Ray Price: Singer and songwriter whose stylistic shifts and smooth baritone were perpetually influential in the country scene

Price in 1983: he had returned to the charts, working with Willy Nelson (AP)

When Ray Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996 he stood on stage and declared, "It's about time!" This was no act of immodesty, but an acknowledgement that many of his peers had expected such recognition years earlier. He was, after all, one of the genre's greatest vocalists, his smooth baritone having proved highly influential upon succeeding generations of singers, and as the leader of the Cherokee Cowboys he had launched the careers of future stars such as Roger Miller and Willie Nelson.

Furthermore, his ear for a great song had led him to champion many of Nashville's finest tunesmiths, with Bill Anderson, Harlan Howard and Kris Kristofferson among those who would long be grateful for the careers that he helped to forge.

The streak of independence that has long been associated with his native Texas found an outlet in his determination to buck trends and to take the lead in shaping country music's future. Originally a hit-maker in the style of his good friend Hank Williams, he responded to the rise of rock'n'roll by developing a driving 4/4 shuffle beat, with prominent steel guitar and single-string fiddle, that became synonymous with much of his output from the 1950s, including "Crazy Arms" (1956), "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" (1957) and Roger Miller's "Invitation to the Blues" (1958).

During the following decade, motivated by what he regarded as the disdain with which many then viewed country music, he adopted a slick, lushly orchestrated "countrypolitan" style that threatened to alienate many fans. Exemplified by hits such as "Danny Boy" (1966) and "She Wears My Ring" (1968), an initial backlash gave way to acceptance and helped to maintain his presence in the charts. More recently, he returned to his roots, embracing the western swing and honky-tonk traditions that had made him a star.

Ray Price was born in Peach, in the rural north-east of Texas, in 1926. He worked on his father's smallholding before the family moved to Dallas, where his parents separated. Spurred on by his mother's aspirations for a better life for her son, he received formal singing lessons and was exposed to his Italian stepfather's opera collection, though his own musical taste veered more towards the blue yodels of Jimmie Rodgers and the hillbilly jazz of Bob Wills.

At 17 he joined the US Marines, serving in the Air Corps until he was discharged with a back injury in 1945. He studied veterinary science before being drawn to a career in music. A series of broadcasts on KRBC Abilene was followed by appearances on the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, a platform that would lead to his first single, "Jealous Lies", in 1950. A record deal with Nashville's Bullet label followed, and by 1951 he was with Columbia. The label's British-born A&R man, Don Law, was reluctant to sign him, only relenting when he became aware that Decca were interested. Law's hands-off approach to producing would enable the Texan to hone his own, distinctive sounds.

He befriended Hank Williams, who arranged his Grand Ole Opry debut in 1951 with a song they had co-written, "Weary Blues (From Waiting)". For a while the two shared a house and Price witnessed Williams's destructive path, a journey that would lead to his drug- and alcohol-fuelled death in 1953. Price recalled: "He was my best friend… I always do one of his songs in my show, as a tribute to him." In 1952, backed by Williams's band the Drifting Cowboys and the young Chet Atkins, he cut "Talk To Your Heart". It peaked at No 3 on the country charts and was followed in 1953 by another hit, a version of the standard, "Release Me".

Concerned that his style owed too much to his late friend he hired a new band, the Western Cherokees, and rechristened them the Cherokee Cowboys. With their showy stage attire they became one of the most recognisable backing groups in country music and a number of future stars enjoyed tenure with them, including bassists Johnny Paycheck and Willie Nelson – the latter, by his own admission, an indifferent player – guitarist Roger Miller and, on drums, Johnny Bush. Major instrumentalists such as the steel guitarists Jimmy Day and Buddy Emmons, and the fiddler Buddy Spicher also made their presence felt.

In 1956 Price unveiled the 4/4 shuffle that would prove his signature sound. "We doubled the 4/4 stand-up bass with the electric bass guitar played by Harold Bradley, and both of 'em played the same note, and because of the combination of the two, it cut right for the first time," he explained. "That's where all that shuffle stuff started, that night. Maybe I caught on to it at the dances, watching people's feet shuffle when they danced. But that's what we come up with for 'Crazy Arms.'" The sound helped "Crazy Arms" to the top of the country charts, where it remained for 20 weeks, and set a template for other hits, including Bill Anderson's "City Lights" (1958) Harlan Howard's "Heartaches by the Number" (1959) and Mel Tillis's "Heart Over Mind" (1961).

For a gospel album, Faith, in 1960, he was joined by both the Anita Kerr singers and members of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Despite record label scepticism, it sold well and hinted at what was to come. In 1963 he cut Night Life, a jazz- and-blues-flavoured disc that included Willie Nelson's now classic title track. Two years later "Make The World Go Away" and "Burning Memories" made use of strings, much to the chagrin of some country DJs, who refused to play his music. In 1970 he recorded Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times", a modern depiction of relationships that surprised fans. It topped the country charts and won him a Grammy Award, while the album from which it was taken sold over 1m copies.

He faded from the charts, only to return in 1980 alongside Willie Nelson, with a cover of Wills's "Faded Love". In 2007 he, Nelson and Merle Haggard collaborated on the Grammy-winning two-disc Last of the Breed, and toured, Haggard later declaring, "That old man gave us a goddamn singing lesson!" In 2012, the year he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he made a telling contribution to Jamey Johnson's project Living For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.

Noble Ray Price, singer and guitarist: born Peach, Texas 12 January 1926; twice married (Janie, 1968), one son; died Mount Pleasant, Texas 15 December 2013.