When Ray Price reached the top of Billboard’s country chart with “For the Good Times” in 1970, it ended a ten-year absence of #1 hits for a man who had experimented with several musical styles. Noted initially for the walking bass of his country shuffles, Price had later opted for a more urbane sound, enhanced by a bevy of strings. When that texture met Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times,” the result not only reached the top of Billboard’s “Hot Country Singles” chart on September 19, 1970, but also peaked at #10 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart and #11 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” pop chart, marking Price’s only venture into the pop Top 40.
Kristofferson started writing the song in 1968 during a drive from Nashville to the Gulf of Mexico where he piloted helicopters for offshore oil rigs. He hated the trip and on this particular drive he developed the first verse and chorus of a song about the final encounter of a man and a woman who were breaking up. Actually the storyline was personal. It really was about him and a former girlfriend.
In an interview with the Nashville Tennessean, given while Ray’s record was breaking out, Kristofferson talked about the development of “For the Good Times” during his drive down to the Gulf. He devised the melody first, believing it to be one of the best he had ever come up with. Kris couldn’t wait to get to a guitar. He wondered what the chords were and if he could even play it. Continuing his drive, he assembled a portion of the lyrics, but it was sometime later before he finished the song.
An early version of “For the Good Times” was issued by Bill Nash on the “Smash” label in 1968, but it did not chart. Kristofferson’s own recording appeared on his self-titled debut album in April, 1970. Ray Pennington, a song promoter for Buckhorn Music (the publishing company Kris was writing for), thought “For the Good Times” might do well for Ray Price, who was touring at the time. For assistance in locating him, Pennington contacted Fred Foster at Monument Records who prepared a demo of the song, got hold of a copy of Price’s itinerary and found out that he was appearing at the Stardust Club in Odessa, Texas which was owned by an old friend of his. The Stardust had been one of Price’s favorite places to perform since the beginning of his career back in the early 1950s, and he continued to frequently play there even after reaching stardom.
When the demo on “For the Good Times” arrived, Price listened to it between shows and immediately decided to record the song just as soon as he got back to Nashville. Ray did just that, in Columbia Studio “A” on March 16, 1970. As was usually the case, he nailed it on the very first take with all the musicians present (in this case, a full orchestra). Other than a harmony line in the chorus, very little overdubbing was needed. Ray much preferred recording that way, as did most of the veteran hit-makers in Nashville at that time.
Initially, Price’s label (Columbia) released “For the Good Times” as the “B” side of “Grazin’ in Greener Pastures,” despite Ray’s contention that “For the Good Times” would be the hit. It wasn’t until pop singer Wayne Newton also recorded “For the Good Times” that the label changed its emphasis and began promoting Price’s version in earnest, which ended up selling a sensational 11 million copies.
In March of 1971, Price won his only Grammy award for the tune. That same year, the Academy of Country Music cited “For the Good Times” as “Song of the Year” and “Single Record of the Year.” Additionally, the “For the Good Times” LP earned “Album of the Year” honors.
Despite the enormous success of “For the Good Times,” Billboard Magazine actually cites five other Ray Price singles as better chart performers: – “Crazy Arms,” (which held the #1 position for an incredible 20 weeks in 1956 and, as of 2005, ranked as the fourth biggest country hit of all time), “City Lights,” (#1 for 13 weeks in 1958), “My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You” (1957), “I Won’t Mention It Again” (1971) and “She’s Got to Be a Saint” (1972). Despite these statistics, “For the Good Times” will always be indelibly linked to Ray Price, and forever regarded as his quintessential masterpiece after his change of style in the mid-‘60s to a smoother, more pop-oriented sound, adapting to the changing musical tastes of the nation’s country music fans.
By the time Price made his final appearance in Billboard’s Top Ten with “Diamonds in the Stars” in 1982, (after making hit records for nearly 30 years), the pendulum had swung back to a more traditional country sound, and Ray had changed right back along with it. His versatility was amazing. He was able to give the public exactly what it wanted whatever the times called for, and that may be his most enduring legacy.
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Lyrics
Big John
Big John
Ev’ry mornin’ at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six foot six and weighed 245
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew, ya didn’t give no lip to Big John
Big Bad John
(Big John)
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn’t say much, he kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, he just said, “Hi” to Big John
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin’ blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John
Big Bad John
(Big John)
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin’
Miners were prayin’ and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they’d breathed their last, ‘cept John
Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin’ timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant Oak tree, he just stood there alone, Big John
Big Bad John
(Big John)
And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out, “There’s a light up above”
And 20 men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there’s only one left down there to save, Big John
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
Big Bad John
(Big John)
Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
“At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man, Big John”
Big Bad John
(Big John)
(Big John)
Big Bad John
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