Night Life

Every night I feast in complete darkness. Once, I accidentally ate a Puerto Rican kid's ashes. His family were not happy.

The introduction really set the tone by making the album feel more personal. Can't think of a record that starts with one, but I love it here. This is some real tears-in-your-beer kind of music, but I am here for it. Lyrically, it's great, and vocally, it's superb. Ray Price is a hell of a singer, and really conveys those emotions directly into me. Also, holy hell, Willie Nelson on bass and backing vocals? Neat. Favorite tracks: "Night Life", "Sittin' and Thinkin'", "There's No Fool Like a Young Fool"

It's hard for me to sometimes give such low scores to music that sounds so honest. But within the context of this list, where it's supposed to be about albums that are actually crucial to the history of modern music, or about albums that maybe weren't that influential but are notable by themselves, this one for me doesn't come as a member of any of these two categories. Is it good music? Yes. Is it something I had to listen to get something that I wouldn't be able to get from any other album? I hardly think so

I'm really digging this classic country. I'm so glad records like this are included in this list. It's a refreshing break from the constant onslaught of 60's-era rock this list is littered with.

Oh, boy. People making out to Hee Haw on the cover. Doesn't bode well. But then, Ray invites me to take off my shoes and enjoy his album. Huh. Linkin Park never invited me to take off my shoes - instead, they made me wear uncomfortable surplus army boots. Night Life gets bluesy - no mentions of broken trucks or sad dogs. Well, never mind. Lonely Street hits all of the tropes - damn, Ray. Pick yourself up, take off your shoes, and go enjoy the night life! Even so, there's a Roy Orbison quality to it - kinda like that late nineties country/pop crossover trend (no slide guitar? It's Hootie! Slide guitar? It's Darius Rucker!). Sittin' and Thinkin' - "I got loaded last night on a bottle of gin"? He just comes out and says it - I think this is probably pretty risqué for the time; 15 years later, Jimmy Buffett will make fun of the country music tendency to dance around topics, and he penned "Why don't we get drunk..." as a parody of those songs. Ray doesn't quite get there (he skips the "...and screw" part), but the first step is admitting you have a problem. He still cries for an entire hour each day - so clearly there are some unresolved issues there. Bright lights and blonde haired women - "I'm getting sick and tired of being lit up like a Christmas tree" - wow. Look, Ray, you left your brunette woman at home with a single dim bulb hanging from a chain in the middle of the room. You ain't going back. Just get used to being drunk and hanging out with the easy blonde girls. You chose this life. Take off your shoes, get your crying over with, and do what you gotta do. Overall review - I didn't hate this. Look, I'm not going to be jamming to this while sitting in carpool or docking a pontoon boat, but it is infinitely better than the mid-nineties "been working hard all week, got my good jeans on, I love America" crap that country music turned into. Ray seems like he'd be fun to hang out with - I just gotta make sure I'm "on a work call" for that one hour of crying per day...

The Price is wrong

10/10 - woeful as fuck makes we wanna get a trad wife and be emotionally absent to her

I didn’t find any favorites here, but a very classic country sound with lots of steel and slide guitar. Cool find, should know the artist at least.

What if Frank Sinatra was from Bikini Bottom?

Fine as background music on this Monday morning before Thanksgiving, but let’s be honest, this sounds like just about every other country record from the late 50’s or early 60’s that you’ve ever heard.

Whether you like country or not, there are some finely crafted songs on this album delivered by some magnificent musicians and Price, who is an engaging singer with a great voice. There’s an undertone of darkness and restlessness throughout and you can depict the seediness of the nightclubs Price frequents. Frankly, if you’re not enjoying that fiddling and a backing band known as The Cherokee Cowboys; or you aren’t vibing with songs like Bright Lights and Blonde Haired Women then I don’t even want to know you.

