Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Episode 11 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville made it's debut on YouTube last night. The special guest happened to be Con Hunley. Ray opened the show singing "The Baptism of Stumpy Brown", a comedy song from his 2015 album Here We Go Again!.
Ray brings out Con Hunley and compares him to Sinatra. Now, for those not familiar, Con Hunley at one time was among a collection of country music artists in the late '70s and early '80s that benefitted strongly from the pop music overtones that were gradually being implemented into the sound. Also, Con was among the class of recording artists that music industry magazines and fan magazines often cited as a country music heart throb. Conway Twitty, Mac Davis, Con Hunley, T.G. Shepard, Razzy Bailey, Leon Everette, Larry Gatlin, and Billy 'Crash' Craddock were often placed in that category at some time or another during their recording careers. Con's biggest hit happened to be "No Relief in Sight".
Ray asks about Con's latest recordings and they both speak of Norro Wilson. The camera pans over to Norro who's seated in the audience next to Buddy Kalb. Norro happened to have been one of Con's record producers in the late '70s/early '80s time period. Con recruited Norro to work on the latest album, A Collection By Request. Ray asks what he thought of the country music album by Ray Charles and this leads into a conversation about Con's love of Ray Charles songs. Con and Ray Stevens sing a duet of "Georgia On My Mind".
Con sings "She Ain't You". I looked that song up and found out that it originated on an album he released titled Sweet Memories in 2005. That album was produced by Norro Wilson as well.
Ray closes the episode performing "If Ten Percent is Good Enough for Jesus" which was preceded by an introduction from Professor Cusic. The professor tells a brief history of the song and how it's become enormously popular in Ray's concerts since the day he introduced the song to his audiences back in 1993. Curb Records initially released it as a CD single that year...referred to as a promo single...featuring currency on the CD's photo sleeve with Ray's face in the portrait. The song first appeared on Ray's 1993 studio album, Classic Ray Stevens.
It's me once again! If you search the archives of my blog entries and look up the month of May in 2015 you'll come across references to a Ray Stevens appearance at the Nashville Public Library. Ray was doing a prolonged book signing tour of his memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville. Ralph had interviewed Ray in June 2014 at the library for a series called That Nashville Sound. In May of 2015 the library saluted Ralph's former television series, Nashville Now. In the clip you'll see Con Hunley seated to Ray's right. Ralph reveals within the first few minutes that Ray was partly responsible for the library saluting Nashville Now. They re-created the iconic desk Ralph sat behind with the red guitar logo of The Nashville Network which you see in the above screen cap and obviously you will see it in the video clip below...
Ralph Emery; 2015
Nearly three minutes into the interview Ralph asks Ray to tell the people what his upcoming plans for Nashville entertainment happens to be. Ray reveals that he purchased land in West Nashville and that he'll be building a venue, The CabaRay. Further in the interview the two discuss the upcoming television series; with this interview taking place in May of 2015 the television program would hit the airwaves in November that year on RFD-TV, initially titled Ray Stevens' Nashville. The series would run on the network until December 2016. It received a slightly re-titled name, Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville, once the series began airing in local syndication on PBS stations in January 2017. Since the interview is from May 2015 everything I made mention of in the weeks and months following the interview obviously hadn't happened yet. Ray speaks of his current CD, Here We Go Again!, and points out the writer of "There Must Be a Pill For This", Don Cusic, seated in the audience. Ralph and Ray also acknowledge Buddy Kalb who's seated backstage. As seen in the screen cap above, Ralph is holding the hardcover edition of Ray's memoir. I have the softcover edition. I could've ordered the hardcover version but if there's a choice between hardcover and softcover I always choose softcover. The hardcover books have those flaps that I have to tape to the inside of the book's front and back cover to prevent them from flying off anytime I go to open the book to read some pages...so hardcover's are annoying and a nuisance...so I'll always choose softcover if there's an option.
It's an entertaining interview...chock full of information on Ray's activities at the time and a look into the future. The CabaRay would open to the public in 2018. Ray had originally planned for a grand opening in the summer/fall of 2017 but technical delays prevented an opening. The lengthy waiting period to receive the building permit is what thrown construction off schedule.
