Rick Price

All Music Guide:

Rick Price is probably the least-known member of the Move, if only because he never really established a well-defined musical (or personal) identity of his own, as the other members did. In the latter regard, Ace Kefford can be pigeonholed (fairly or not) as a drug/acid casualty, Roy Wood as a genius, Jeff Lynne as a pop genius, Trevor Burton as a frustrated rock & roller, the late Carl Wayne as a pop/rock crooner, and Bev Bevan as one of the two or three best drummers ever to come out of Birmingham. But who, apart from some really inquisitive Move fans, really knows anything about Rick Price? His most visible work from the most widely covered part of his career, the Rick Price & Mike Sheridan collaboration referred to as This Is to Certify: Gemini Anthology, released at the start of the 1970s, seems hardly to have sold at all in its own time. And since then, he's had to stand in the shadow of the similarly named Australian vocalist.

Rick Price was born in Birmingham, England, in June of 1944. He grew up knowing all of the hit songs by Johnnie Ray and Guy Mitchell and picked up his first guitar after he turned 13, to be part of a school play. By that time, he was listening to Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard, and Lonnie Donegan. Three years later, while working at his first regular job and training as a television repairman, he heard a friend's homemade electric guitar and he knew he'd have to have one -- which he duly got, courtesy of his parents, and proceeded to imitate the work of Hank Marvin of the Shadows. His earliest band of any note was the Cimarrons, who sounded a lot like the Shadows (or tried to).

From the Cimarrons, he moved on to the Sombreros, who changed their name to Sight & Sound a little later. Their original focus was harmony vocals, their influences the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys, but by 1967 they'd started doing songs in keeping with the psychedelic boom. And by that time, Price had started a songwriting partnership with Mike Sheridan, the former leader of Mike Sheridan & the Nightriders. The group recorded three singles, "Ebenezer," "Little Jackie Monday," and "Alley Alley," all co-written by the duo, and none successful. The group eventually deteriorated into more of a musical comedy outfit. One day in early 1969, after a performance in front of a club audience that included Roy Wood, the leader/principal composer of the Move (who were down to just three members: Wood, Carl Wayne, and Bev Bevan) offered him a spot in the group. He joined just as "Blackberry Way" was making its way up the U.K. charts to number one. He was with them through the brief period of cabaret performances, plus their first (and only) tour of the United States, and lasted two years with the group. Price even recorded most of the original bass parts to the first Electric Light Orchestra album, although the latter were re-recorded by Wood before it ever reached the public.

From there, Price moved into an ultimately unhappy contractual relationship with Gemini Records, recording This Is to Certify with Mike Sheridan. Then he was back with Carl Wayne in an outfit called Light Fantastic, who showed a lot of promise but could never get it together in terms of recording. This was followed by a stint in the progressive rock band Mongrel, which included Keith Smart on guitar and Charlie Grima on drums. And from there it was on to Wizzard, Roy Wood's new band (which included Smart, Grima, and, at one point, Mike Sheridan). The latter group put him back on the charts with a few U.K. hits, "See My Baby Jive," "Angel Fingers," and the holiday hit "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday." Wizzard lasted through 1975, and then Price moved on to the Wizzo Band, playing pedal steel guitar, no less. Since the 1980s, he has worked with his wife Dianne Lee, late of the duo Peters & Lee.

Wikipedia:

Rick Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Music Producer

Early life[edit]

Price was born in Beaudesert, a small county town near Brisbane, Queensland. He began playing music at the age of nine appearing with his family band Union Beau. At age 18, Price escaped to Sydney and continued working as a musician, playing bass with various inner city outfits and landing the occasional studio and touring work. During the mid-80s Rick turned his focus more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand and in 1988 he was invited to sing "Celebration of a Nation", with Margaret Ulrich, the theme song for Australia's Bicentennial. This opportunity helped lay the foundations for his solo career.

Price began writing his own material in the late 80s, and released his debut single "Not A Day Goes By" in February 1992. The song received saturation radio and video play, climbing to number 5 on the national charts where it spent 20 weeks in the Australian Top 100. It was the beginning of a lifelong ambition for Price, and in the space of less than 12 months, he went from relative obscurity to become one of the biggest names in Australian music.