This is nice

A focused set of country takes, but in the honky-tonk style which has never completely won me over. Comparisons to Sinatra are ubiquitous; For my part I'll say that Price doesn't have the affect problem I mentioned. There's solid fiddling on several tunes as well, elevating the music above the level of the rest of the playing.

Shite Life

Wonderful old-timey country, reminded me of Patsy Cline and kd lang. A terrific listen for the day.

Cool sounds, familiar from samples, sent me down some fun rabbit holes

Very odd framing in he album’s intro bit, leading into a straight forward but very good honky tonk record.

Classy country.

this would go so hard in a jpegmafia mashup

fine

I loved this. Pipe smoking rocking chair evening scotch music. Gonna explore this guy's catalog

Sorta country, sorta lounge and kinda frank sinatra. Pretty darn good!

Loved it, transported to the 60s

It's like an Alcoholic's Blues album. Loved it.

Damn this is some good shit.

Like the old country. Almost has an Elvis feel to it. Would definitely try some of his other music.

I am constantly impressed with early country songwriting. Ray really nails it here. At this rate, I may have to start saying I like country.

I absolutely love the mood and atmosphere of this album. I often think of music in terms of "day music" and "night music" and this is pretty much THE epitome of night music. Bittersweet and seductive. Romantic but honest. I feel like almost any professional musician would have to identify with that title track. I remember hearing Willie Nelson's version of it first when I was a kid, and I love that version too, but there is something about this version that is so much more haunting. The rest of the album doesn't quite have the same magic as that opening track, but it's still top notch crying-in-your-beer country. The playing, production, and arrangements are all spot on. I especially love that splash of reverb on the vocals. The fact that the songs all adhere to that theme of the trials and tribulations of life in the bar scene is what makes it so great (and believable). A perfectly executed concept album before concept albums were a thing. The intro is a bit goofy, but quaint in an old fashioned way. And goddamn that cover is so cinematic.

Honky Tonk goes Music Row. A slick slice of the seedier life by a master of singing.

Good old country

Honestly very nice. I don’t really listen to this genre of music but it is surprisingly calming.

Honestly every one’s a fuckin’ banger.

MY LIIIIIFE

Honky-tonkin’ heartbreak, drinking’ and depression… Some real classic country from a real master, this album shines a stark light on the Night Life. Each song is a cautionary tale targeting a variety of potential victims of the night life. As Ray suggests in the introduction to this Columbia album, I enjoyed sittin’ back, kickin’ off my shoes and listenin’ to Night Life. Just the perfect accompaniment to an evening of cocktails. Maybe someday I’ll make it to one of those dances…

I wasn’t sure that this country album would hit the spot for me, and it was a little slow to warm. But as it ended, I wanted to start it again…and I did…and really appreciated what Ray Price delivered.

Amazing soft bluesy rock kind of album

Really good and had never heard of him.

Love this vibe

Love this album. Ray Price has a lovely voice

just some good old twangy heartbroken country music. A lot of the songs have a similar rhythm and feel but they all tell stories, some a little more bluesy, some a little more bluegrassy. the only knock is that the lyrics can be pretty simplistic (A Girl in the Night), but thats country baby, this is definitely easy listening! This album makes me think of passing through a little stopover town to have a drink at a local dive bar and falling in love with a townie.

Perfect soundtrack to a sad dance in a Western bar with Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange

Lovely and short, doesn't bore at any moment nor becomes repetitive or tedious as every song is very discernible and unique

Memories

Don't let the charity shop cover put you off. I'm new to Price, but took straight away to his voice. It has a purity that reminds me of Patsy Cline and a hangdog guilt that puts me in mind of some of Johnny Cash's catalogue (e.g. Sunday Morning Coming Down). The album is strongly themed, with vignettes featuring a long line of honky tonk women living the "Night Life" hanging out in bars. For the 1960s, the songs aren't actually that judgemental of these women - well, hardly more than Price is of himself for choosing this lifestyle. He asks them "Are You Sure?", but I think he's asking himself the same thing.