Hello all! I'm playing catch-up and so I'm blogging about a video clip posted on Ray Stevens social media sites a couple of days ago. In this video we see recording artist Con Hunley performing the song "She Ain't You". I did some research because I know he had several country music hits but I wasn't familiar with his overall career. I wrote a re-cap of Con's episode of CabaRay Nashville and you can find it in my archives. Con is one of those artists that developed a following but later on he stopped making records entirely...he wasn't even recording for any small, Independent labels during that time...and the hiatus was nearly 20 years (1986-2004).
Con's highest charting hit came along with a song called "Oh Girl" in 1982 but that, strangely enough, isn't the song that received the most recurrent airplay of his career. That distinction goes to his hit, "No Relief in Sight", which hit the Top-20 the same year as "Oh Girl". It was probably due to "No Relief in Sight" sounding a just a tad bit more country that spurred that particular recording to be among his most notable recordings. It's anyone's guess. He recorded three albums after his nearly 20 year hiatus...one in 2004, another in 2005, and a third in 2006. Norro Wilson reunited with Con as record producer in the early 2000's...Norro had been associated with Con earlier in his recording career. Norro, by the way, was seated in the audience during Con's episode of CabaRay Nashville. The video below is Con performing "She Ain't You"...
Several times throughout the latter half of 2017 and into this year local PBS stations aired an hour long documentary on Ray Stevens with narration provided by Bill Cody. The special, part of PBS pledge break programming, aired twice on the local PBS affiliate that carries Ray's television show and as a result of their airing his TV series I decided to make a one time donation with my thank you gift from them being a DVD copy of the pledge break documentary. You can tell from the photo on the left that I've since received the DVD in the mail but I hadn't watched it yet. I plan on watching it later today. The special, as mentioned, runs one hour but there's additional footage (nearly half an hour's worth) that wasn't aired during the pledge break special. This is where it may get confusing but read carefully and you'll be able to follow along. In the original presentation aired on PBS stations, as a pledge break special, Ray is seated next to a host and in between the broadcast of the documentary he answers a lot of questions about his career and the CabaRay. Those segments aren't part of the actual documentary since they were exclusive to the pledge break itself where Ray, the segment host, as well as long time collaborator, Buddy Kalb, and harmony singer, Sabrina, ask for donations to support PBS and speak about the numerous Ray Stevens thank you gifts offered...one being a DVD of the documentary. Those pledge break segments featuring Ray; the host; Buddy; and Sabrina aren't part of the actual documentary.
If you're familiar with the television series then you'll know that Bill Cody introduces Ray and provides the voice over during the opening and closing credits. Bill, rather fittingly, narrates the documentary. A brief overview: Bill's been heard on radio in Nashville ever since the mid 1990s (April 1995) as the morning host on 650 WSM but that was following a lengthy career on radio stations from neighboring state, Kentucky, and on radio stations as far west as Texas. His radio career dates back to the mid 1970s but his 23 years (and counting) at WSM is more than likely where he'll eventually retire from broadcasting.
In the photo, even though it doesn't show up clearly, there's an As Seen on Public Television publicity stamp on the lower right hand side of the DVD case. The documentary features performances taken from episodes of the television series...including the one of a kind performance of "Mr. Businessman" featuring Ray on piano and B.J. Thomas singing lead. Ray sings one of the verses but B.J. performs the majority of the song. It's from Season Three. The performance of "Georgia on My Mind" by Ray and Con Hunley (from Season Two) is also highlighted in the documentary as are other performances and some music videos of "Santa Claus is Watching You", "Shriner's Convention", and "Mississippi Squirrel Revival".