1992-1993: Release of Heaven Knows[edit]

In March 1992, his second single "Heaven Knows" was released in Australia. It was another Top 10 hit that went gold. The song would go on to launch his international career. In May of that year, Price was asked to join the Wizard of Oz show-case in Los Angeles where he performed alongside Tina Arena amongst many other of the country's leading artists. In June, his debut album Heaven Knows entered the charts at number 3 and stayed in the Top 100 for most of the remainder of the year.

In August 1992, Heaven Knows was released in Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Israel, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Portugal and Finland; in most of these countries the album charted. In September he embarked on a successful tour of Australia.

Following the tour was a month-long promotional trip to Europe and the UK which involved over 100 interviews and 20 TV appearances. In October he was invited back to Europe for further TV appearances and then a 3 week promotional trip to Southeast Asia.

In November 1992, Price returned to Australia where he won the prestigious Song of the Year Award for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) Awards. This award recognised Rick's songwriting abilities.

In December 1992, Price was invited to Germany to perform on their biggest variety show there. He then made a 36 hour stopover in Manila where he made six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.

"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not A Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In the Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time the album sold over 250,000 units alone in Southeast Asia. Price went on to say, "It was an exhausting experience, but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."

History: 1993-1995[edit]

In January and February 1993, Price once again toured Australia to sold-out venues. In April, he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen with "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May, he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month Heaven Knows was re-released and included the bonus CD "Rarities". Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.

In July 1993, Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring, this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.

During October 1993, Rick performed more concerts in Southeast Asia which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia, Rick visited Korea for a short promotional and concert tour.

Price once again joined the Wizard of Oz show cases in Japan where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan Rick won Song of the Year for "Walk Away Renee" and Album of the Year for Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return from Japan, Rick was awarded with the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month a new single "Where Is The Love", a duet with Australia's Margaret Urlich, was released.

In December 1993, Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up Song of the Year for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous Carols by Candlelight shows around the country. The year was topped off when Price was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).

During 1994, Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow-up album. From September to December, Price recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.

History: 1995-1997[edit]

In April 1995, the long awaited single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album Tamborine Mountain which was later released in July. "It was quite difficult", Price reveals, "because I knew it was going to be a different album to Heaven Knows. I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carol King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".

The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis". Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals and the duet "Trust Me This is Love".

After the success of the first single "River of Love", a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song is a standout track for Price, written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself is a reference to a small town near Beaudesert where Price grew up.

In November and December 1995, following the release of the album, Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour, Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone, was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.

In conjunction with the tour, a third single "To Be With You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. "You're Never Alone", a song Price wrote for his son, was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the remainder of the year.

History: 1997-1999[edit]

In January and February 1997, Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter, Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.

For the majority of the year, Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album.

Some of the collaborators Price has worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick on "Not A Day Goes By" (who has written songs such as "Chains" by Tina Arena), Jon Lind (who has written songs such as "A Simple Life" by John Farnham, and "Crazy For You" by Madonna), and Randy Goodrum, a well-respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love", and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's Heaven Knows album.

In November and December 1997, Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998, Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album was released in Australia in 1999 In 2003, Price released another solo album, A Million Miles, released on his own label Clarice. Going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.

Recent[edit]

Price has spent much of his time writing with, and recording and producing for other artists such as Melinda Schneider, Tamara Stewart, Lisa Chappell and David Franj.

In 2004, a Best Of CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits, as well as notable performances such as "Tenterfield Saddler" live at the ARIAs Most recently, Price has been writing and recording with Mitch Grainger, who performs the opening song for the upcoming movie December Boys, "Nobody Knows My Name" which Price wrote. Revisited, an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style", was released in July 2008.

He toured Tasmania with up and coming band Invisible Boy during December 2008, and also toured with Tommy Emmanuel and relocated to Nashville in 2009. In 2011, Price toured Australia, in a tribute to the legacy of John Denver in a tour titled The John Denver Story. Also a new album titled The Waters Edge was released, this being the first studio album in eight years of new material, with the single "Shape Of My Heart".