Classic and wonderful

Classic smooth country, not a bad song in the bunch.

cool

Only part I did not love is how short the album is! It is obvious how many people were influenced by this sound.

Incredibly easy to listen to. This is a classic country album from before country was just pop with a southern accent.

Found this so relaxing, deep down in the soul. Like the sun shining through the living room window on a Sunday afternoon.

Fuck it

Total classic, sittin and thinkin is such a great song, I like the Charlie rich version better. Such an iconic record tho and the playing is top tier.

Night life Title song was my favorite. Vocals are great. Really smooth country crooning. There’s a low note in the pedal steel solo on nightlife that’s super cool. Johnny paycheck is the best name for a lead guitar player. The songs are all a bit sad and on the night life theme.

classic country style album. Elvis like

Good old honky tonk classics.

a really great example of itself

Oikein mukavaa countryrallattelua. Ei tätä genreä mielestäni oikein paremmin voi toteuttaa. Laulajan ääni oli miellyttävä, ja vaikka biiseissä ei suurempia erikoisuuksia ollutkaan, toimi kokonaisuus erittäin hienosti. Yleisenä musiikkinautintona antaisin tästä kolmosen, mutta nyt pitää kyllä antaa genressään lähes virheettömästä suorituksesta pieni boonus.

Nunca había escuchado antes a este hombre y me ha alegrado la mañana. Disco de country americano y género muy poco tocado por mí, pero gran descubrimiento.

A very fine and soulful country album. 8.1/10

Elvis Costello introduced me to the Nashville sound (Almost Blue) and both cover the dark “sitting and thinking”. Cloying sentimentality of early 60s USA. Magnificent.

Take me to the dance

Nine change of pace

I was fixing a greasy mower while this was on. Could not find a filthier panegyric for this album, I really liked it. Felt like I was transported to the era

Sensuous and bold

good stuff

Good classic hony-tonkish country. I've heard the name Ray Price before, but don't really recall ever hearing any of his music. I threw the album on and started doing some minor research on its history and saw that Willie Nelson is credited on a couple tracks. Then notice that one of them was "Are You Sure", which is a song that I first heard on Lost (yeah, yeah...) and I immediately fell in love with it. It's probably the moment I started really taking a lot of the classic, outlaw type country more seriously and I'd just never realized it had an earlier incarnation. This is just great news! Oh, and the album here is solid. Not much to complain about. 4 stars!

Kind of a concept album. A little bluesy, deep and lonesome songs drenched in barlight, spilled whisky and regret. The tunes still hold up today.

Hyggeligt, jazzet, bluesy country. Vild stemme. Ritti godt

Feeling ill, so I'm listening to this and reading Dickens. Somehow they go together!

Very smooth, "feelsy" album. Would be good for nighttime listening

I thought that I was not a big country fan but it might be more that I’m not a big modern country fan. Ray Price was great and what I would think of as old school country.

Enjoyable. Classic honky tonk music with a bit of a sleepy, sometimes torchy vibe. It takes a few songs to settle into it, then it's pretty great. The only drag on the whole thing honestly is that weird intro, which was really unnecessary. Fave Songs: Pride, If She Could See Me Now, Bright Lights and Blonde Haired Women, Sittin' and Thinkin', The Twenty-Fourth Hour, Night Life

Good stuff. I'ma sound old here, but I love the old country and can't stomach new country. It reminds me of 80's hair rock. Only diff is that the lyrics aren't about partying. They're about drinking alone, sitting on tractors they've probably never driven, and supporting white supremacy. The lyrics haven't changed much, but the music has.

This is a lot of fun. Would make a great movie soundtrack, too, which is my bias reflecting how this style of music is sometimes used in movies I've liked. I so rarely listen consciously to country & western like this, and it's nice to hear that swing beat. Could waltz to a lot of this. He croons perfectly for this style. Nice album.

