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 Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...

. He was also a member of

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

's backing band The Strangers.

History

Price is 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 2010 census, the city had a total population of 1,910. The city is located in the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle centered along the crossroads of Interstate 40 (formerl ...

. 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, 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) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

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 ...

Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985), better known as Wynn Stewart, was an American country music performer. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound. Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration t ...

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 Cou ...

, 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 oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 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. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

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. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

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