June 17, 2018

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...Ronnie McDowell

Hello all...I just finished watching Ronnie McDowell's episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and I'm here to deliver my recap/commentary. The episode, as you can imagine, features a lot of reference and recollection about Elvis Presley. In case you're unaware, though, Ronnie McDowell, in my opinion, is a great Elvis vocalist.

I never label him an impersonator because Ronnie's had success with his own recordings (in his own voice) and he's long since established himself separately from Elvis but for decades movie companies and television companies have often recruited Ronnie due to his uncanny ability to vocally mimic Elvis from any time period: from the youthful rocker to the often parodied Vegas Elvis. Ray opens the show with a performance of "Way Down". This song happened to be a hit for Elvis at the time of his death in 1977. I've mentioned this several times over the years on this blog the fact that Ray published the Elvis recording. The writer happened to be Layng Martine, Jr. and in addition to Elvis singing the obvious lead vocal "Way Down" also featured bass accompaniment from J.D. Sumner.

Ray introduces Ronnie and he tells of how he happened to be in Nashville in 1977 and he gives the exact time of day being 2:22pm when he heard Elvis had died. Ronnie explains the origins behind his recording, "The King is Gone", and how it sold more than a million copies in less than a week (it was certified Gold by the RIAA, officially, in January of 1978). Ray mentions how much of an influence Elvis had on Ronnie and asks if he ever personally met Elvis. Ronnie says that he never met him in person. He tells of how his father wasn't a fan of Elvis or rock 'n' roll, in general, and he recalls taking his father to the movies to see a film called King Creole.

Ronnie says that he knew it was an Elvis movie but told his father it was a horror movie (perhaps thinking his father would assume it to be along the lines of King Kong or something). Anyway, Ronnie says that when he seen Elvis up on the large movie screen it changed his life forever. Ray comically counters this by stating that as a boy he seen Frankenstein and that it had a profound impact on him. At this point I also should make mention that Ray comically teased Ronnie several times about having a sharp memory and being able to remember exact dates and places in time. Ronnie also spoke as much as he could about Elvis and there are some noticeable edits indicating that the conversations may have lasted longer and so maybe we'll see some additional footage in a later clip-filled show.

Ronnie sings "The King is Gone" while Ray plays the piano.



Ray brings up Ronnie's talent in visual arts...and Ronnie remarks that it all began in grade school and how his efforts were praised by a teacher. Ray asks about a painting called Reflections of a King and this leads into discussions about his art work. In the video clip above you'll see Ronnie getting ready to unveil a portrait called That Magic Moment. It received a lot of applause and there were some audible gasps from the audience when viewing the sheer precision of the painting.

Shifting gears Ronnie performs "Watchin' Girls Go By" which was one of his big hits in the early '80s. Afterward he tells of seeing Elvis for the first time on television and he performs the song he said Elvis performed, "I Need Your Love Tonight". I'm nowhere near the dedicated fan of Elvis that Ronnie happens to be so I'd never heard that song before...but I looked it up and sure enough it was a big hit for Elvis early in 1959. The song had been recorded in June of 1958 while Elvis was on leave from the Army.

After the spirited performance from Ronnie of "I Need Your Love Tonight" Ray thanked him for being on the show and although 95 percent of this episode was Elvis oriented Ray closed the show with his version of the Hank Locklin mega hit, "Please Help Me I'm Falling". The episode of Ray's television show airing this weekend guest stars Branson, Missouri mainstay Shoji Tabuchi. If you're keeping track it's episode 11 of Season Six. Shoji has performed at his own Branson, Missouri theater since 1990 and given Ray's history with the Missouri town headlining his own theater (1991-1993; 2004-2006) you can bet the two will share some Branson stories. I'll deliver my recap/commentary next weekend!

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