This is a collage I created this morning centering around all things CabaRay. In the first panel there's an early photo I took spotlighting the CabaRay Nashville Special but some some of the lights in the room got into the scene and the glare streaked right across the photo of Ray in the process. I took a second photo...the one I led off this blog entry with. Now, in panel two, it's a photo I'd posted before. It's a coffee cup promoting Ray's television series. I purchased this at the Ray Stevens gift shop at the CabaRay. I remember it like it was yesterday but the actual concert I attended at the CabaRay was more than a month ago on March 1st! In panel five it's an official CabaRay Showroom brochure. On the back of the brochure there are photo's of the interior of the CabaRay in addition to the street address, ticket information, phone number, and internet address. When you open up the brochure you'll see a photo of the CabaRay and a time table listing the hours of operation of the Piano Bar and when the Dinner seating begins and the concert gets underway. Event times may change in the future but at the time of my concert attendance the Piano Bar opened up at 5pm while the Dinner seating began at 6pm. Balcony seats are for those that didn't purchase a dinner and just wanted to attend the concert. The concert itself began at 7:30pm. After the concert the Piano Bar re-opened for the rest of the evening. If you search the internet you'll see photo's of Ray and the fans inside the piano bar. Throughout my evening at the CabaRay we (my brother and I) were often told that Ray likes to make appearances after the concert inside the Piano Bar for interaction/photo's with the fans and sometimes brief performances at the piano. If we weren't on such a tight schedule with that next day being a Friday we would've stayed longer but instead we took one last look around the place and then got in the car and headed for home...but back to the collage...
In panels three and four are the Season One and Season Two DVD releases of his television series based upon their chronological air dates on public television. As many of you know the first 26 episodes of Ray's television program aired on RFD and they were reran on PBS beginning in January 2017 with some episodes airing in different order from when they aired on RFD. The title of the show had also changed, slightly. During it's RFD airing it ran as Ray Stevens' Nashville. Once it moved to PBS, coupled with the planning and ultimate construction of the future CabaRay venue, the title of the show was changed to Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville.
The taping of the television show at the future showroom was probably already under consideration by Ray and so why not promote the upcoming showroom within the title of the television series? The showroom opened in January of this year and taping of television episodes began the following month. A marathon taping session for sure considering material for 13 episodes were recorded throughout the month...sandwiched between regularly scheduled concert performances at the showroom.
Let's also not forget that last month Larry Black began taping his television series at Ray's showroom. His long running series, airing on RFD, is titled Larry's Country Diner. The diner set was re-constructed on the stage and so, on camera, it'll still appear as if it's at a diner even though the tables will be floor level while Larry and the guests will be stage level. The show has long had a reputation for airing practically anything captured on camera...whether it be flubbed lines, dropped dishes by waitresses, Larry or one of the guests losing track of time, etc...and this kind of loose atmosphere led to the show's motto of "where the camera keeps rolling and we don't care".
First-run episodes of the television series began airing on PBS in June 2017 with the first 13 episodes promoted as Season Three. Halloween and Christmas themed episodes that had originally aired on RFD were placed among the Season Four episodes airing on PBS in the latter half of 2017. Season Five got underway the first week of January this year and it's nearing the end of the current season...and if you've been following along you all know what Season Six means!! Season Six is scheduled to begin airing the weekend of April 21st. Yes...you read that correctly...the next season is to begin airing in local PBS syndication later this month and this season's episodes were taped at the CabaRay earlier this year. Ray, on social media sites, announced that Season Six taping sessions were underway back on February 5th and the resulting 13 episodes are to begin airing on local PBS stations later this month. There hasn't been an episode list of the upcoming season but based on social media posts from Ray's staff I know that Linda Davis, Lee Roy Parnell, Ronnie McDowell, and Mickey Dolenz are some of the guest stars for the upcoming season. By the way...art work by Ronnie as well as Bobby Goldsboro are on display at the CabaRay.
In a previous blog entry I made mention of a certain funky instrument being played by a member of Ray's band on a recent episode of the television show. Ray was performing "Your Bozo's Back Again" and I noticed the instrument due to it being prominently featured throughout the performance. It's from Episode 12 which was Part Two of John Rich's appearance. I made mention in that blog entry that once I found the name of that instrument I'd share it with all of you; although I'm sure a lot of you already knew the name of that instrument long before I did.
