Ray Price - Sometimes A Rose

In this week's episode, we're featuring Ray Price's brief return to his alma mater at Columbia Records: "Sometimes A Rose" (1992). Price had been with Columbia from his very first LP through 1974, and this reunion only lasted the one album. His charting days were behind him, but quality was still the name of the game for The Cherokee Cowboy and his voice truly seems to have gotten better with age. From a hardcore honky tonk stylist, the conscious shift was made to country crooner and Price wears that badge with pride on much of "Sometimes A Rose" - the title track, "You Need A Lady In Your Life" and "Look What Followed Me Home" the pick of the bunch on that side of the coin. However, with Hal Rugg on steel and triple fiddles from Rob Hajacos, Hoot Hester and Hank Singer - Price must have intended to slip in at least a few shuffles for his honky tonk fanbase - and "I Apologize", "Please Don't Leave Me" and a re-recording of his own 1963 cut "A Way To Free Myself" satisfies the most avid two-stepper. Whatever your preferred Ray Price style, there's enough in "Sometimes A Rose" to appease both camps, with Price's buttery vocals the glue that binds a very worthy early 90s offering.