Duo premieres “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”

Ten years following the release of the critically-acclaimed Bakersfield album, country music icon Vince Gill and legendary musician Paul Franklin, have joined forces again for their latest project, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys on CD and LP on August 4th via MCA Nashville.

The 11 song project contains material that might be surprising to even the most die-hard of Price’s fans. Gill explains, “When we originally started thinking about doing this record, we were going to do half and half, focusing on two different artists like we did with Bakersfield, recording songs of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. But we got to liking so many of Ray’s songs, that it became ‘Let’s do all Ray’ and ‘Well, Okay!””

Franklin adds, “We had such a great time doing Bakersfield. It felt good introducing that music to a new generation. This time, it was a no-brainer to pick Ray Price. Once we locked in on Ray, we started looking through the sheer volume of his material. We looked for obscure songs, ones even Ray’s fans might not know as well.”

“We kind of shopped for the unfamiliar,” Gill continues. “Eddie Stubbs [the former Grand Ole Opry announcer, WSM disc jockey and music scholar] was part of this process, although he didn’t know it at the time. I’d listen to him at night and call him up and say, ‘Play something for me I’ve never heard before.’ He’d often play something that knocked me out, and I’d take note of all the songs. I had maybe 30 different ones for Paul to listen to—some so outside the box that I didn’t know them, and Paul didn’t either.”

In addition to choosing material that was less than predictable, as co-producers of Sweet Memories, Gill and Franklin approached the recording from a different angle as well.

Gill explains, “This isn’t a sound-alike record. I never wanted to do that. I don’t think any of these songs sound comparable to the original.”

The final component was their take on the musicians, from the original The Cherokee Cowboys band to the stellar lineup of players contributing to Sweet Memories.

Gill acknowledges, “There were some unbelievably gifted musicians who were such a part of those original records. We were drawn to them probably as much as we were drawn to Ray.”

The musicians contributing to Sweet Memories include Tom Bukovac on electric guitar, Dennis Crouch on bass, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Steve Gibson on electric guitar, John Jarvis on piano, Greg Morrow on drums, Wendy Moten on harmony vocals, the late Michael Rhodes on electric bass, Jerry Roe on drums, Derek Wells on electric guitar, and Andrea Zonn on harmony vocals.

“I’m excited this music is getting out there in a way we feel brings new life and new ideas to it,” Franklin notes. “And hopefully will expose a younger generation to Ray’s music.”

CD | LP

1. One More Time (Written by Mel Tillis)
2. I’d Fight The World (Written by Hank Cochran and Joe Allison)
3. You Wouldn’t Know Love (Written by Hank Cochran and Dave Kirby)
4. Walkin’ Slow (And Thinking ‘Bout Her) (Written by Bobby Bare and Lance Guynes)
5. The Same Two Lips (Written by Marty Robbins)
6. Weary Blues From Waitin’ (Written by Hank Williams Sr.)
7. Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold) (Written by Mel Tillis, Ray Price and Wayne Walker)
8. Sweet Memories (Written by Mickey Newbury)
9. Danny Boy (Written by Fred E. Weatherly)
10. Your Old Love Letters (Written by Ray Price)
11. Healing Hands Of Time (Written by Willie Nelson)