About The Song
Ray Price released “I’ll Be There (When You Get Lonely)” as a single on April 1, 1957, through Columbia Records. The Texas-born singer, already established as a key voice in traditional country music, had built steady momentum after his 1956 breakthrough with “Crazy Arms.” This new track arrived during a fertile stretch in his career when he was regularly delivering radio-friendly singles that blended honky-tonk rhythms with sincere emotional delivery.
The song was recorded on March 7, 1957, in a five-hour session at Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville. Price worked with his longtime band, the Cherokee Cowboys, and cut the number alongside an early take of what became his number-one hit “My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You.” The efficient session reflected the practical pace of country recording in the late 1950s, when artists often laid down multiple sides in a single afternoon to meet label demands.
“I’ll Be There (When You Get Lonely)” climbed to number 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Although it did not match the peak positions of some of Price’s other 1957 releases, the single added to his string of consistent top-20 entries and helped maintain his presence on country playlists throughout the year. At the time, Price’s signature shuffle beat—often called the “Ray Price Beat”—was influencing studio arrangements across Nashville.
The lyrics center on reassurance during times of separation and solitude. The narrator tells a loved one that when loneliness arrives at the close of day, he will be the one to kiss the tears away. The verses return to a simple ritual of closing one’s eyes and saying a prayer, while later lines stress that love and faith together can bridge any distance and bring the singer back home. The message stays direct and comforting, avoiding dramatic flourishes in favor of quiet dependability.
Songwriter Dave Burgess composed the piece. Burgess had several country credits in the period, and this particular song fit neatly into the era’s preference for clear storytelling over ornate production. Price’s warm baritone and the Cherokee Cowboys’ steady support gave the track its distinctive warmth, keeping the focus on the vocal and the straightforward melody rather than elaborate instrumentation.
Though issued as a single rather than part of an original studio album, the recording later appeared on Price’s 1961 compilation “Ray Price’s Greatest Hits.” The inclusion placed it alongside earlier successes such as “Release Me” and “City Lights,” preserving the track for new listeners who discovered his catalog through the collection. The song has since remained available on various reissues and anthologies covering Price’s 1950s output.
Within Ray Price’s long career—which stretched from his early honky-tonk days into the smoother Nashville Sound of the 1960s and 1970s—“I’ll Be There (When You Get Lonely)” stands as a representative slice of his mid-decade work. It captures the singer at a moment when he was balancing commercial momentum with the emotional directness that defined classic country ballads, and it continues to appear in retrospectives of his influential recordings from that era.
Video
Lyric
When you get lonely at the close of day
I’ll be the one who’ll kiss your tears away
Just close your eyes and say a prayer
And I’ll be thereThough we’re apart I know it’s true
Our love can bring me back to you
Just close your eyes and say a prayer
And I’ll be thereWhen love and faith walk hand in hand
There’s nothing we can’t do
Just keep your faith and you will find
I’ll soon be coming home to you, oh ohWhen you recall our last goodbye
Remember this before you cry
Just close your eyes and say a prayer
And I’ll be thereWhen love and faith walk hand in hand
There’s nothing we can’t do
Just keep your faith and you will find
I’ll soon be coming home to you, oh ohWhen you recall our last goodbye
Remember this before you cry
Just close your eyes and say a prayer
And I’ll be there
Oh I’ll be there