Chords for Willie Nelson - The Making of For the Good Times (A Tribute to Ray Price)

_ [Gm] Good evening, Mr.
Nelson.
A great big old howdy.
Yeah.
Thank you for inviting us to [B] your party.
Oh, yeah, this is gonna be good.
_ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ What brought this project here about
was one of [Bm] our heroes that we share, [G] Ray Price.
Fred recorded the last Ray Price record here with Bergen
[A] and a lot of great musicians.
We finished [Gb] a [A] month or two months before he died,
[D] and immediately after that,
Willie [G] said he wanted to do a Ray Price tribute.
[A] So that brought us to this.
[Dbm] People ask me who my favorite singers are,
[D] and I say, well, there's Ray Price,
and there's [A] Frank Sinatra.
I don't think there was [D] ever any doubt
that one day I'd do a Ray Price tribute album.
And they got the Time Jumpers,
which is this great group of studio musicians,
including Vince Gill on guitar.
[Abm] Good morning, Jeff.
How are you?
[D] Fred has long been a Time Jumper fan,
but also a great friend of mine,
and I thought, man, this is right up [G] our alley.
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] What is that?
[Eb] Three flats.
[C] Big B, little B.
How do you [F] make that? _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ [Bb] _
_ There ain't no chance trying to hold me
Ain't no breeze big enough to slow me
Ever have seen
Ray had a couple of different careers in the early days
and really came up with the shuffle.
Early 4-4 shuffle really set the foundation
for a group that's [F] still as popular [Bb] today
probably as it ever has been.
So [F] love me
[Bb] If you're ever gonna love me
Later in his career, when he changed over
and started recording with the orchestra,
that had not been done yet either,
and Ray had the guts to do [F] that.
He brought it [Bb] all together, from Mack Williams
to Bob Wills, [F] that old shuffle
to the western [Bb] swag, to the [G] strings.
He got everybody in the [Bb] same building
and found out that they all liked one thing, Ray Price.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F]
We're trying to play really close
to the [Bb] original arrangements,
paying tribute to the records
that the Cherokee Cowboys did.
We're [G] gonna play music the [Bb] way we play it,
[D] but it certainly has [Bb] their spirit.
I'll be [Gm] there if you ever [C] want me
By your side
_ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N]
That's one.
_ _ Willie's got the most unique way of phrasing.
Everybody tries, but no one can do that like Willie.
One note on the guitar and one note out of his voice,
and there's the great Willie Nelson. _
[G] I've got a heart full of hate
It's so unique and [C] so one of a kind,
that's what makes it so [D] ridiculously great.
Every day she loves me less
Each day I [G] love her more
_ Yeah, that's a good [Gb] key.
He's coming in here and just [G] nailing it. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ Willie and Ray go way back to the [G] 50s.
Ray asked Willie to play bass in his band.
Willie got a start, really.
Heartache number one
When I first came [C] to Nashville,
I was writing songs for Pamper Music,
[D] and Ray Price owned Pamper Music.
Ray was touring, [G] and he had a bass player, Donnie Young,
Johnny Paycheck, and [D] Donnie wanted to quit.
So Ray called me and asked me,
Can you [G] play bass?
I said, Can't everybody?
_ Now I've got heartaches by the numbers
_ _ [C] _
Troubles by the score
After that I stayed out [A] there on the road a long [G] time
and [D] fronted Ray's band.
I did Hank Williams' cover [G] song
while the crowd was saying word to Ray.
_ [Dbm] [G] I've got heartaches by the numbers
_ [C] And a love that I can't win
_ [D] But the [Gbm] day that I stop [D] counting
That's the day [E] my world will [G] end _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ [G] Ladies and gentlemen, our famed producer.
_ I go back a long way with Fred.
I mean, Fred, he's not just in country music,
he was in pop music, R&B music,
and works in all of them with ease.
He's a good friend and a great producer.
You ready, Willie? Yeah.
Okay, buddy, here we go. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ Making this record at this time,
obviously Willie lost his friend.
And so in the room when we're playing,
we all felt a sense of love.
He's revisiting songs [F] that he wrote for [G] Ray.
[C] There are some things I think about _
Every time I ask you to break my heart
Willie wrote so many of the songs,
[F] It Always Will Be, Ray did it,
and now Willie's doing it himself, [C] he wrote the song.
It always [F] will be _ _ _
_ _ _ Ray said to me, [C] I don't care what we do,
I want to do It Always Will Be.
And I know this would please Ray,
[F] that Willie's doing it in [G] his tribute to him.
It always _ _ will _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [D] be _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
I got to work with a lot of great, great artists,
To me, this is a highlight right here.
[Eb] I love that one. _
Oh yeah.
_ [F] _ _ [Fm] This music is [F] so good, and [Eb] on many years [C] it's lost.
You know, [Eb] someone that's 20 years old or 30 years old,
today, they may not ever hear this music.
But when somebody that's [Bb] prominent like Willie
says hey, this is great, then you listen.
Where would we be [Bbm] today without the contributions
of both those guys?
[Eb] Hard to think about.
Thank [Gm] y'all.
Thank you.
As much as Willie [Ab] admired Ray,
Ray equally [B] admired Willie.
Ray [F] would be so [Fm] proud.
He was [C] as close a friend as [Ab] you can have.
Traveled together, lived together,
[Bb] played music together, partied together,
had a lot of good times. _ _ _ _
For the good times
[E] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _