind is frantically trying to avoid the music in my ears. It's not bad, it's just there's nothing to it. The steel guitar is maybe the only redeeming quality about this entire album and still it does absolutely nothing for me. I hate to judge the album so quickly, but at the same time I started wondering how much longer I have to listen to this - only to discover that I was on track 3.

All in all, I don't know who out there put this album on the '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die' and I don't know if it's a cruel joke - but I'm disappointed. The last 10 albums on the list have been great. This, however, doesn't make sense. Is there really no better early country albums to choose from? I have no issue considering a country album 'good' but there's really nothing good about this.

Tomorrow's album: Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel.