Record Review

San Antonio Rose
(Koch International)

Having come of age in Texas during the Great Depression -- when Bob Wills was still King -- Ray Price had more than a passing familiarity with Wills and his innovations. More than a dollop of Wills' Saturday night dancehall savvy seasoned the hardened swing that characterized the "Ray Price Sound," and his records' massed, sawing fiddles certainly more than echoed Wills. Price had already cut a typically idiosyncratic rendition of the Wills standard "Faded Love" in 1957 and had been peppering sets with Wills hits at dance dates for years. Hence, it was the easiest thing in the world for him and the Cherokee Cowboys to knock out an album's worth of Wills in a pair of eight-hour sessions in 1961; considering the massive sales Price's name insured, whatever he wanted to release, Columbia would merely ask, "When do you want it out, Mr. Price?" Still, while Price may have been paying Bob Wills tribute, this didn't mean he would ape Wills. As with any other material he touched, Price treated standards like the title track and "Bubbles in My Beer" as grist for a Ray Price record, giving the songs the hardened shuffle rhythms and walking bass he gave everything. Prior to this, Bob Wills records were played on honky-tonk jukeboxes. Now Ray Price had made a honky-tonk record out of Bob Wills' songs. There's a difference, and it shines.
5 stars -- Tim Stegall