Well, I found out that the instrument is called a melodica and you can also find it listed as a pianica. Do an on-line image search and you'll see various versions of the instrument. It's a piano/harmonica hybrid kind of instrument. My assumption as to why an actual harmonica wasn't used in the performance is because there isn't a harmonica player in Ray's house band but given the melodica can be played like a saxophone it made more sense to just have the saxophonist play the melodica since the distinct sound of a harmonica was the lead instrument in the original recording.
Make plans to attend a concert at the CabaRay...here's all the information...
Hello once again...and on today's blog entry I'm recapping episode 11 from Season Two of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. On this episode the special guest happened to be Con Hunley. The episode was taped during recording sessions that took place in February 2017. Those episodes were among the first-run's that began airing on PBS stations in the summer.
Ray opens the show with a performance of "The Baptism of Stumpy Brown", from his Here We Go Again! album, from the pen of Buddy Kalb and Allison Speer. It's a funny story and it's a sing-a-long kind of performance if you happen to know the lyrics. It's about a non-believer that decides he wants to get baptized in his 90's and the chaos that ensues after the Preacher tosses him in the river. After this bit of funny business Ray welcomes Con Hunley.
Con speaks of his background and makes mention that during a period of more than 10 years he never recorded but that all changed after reuniting with Norro Wilson in the early 2000s and the two of them began working together once more. Norro, I had learned, was Con's record producer during the period of time he was signed to Warner Brothers. I was not too familiar with Con Hunley's career or his recordings but I knew of his name because he recorded several songs that became bigger hits for other artists...one in particular being "What Am I Gonna Do About You?". It hit the Top-20 for him in 1985 but yet the very next year a recording by Reba McEntire hit the charts and her version hit number one early in 1987. Con also recorded "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" and it was issued as a single in 1978 and it hit the Top-20 but then several years later (1984) an abbreviated recording by George Jones would hit the Top-5.
During Con's discussion with Ray about Norro he was pointed out in the audience. The camera pans out to the audience and Norro is seated next to Buddy Kalb. Norro hollers from his chair to the area where Ray and Con are standing and everyone has a laugh. Norro has since passed away and this could very well be his final appearance in front of a camera. Norro passed away in June of 2017 and the taping of this episode occurred in February of 2017.
Con speaks of his love of Ray Charles and a current album called A Collection: By Request. If you look for the CD on-line by way of search engines you're going to find it listed on several on-line music sites but once you visit those sites you're not going to find it due to it not being available in general release anymore even though it's still listed. However, you can still purchase it on Amazon but there's a disclaimer of there only being 6 copies of the CD available. It's not available as an Mp3 and Amazon doesn't offer any song selection so you'll have to do some more investigating to find more information surrounding the CD. I did just that and found out the CD had been issued in 2014 but Amazon has it's release being August 2017...so that must reflect it's reissue date or it must have been exclusive to Con's website until 2017? Anyway...
Con speaks of his charity work/golf tournaments for underprivileged children. He and Ray perform a duet of "Georgia on My Mind". If you're not as familiar with Con Hunley you'll be blown away by his vocals during this performance. Ray Stevens is also a big fan of the late Ray Charles, as all fans of Ray Stevens should be well aware of, so having both Ray Stevens and Con Hunley perform the song as a duet should bring chills to fans and the public in general.
The segment is followed by the limited animation music video, "The Camping Trip". Upon it's conclusion Ray brings Con out once more and the performance is the much more uptempo "She Ain't You" from his 2003 CD, Sweet Memories. Don Cusic, as the professor of music, talks of Ray's recording of "If Ten Percent is Good Enough for Jesus" and Ray closes the show with a performance of that song. On the next episode the special guest is Jimmy Wayne...stay tuned for a recap.
Hello there...I don't often publish/post multiple blog entries in one 24 hour time period but this is the third one I'm creating in less than 6 hours time. Earlier I posted a couple of recap blogs: Felix Cavaliere's guest appearance on Ray's television show and then I posted my recap of the episode guest starring Don McLean. This third blog entry is more or less an advertisement for Ray's brand new DVD release. You can purchase your copy of the Season Two DVD by clicking HERE.
