Ray Stevens: The Off-the-Wall Comic

In the dictionaries published by various publishing houses it states that someone who is off-the-wall can be synonymous with off-beat, way out, bizarre, novel, strange, and other descriptive words. Ray Stevens, as a person, isn't off-the-wall. However, the music in which the public at large is familiar with can be described as off-the-wall. Some describe the lyrics as being off the beaten path. There are plenty of songs of his that are comical that satirize or spoof contemporary events or trends. In recent years his comical recording of "Hang Up and Drive" spoofs the practice of talking on a cell-phone while driving. On his One for the Road CD, there's a song that examines what it's like to reach the retirement age in "Retired".

There was a serious recording from Ray entitled "Golden Age" that deals with the subject of growing older. The song was written from the viewpoint of a younger person, of course, because Ray was younger. "Retired" is written by younger writers, too, but because Ray is older, the song fits him...although retirement is far from his mind. I doubt anyone out there has heard a lot of the quirky comical songs that Ray has recorded that have never been issued as singles or performed with any regularity in his concerts...obviously.

"Kiss a Pig" is one of those quirky songs. In it, Ray sings about finding a pig...he actually stole it from a farmer. The song isn't really about kissing a pig but the title would have you believe that it is. In reality, the song switches the concept of having a pet dog or cat with a pet pig, which isn't unheard of in some places of the country. "Heart Transplant" is a song about...what else...a heart transplant. Ray sings about an older man who's given a young heart and the comical consequences of such an operation. "his heart wants to dance and make romance; but his body says sorry pal, no chance..."

Ironically Ray has yet to record or write a song that spoofs the reality show craze. I think it's because the reality shows are so stupid with the over-dramatics of "who's gonna be voted off tonight??" or "who's gonna be the last one standing??" that writing a comical song spoofing such nonsense would actually sound more serious than comical to certain people because viewers take those shows so seriously that they'd fail to grasp the humor in any potential song spoofing the reality shows...but it would be nice to see what Ray and or his writers could come up with as a comical send-off to those reality shows.

Did you know that Ray recorded a song dedicated to enemas? The song was called "The Cure" and it's about Ray as a little boy playing sick so he can stay home from school and how the remedy of an enema cured all ailments. The song is available on a couple of CD's. The first is 2008's CD, Hurricane. The other CD is Laughter Is The Best Medicine which was sold at hospital gift shops before it became available at Ray's web-site store. What subject hasn't Ray recorded about?? Cable TV was spoofed back in 1988 in the song "Language, Nudity, Violence, and Sex". There is a serious love ballad that Ray recorded that has a comical song title. The song is "Love Will Beat Your Brains Out" and some snobs out there declare that the song's title is one of the worst ever. The off-beat song title is what attracted me to it...and I was surprised that it was a love ballad. It's on his 1983 album, Me. He re-recorded it for his Thank You CD a few years ago.

Here's a look at the 8-track version of Ray's 1973 album, Nashville. This is the album that features the "Golden Age" song. Ray released this album and did much of it's publicity on Dean Martin's various TV shows. The album contained only one chart single and it was the title track, an ode to the country music capitol. The song also mentions points of interest all over the world but no matter where Ray happens to be he's always home-sick for Nashville. The song, of course, charted country. Top-40 pop radio had little interest in playing a song about a city that is known as the home of country music. Ray wasn't being marketed as a country performer yet but the music was country for a good percentage of the album. A few of the songs departed from the country setting like "Golden Age", "Float" {an instrumental}, and "Nobody's Fool". The other material featured steel guitar and other country music instrumentation. "Love Me Longer" was issued as a single but it didn't enter the charts. The song is a love ballad of one-night stand proportions...dealing with the temptations of life on the road.

I came across a web-site this morning, actually a message board of sorts, where a few people didn't even know Ray was still among the living. I assume people identify Ray with a certain decade and think he's no longer living or they're just so out of touch with Ray's whereabouts that they mistakenly assume he's stopped recording.

I've seen some web-sites where people would swear that Ray hasn't recorded anything since the 1980's and then there are some people who say that Ray quit recording after he sold his theater in Branson, Missouri. I get annoyed reading things like that because it shows ignorance on their part. In this age of the internet where official information is just a click away you'd think people who write or mention Ray you'd think that they'd at least do a little research.

I saw a blurb earlier about Ray's 1970 TV show. The writer of the description, well, any serious Ray Stevens fan could tell that the person doing the write-up was winging it and didn't really know anything about Ray at all...here it is...and I quote:

"CTV produced this short summer series in 1970. After getting his start with "The Andy Williams Show", singer-comedian Ray Stevens now had his own program to let his brand of humor run wild. The skits tended more toward slapstick-style physical humor, interspersed with a number of Stevens' more well-known songs (such as "The Streak"), as well as some of his newer creations"

The first problem is that Andy's TV show didn't give Ray "his start". Ray became a recurring regular of Andy's show in 1969, hosted the summer replacement show in 1970, and remained a popular guest through 1971. Ray had been recording comical and serious songs long before he became associated with Andy Williams...Ray's recording career dates back to 1957. His first hit recording came in 1961...but he recorded a lot of interesting material prior to 1961 during his teen years. Ray turned 20 in 1959 by the way...meaning he was 31 when he hosted the 1970 summer show for Andy Williams.

The second problem that I have with the short write-up is that the writer mentions "The Streak". That recording hit in 1974...four years after Ray's summer TV show ended. Ray never performed that song on his TV show as it wasn't even thought of or let alone written in 1970. The streaking fad happened in 1974 and Ray's timing was perfect. Anyway, it annoys the crap out of me when I come across write-up's that are filled with inaccuracies. Ray's summer show in 1970 is notable for a couple of things. First, it's theme song provided Ray with a million selling Grammy winner, "Everything Is Beautiful". Ray wrote the song in about 3 days because he needed a song that could be used as a theme song.

Ray used the show to promote his songs and spotlight the talent's of his cast.

The second thing that is notable about Ray's 1970 show was the emergence of comedian, Steve Martin. The show has yet to surface in DVD format.