I really the fact that the album has an intro to put the listener in the mood. It was the best beginning of an album of this genre I've ever heard. I'm a fan of this era and this kind of country/crooner singers. They give a strong impression of their time. It's weird to say, but their music is timelessly outdated and that's the best part of it.

country conceito

eu vo sair desse trem a própria sandy bochechas

Curti, um bom álbum pra ouvir sozinho à noite. 7/10

Just good classic country. A simple beat and melody that just make you happy. Another of what my grandpa would call "attitude adjustment music" type of album. And Willie Nelson played bass and sang on this album too which makes it even cooler.

Sweet and charming country music.

Swag....

Some great downtrodden, melancholy country songs. Lapsteel guitar features prominently and when Ray Price really breaks out his majestic voice it’s sure to impress

Swaaaaaaag

A very enjoyable experience and nice classic swing and vocals. Certainly you need to be in a specific mood to enjoy though.

Lush and rich and shadowy, despite the countrypolitan sheen. VIntage in the best sense and Americana-ish (weird, old division) plus Lynchian and this is how cool country could/can be.

Well hi neighbors. I’m so glad to be introduced to this. Started and listened, because the famous name, then hung around for that unbelievable voice, steel guitar, fiddle, piano, strings, bass. Every line perfectly enunciated. (Perfect in its own way). Yessiree all of it right thar.

Hell this is good fun honky tonk!

4.1 - Being a total sucker for lap steel guitar, I loved this record! I also love the songs themed around (not surprisingly) the perils of night life. Ray Price sings with a baritone twang about pursuing “honky-tonk angels” and about keeping company with barflies.

Some more country greats. I really enjoyed "Are You Sure?", though I think I still prefer the Willie Nelson version. I also liked how the album kind of opens with an ad for the album itself. "Hope you like this one! If you like it, buy it and we'll make more like it!" BOLD

Really lovely lounge country songs, sung beautifully with Willie Nelson involved. U great deal to enjoy. Best song is the title track.

Just my kind of background music :D

Really solid country, I love the low-down bar stories, and the lonely guitars. I'm glad the "introduction" trend did not catch on, it feels like a weird commercial where he's required to rep the label and promise the fans that he'll promise cranking out hits. Though there is something funny and charming about it. Favorites are "Night LIfe" and "Sittin' and Thinkin'". Some of these songs are just ridiculously similar to each other, which makes the album wear out prematurely.

Very soothing and nice to listen to when you have to study.

Deftly blends darkness with some countrypolitan-ish sheen and upbeat bounce in the playing. "Honky Tonk Angel" is aces. Title cut is classic, though with many other excellent versions.

Not a country music expert by any means and the album won’t make me start listening to it more, but I appreciate how polished this album is. Clear dreamy vocals, reverb laden lead guitars, plodding bass. This is what I imagine a barn slow dance would sound like. Also appreciate that this is trying to be a concept album at an era where this wasn’t the done thing.

Probably enjoyable after a few listens. Will that ever happen thought?

whew that hit my sweet spot for orchestral mid-century twang fronted by a golden voice, i am not joking

This is a concept album and I'm into it. Willie Nelson wrote on this. I love that it's set up like a program where he introduces the album verbally. It feels like we're at the show, seated right behind the two love birds sitting in front of us. Cowboy blues meets jazzy night club. Pedal steel, honkytonk piano, crooner, but country blues songs. This is right up my alley. Night Life: Around 2 min mark, the left channel pedal steel is juicy AF. Really nice experience listening throughout. I love this era of music production.

I hate ("modern") country music, but somehow the older stuff always clicks with me. I enjoyed this album. The subject matter is depressing, though. Every song is about alcohol enthusiasm, but I guess country music is always about how shit it all is. Would listen to it again.

Very pleasant country-western album. Nice short songs, subtle instrumentation, honestly a very pleasant listening experience.