POP MUSIC REVIEW : Master of His Country : Ray Price’s Repertoire and Delivery at the Crazy Horse Are the Stuff Legends Are Made Of

Any aspiring country singer looking for a killer song to launch his career should have been at Ray Price’s concert Monday night at the Crazy Horse. Price’s 19-song set included some of the most enduring country tunes to emerge from the ‘50s through the ‘70s.

Almost all were songs originally made famous by Price. Price’s ear for great material is so acute that many of his hits have become smashes all over again for other artists.

That aspiring artist, however, shouldn’t have been been there only to pick up on Price’s recyclable repertoire. Close attention also should have been paid to Price’s delivery. Even though Price must have sung his biggest hits--”Crazy Arms,” “For the Good Times,” and “I Won’t Mention It Again”--in every show he has done during the last 20 years, he delivered each line Monday with such sincerity and masterful phrasing that familiar lyrics took on renewed relevance and shades of meaning. Price never hurried through a lyric, and he had a particularly effective way of making eye contact during key phrases.

Because he has charted a remarkable 80 Top 40 country hits during his four-decade career, Price easily could have filled both sets Monday with nothing but hits and still left dozens of his classics untouched.

Instead, he chose to intersperse such audience favorites as “Burning Memories” and “Heartaches by the Number” with less obvious selections. He introduced two new songs from his current album, “Sometimes a Rose,” and paid tribute to two of his heroes with renditions of Bob Wills’ “San Antonio Rose” and “Home in San Antone” and Hank Williams’ “Mansion on the Hill,” chosen as one his encores.

Price even stepped away from the spotlight for one number while his longtime piano player, Moises Calderon, performed a spirited version of “Rancho Grande.” Although some fans might have been disappointed by the omission of such big hits as “City Lights” and “Release Me,” Price’s decision to include songs other than his signature tunes helped to keep his show from being too predictable.

Price’s 70-minute set included selections that represented the diverse styles of country music he has performed in his career. “Crazy Arms” and “Heartaches by the Number” were from the hard-core honky-tonkin’ days of Price’s early years. His lushly beautiful version of “Danny Boy” signified his switch to a more sophisticated, highly orchestrated country pop sound in the late ‘60s. With Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times,” Price touched on the progressive edge of country music that opened the door for Waylon & Willie’s Outlaw movement in the ‘70s.

Price also paid homage to Western swing, one of his strongest influences, in the Bob Wills numbers. Those, as well as all his own hits, were adroitly rendered in their original styles by his seven-piece Cherokee Cowboy band.

Pianist Calderon was only half joking when, at the end of the show, he referred to Price as “the only living legend left.” Although Calderon’s boast was something of an exaggeration as long as the likes of Johnny Cash and George Jones are still kicking, Price’s concert was a rare chance to see one of country’s masters show us how the real thing is done.