Earlier this year Ray released Season One of his television show onto DVD. Based on production information each 'season' of his show consists of 13 episodes rather than the standard 26 per season. If you go by Ray's production method the local PBS affiliates are airing episodes taped during his 4th production season. He's been working on a 5th season and those episodes, I assume, are to start airing in the summer of 2018 but that's just my guess. He'll soon move production to his CabaRay venue once it has it's grand opening. On the Season Two DVD you'll get the episodes that I often remark had never aired on the local PBS affiliate in my region. Even though I can see these episodes on his video streaming site I'm going to wait until the DVD arrives in the mail and watch them on DVD. I love the fact that Ray's releasing episodes of the show onto DVD because it gives the show a permanent place to be available. PBS affiliates come and go...and at some point Ray's video streaming site may remove episodes of the show to clear space for other episodes...one never knows what can come of things in cyberspace. However, having a physical item such as a disc containing episodes of his show, you're at least not at the mercy of computer crashes or memory lapses, etc. that could wipe out things you've downloaded.
In other words I prefer having DVD copies of his show for the simple fact that I'm a fan of his and it's the collector in me that calls out to have a DVD of episodes I could easily watch on his video streaming site. I'd like to think a lot of other fans of his prefer to have a DVD in their possession in addition to being a member of his video streaming site. You can become a member on a monthly basis and if you choose this option you'll obviously receive an inquiry to renew your subscription each month; or, you can do as I did and subscribe for a full year and not have to think about renewing for a 12 month time period. Read more about his video streaming site by clicking HERE.
I like the photo on the DVD...interesting that they decided to go with a more somber look...as Ray looks completely focused at playing the piano. On Season One's DVD cover it shown Ray with a familiar smile behind the piano. Some of the guest stars on the Season Two DVD are: Sylvia, The Gatlin Brothers, Williams and Ree, Bill Anderson, T. Graham Brown, and Ray's daughter, Suzi Ragsdale. Once the DVD arrives I'll clear some time to watch it and then write a product review over on Ray's website and then paste it in a future blog entry.
Hello again! Late last night...I should call it early in the morning since it happened to be around 2am...I came across a video upload on YouTube of a complete performance of the Nashville Public Library's series titled That Nashville Sound. The special event that took place on May 31st of this year is of particular interest because of it's involvement with Ray Stevens.
The event celebrated Ralph Emery's career as host of Nashville Now (1983-1993) and the impact the cable series had on country music during that 10 year period. Throughout that decade and beyond various television critics in the 1980s and 1990s referred to Ralph as the Johnny Carson of cable television. As far as his varied career on television and on country radio some even called Ralph the Dick Clark of country music.
On stage at the venue the familiar/iconic desk, complete with the TNN logo, brought back memories of the series. The line-up for the special event included Con Hunley, Lorrie Morgan, Barbara Mandrell, Steve Hall/Shotgun Red, and of course Ray Stevens. Like the television series each guest came out and participated in an interview detailing the latest happenings in their career or in their personal lives. After each segment each guest moved down the line-up of chairs (there wasn't a couch and chair like in the TV series). Unlike the television series there wasn't any live music performances. To make up for this the special event included a large selection of snippets from various episodes of Nashville Now of artist's singing or being interviewed. If you happen to be a fan of Roger Miller, too, you'll be in for a treat. During the section focusing on Ray Stevens there's video footage of these 2 comedic geniuses and clever songwriters sharing the stage during an episode of Nashville Now. Roger tells a joke to Ray's utter delight. The two of them rarely appeared on stage together but the moments they did are priceless. The clip is brief but entertaining.
In Ray's segment he mentions his memoir and some of his plans for future products and his current CD. Among those plans is the hope of having a music/talk program in the same tradition of Nashville Now. He also talks about some other things that I'll hold back making mention of...you'll have to click the video to learn more. At the time of this taping on May 31, 2015 Ray's current CD had been available for just a couple of months (it's release date happened to be March 23, 2015).
