A & E

It might seem that a guy who's been around as long as Billy Price wouldn't have much to learn. Respected locally, regionally and in parts of Europe, Price is pretty much the gold standard of contemporary soul singers.

But when he began to collaborate with songwriter Jon Tiven for his new album, "East End Avenue," Price got some unexpected advice.

"Tiven told me, 'One of things I hear on your studio records is that you're trying to hard. You're overdoing it,'" Price says. "And I think he's right about that. He said, 'Women don't like to be yelled at.' He's right about that, too."

The CD release party for "East End Avenue" is Friday at the Rhythm House Cafe in Bridgeville.

Tiven has collaborated with artists including Wilson Pickett, Don Covay and Pixies frontman Frank Black. He's also worked with soul singer Syl Johnson, who related that Al Green was almost whispering when he was recording his classic soul records at the Hi Records studio in Memphis.

As much of a fan as he is a performer, Price took Tiven's advice to heart during sessions for his new recording. "East End Avenue" is pure soul, Price's evocative tenor abetted by one of the best working bands in the Pittsburgh area. And working with those musicians in the studio, Price admits, did give the album a little more energy.

"I'm really energized by my band right now," he says.

It's also notable that "East End Avenue" is Price's first recording of new material in seven years. But 1999's "Can I Change Your Mind" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, and Price couldn't use his own players: drummer David Ray Dodd, guitarist Lenny Smith, bassist Paul Thompson, keyboardist Paul Britton and the horn section of Rick Matt, Eric DeFade and Joe Herndon.

Collaborating with Tiven and his wife, songwriter Sally Tiven, also had another effect: It kickstarted Price's writing.

"They sent me tracks, not just riffs," he says, noting that he's never met the Tivens in person. "They were constructed as songs, but they didn't have lyrics or melodies or anything. So I just played around with them and found I was getting into it and enjoying it again. ... I had to get adjusted to writing because I really don't do it that much. I spent a couple of afternoons listening to what they sent me over and over again."

The album's best song, the title track, was written by Pittsburgh-based songwriter Mike Sweeney, who contributed six songs to the album. Sweeney's "East End Avenue" has a pure joy that calls to mind other warm weather anthems, notably Will Smith's "Summertime," in its exuberance if not its style. With its irresistible hook and good-times feel, it's bound to rank with "Can I Change My Mind" and "El Dorado Cafe," Price's signature songs.

"Mike is so unbelievably prolific as a writer," Price says. "Some of these songs we went in, me and Mike and my keyboard player Jimmy Britton, and Mike would have the beginnings of ideas and we'd finish them in the studio. He'd throw millions of things at me. Some I'd say, maybe not, what else you got? Some, we'd work with for 10 minutes and put something down. I then picked them and developed them with the band."

Price wanted, and succeeded at achieving, a "straight-ahead, bare-bones sound" on "East End Avenue." Now comes the hard part: getting the album heard.

Price's expectations are modest.

"I don't expect make any dent or even a splash in the music business as it is today," he says. "But in some ways, that's not even important to me. I want my fans to get a hold of it and like it, obviously. ... I had the one taste of going overseas and I want to do that again. I want to get outside the Eastern corridor that I'm in now. There's a niche for this kind of music, and I'd like to be a little more well-known in that niche."

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