Ray Price - Beauty Is...The Final Sessions (2014) Lossless

The Grammy Award winning Country Music Hall of Fame member faced his mortality with the uncompromised dignity and fierce individualism that had characterized his whole life. Most of all, he faced it singing songs that he loved. Across his eight-decade career, he placed more than 100 titles on the country charts. Forty-six of them became top-10 smash hits. Among those hits are titles like Heartaches By the Number, Make the World Go Away, Danny Boy, For the Good Times, I Won t Mention It Again, and countless other classics.

Ray Price knew he was dying and fully intended Beauty Is to be his last testament.

After one listen of this remarkable album, you will note that Price s flawless phrasing, vocal resonance and burnished warmth of tone create a glow that lingers long after the final notes have sounded.

He is particularly moving when a song s lyrics gaze backward with longing, fondness, regret or nostalgia. I Wish I Was 18 Again, Among My Souvenirs and An Affair to Remember are profoundly touching. Price caresses such lyrics as Beauty Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder, I Can See You, This Thing of Ours and It Will Always Be with the romantic yen he gave to so many songs over his long career.

No More Songs to Sing and Senses are devastating, emotional readings by this master stylist. He yearns for enduring love in Until Then. He reaches back to the dawn of American songwriting for a version of Beautiful Dreamer. And at the finale, he leaves us with a powerful rendition of the standard I Believe.

He was an unbelievable talent, says the album s producer, Fred Foster. There was nobody like him and probably never will be again.

Foster brought in the album s new songs and suggested the inspirational I Believe. Price selected songs from two fellow Texas treasures and Country Music Hall of Fame members Cindy Walker ( Until Then ) and Willie Nelson ( It Will Always Be ). He also wished to sing Stephen Foster s timeless Beautiful Dreamer. Both men agreed on Among My Souvenirs and I Wish I Was 18 Again. Janie Price chose the 1957 Vic Damone pop hit An Affair to Remember.

Price s main request was that his final record be accompanied by a string section. Foster brought in conductor/arranger Bergen White for the task. An A-Team of Nashville session musicians took part. Current stars Vince Gill ( Beauty Lies in the Eyes, Until Then ) and Martina McBride ( An Affair to Remember ) lent their voices to the project.

Weakened and gaunt from medical treatments, Ray Price made five trips from Texas to Nashville to record his vocals.

At first, the Ray Price voice just wasn t there, says Janie Price. So he d try, again and again. He said, I m afraid I m running out of time.

Then in the summer and fall of 2013, Ray Price rallied. He completed the recording in October. He passed away less than two months later.