Gene Price (February 27, 1944 – August 13, 2013), also credited as Willard Eugene Price and Willard E. Price, was an American songwriter, primarily noted for his songwriting association with

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. He pioneered what came ...

. He was also a member of

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

's backing band The Strangers.

History

Price was a musician and vocalist, in addition to being a songwriter. He was born in

Shamrock, Texas Shamrock is a city in Wheeler County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a total population of 1,789. The city is located in the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle, centered along the crossroads of Interstate 40 (f ...

. His initial success was through his association with the " Bakersfield sound". Price was a bass player for

and a songwriter with Buck Owens.

Bruce Eder The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

, Biography of Gene Price www.allmusic.com. He was particularly successful as a recorded songwriter on various

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

releases in the early 1970s. One of his best known songs is "In The Arms of Love", co-written with Owens and recorded by Merle Haggard,

Susan Raye Susan Raye (born October 8, 1944) is an American country music singer. She enjoyed great popularity during the early and mid-1970s, and chalked up seven top-10 and 19 top-40 country hits, most notably the song "L.A. International Airport", an i ...

Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey "Wynn" Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound. Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration to such artist ...

and

Freddie Hart Frederick Segrest (December 21, 1926 – October 27, 2018), known professionally as Freddie Hart, was an American country musician and songwriter best known for his chart-topping country song and lone pop hit "Easy Loving," which won the Coun ...

, among others. Other songs for which Price is known include "Let's Keep The Memories Warm", solely written by Price and recorded by

Terry Stafford Terry LaVerne Stafford (November 22, 1941 – March 17, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 US Top 10 hit " Suspicion", and the 1973 country music hit " Amarillo by Morning". Stafford was also known for his Elvis ...

in 1973, for inclusion on Stafford's album ''Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1973) Other songs written with Owens include "The Biggest Storm of All", "Natural Born Loser", "Across This Town and Gone","Something's Wrong", "I'll Be All Right Tomorrow" and "I've Carried This Torch Much Too Long". Later in his career, Price had a degree of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

success with some of his songs. For example, his song "Come To Me", solely written by Price, was recorded twice by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

within a 10-year period.On '' Aretha'' ( Arista, 1980) and '' Through the Storm'' (Arista, 1989).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Gene 1944 births 2013 deaths Songwriters from Texas American country songwriters American male songwriters People from Shamrock, Texas The Strangers (American band) members