Hello all fans of Ray Stevens!! I take a look at Episode Seven, Season Two of Ray Stevens' CabaRay Nashville...in which the guest star is Collin Raye. Ray opens the show singing "Hearts Made of Stone". The studio recording emphasizes echo and creates the feel of late '50s rhythm and blues. This is difficult to re-create in a live performance and so it lacks the echo effect heard on the recording. It's a good performance, though. The recording can be found on his Here We Go Again! album. One of the things I noticed is that Tommy White, the steel guitarist, happened to be playing the dobro on this performance. It's the first time I'd seen him play a dobro on Ray's show. After the performance Ray brings out Collin Raye.
I have liked hearing Collin sing for years...although I'm not what you might call a fan of his (someone that purchases music or attends his concerts) I nevertheless felt that he was among the better vocalists in the New Country wave that spread all over country music in the early '90s and even today if I find myself station surfing the radio and hear him I'll leave it at the station and continue listening to him. The thing that caused me to take notice of him was the fact that his first hit song happened to be a cover of "All I Can Be is a Sweet Memory" which had previously been recorded by Conway Twitty on a 1985 album called Chasin' Rainbows. The song's writer happened to be Harlan Howard.
Collin tells of how he first met Ray down in Branson, Missouri and the two of them recall how difficult and exhaustive it is doing live concerts day after day, week after week, year after year. Collin happened to be an artist in residence for half a year. Collin's encounter with Ray took place at the Moon River owned by Andy Williams...and that the people in the audience wanted an encore. Collin remarked that Ray, for an encore, walked on stage and sang one line of a song and went off stage...came back on stage and sang a line of another song...and then left...came back out and sang a line from a different song. It went on and on 6 times...and as a joke that's how Ray obtained 6 encores one night.
Ray brings up Collin's charity work and Collin talks of raising money for electric wheelchairs due to their being so expensive. He sings "My Kind of Girl" and it's followed by the limited animation music video of "Hang Up and Drive".
The video's still shot is of him performing "My Kind of Girl". After the animated music video concludes Ray asks about Collin's ballads and that he's recorded several that require a kleenex when listening. Collin performs "Love, Me" while Ray plays the piano...the only instrument heard during the performance. This emotional performance is followed up with a second limited animation music video...the cartoon video of "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills". Ray closes the show performing "Yakety Yak".
On the next episode of Ray Stevens' CabaRay Nashville the guests happened to be Darryl Worley and Lee Greenwood. It's Ray's patriotic episode. Lee nor Darryl appear together on-screen and the episode breaks formula somewhat...I'll explain in my next blog entry!
Showing posts with label Hearts Made of Stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hearts Made of Stone. Show all posts
January 8, 2018
April 19, 2015
Ray Stevens: April 18th Opry re-cap...
Hello once more...as promised in my previous blog entry here's a brief re-cap of the Ray Stevens guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry yesterday evening. In my blog entry from yesterday I erroneously stated that the Opry's host during Ray's appearance was going to be Jim Ed Brown. Unless I had been thinking of him earlier in the day or happened to see a picture of him, or, had actually seen his name listed in close proximity to Ray's I never would've posted the wrong information but something told my brain to type Jim Ed and that's what I happened to do but in actuality the host of the Opry segment that Ray appeared on happened to be the family group, The Whites. The half hour segment featured songs by them and a couple of songs by a gospel artist named Chris August...and then it came time for Ray Stevens!
Ray came out and spoke about his current Here We Go Again! comedy CD. He mentioned that his previous guest appearance at the Opry took place only a couple of weeks ago and that he performed a certain song that night...and due to demand he performed it once more...the song being "Taylor Swift is Stalkin' Me". He followed-up the performance with "Hearts Made of Stone" (!).
The live performance doesn't have the echo effect that the studio recording has and I was completely surprised that he chose that particular song to spotlight considering some of the other songs on the CD have more of a country flavor but I'm glad he performed the song, though. At least I can say I heard him perform the song in case he never performs it again. In case you missed the April 18th performance you can check the Opry's Archive page. At the moment the page is updated through April 14th (this past Tuesday Night Opry broadcast). You'll have to periodically keep checking the Opry Archive Page to see when they upload the April 18th broadcast. I'll also do the same and of course I'll post a link to the April 18th broadcast in a future blog post. Remember, though, the link I'll be posting in a future blog is for the complete broadcast...it isn't going to be a link to only the segment Ray Stevens appears on. The first segment is hosted by Jeannie Seely.
The live performance doesn't have the echo effect that the studio recording has and I was completely surprised that he chose that particular song to spotlight considering some of the other songs on the CD have more of a country flavor but I'm glad he performed the song, though. At least I can say I heard him perform the song in case he never performs it again. In case you missed the April 18th performance you can check the Opry's Archive page. At the moment the page is updated through April 14th (this past Tuesday Night Opry broadcast). You'll have to periodically keep checking the Opry Archive Page to see when they upload the April 18th broadcast. I'll also do the same and of course I'll post a link to the April 18th broadcast in a future blog post. Remember, though, the link I'll be posting in a future blog is for the complete broadcast...it isn't going to be a link to only the segment Ray Stevens appears on. The first segment is hosted by Jeannie Seely.
March 25, 2015
Ray Stevens: Here We Go Again! CD...My Review...
***My review of Ray's current CD contains spoilers! If you don't want to read about the songs or learn of any of the hooks, phrases, or some of the lyrics then don't read the rest of this blog entry***
After taking a detour, of sorts, over the last
5+ years and releasing some hilarious political songs on a couple of
CD's, plus issuing a 9-CD box set called The Encyclopedia of Recorded
Comedy Music (containing his versions of novelty songs of the last 50+
years), a majestic gospel CD last year called Gospel Collection, Volume
One, and a memoir titled Ray Stevens' Nashville...after those
projects, Ray Stevens returns to country comedy on his latest CD. The
cover art, as you can see, takes place in an airport setting. In a
touch of silliness, a gorilla plays the part of the chauffeur. On the
back of the CD the songs are listed as if they're flights posted on the
Arrival board. The CD's first single release arrived in music video form
a month ago...titled "Taylor Swift is Stalkin' Me" it's a story of a
man that's obsessed ith the belief that he's being stalked by the
pop-country singer because, according to him, he sees her everywhere and
given that her likeness appears everywhere he happens to be he thinks
she's stalking him. The song has a comical twist ending, though.
Throughout the song he insists that Taylor's up in a tree looking at him
with binoculars.
After the bouncy opening track about Taylor we're treated to Ray covering one of his musical idols, Ray Charles. I pretty much know that the purists that'll hear the Ray Stevens rendition of the Ray Charles classic "What'd I Say" aren't gong to like it. After all, they may ask, how can you top a Ray Charles recording?
I don't necessarily believe Ray Stevens set out to try and top the classic rendition from Ray Charles, though. I think that Ray Stevens simply wanted to record the song and so he did. I happen to love the rendition. Even if some may groan about the idea of someone other than the late Ray Charles performing that song at least it gives Ray Stevens an opportunity to display his obvious love for classic Rhythm and Blues music.
Aside from the song about Taylor Swift, one of my other favorites from this CD is "There Must Be a Pill For This". This one is vintage Ray Stevens...it tells the story of pills...and the enormous quantity of pills that are on the market for everything under the sun. Pills to help thick people lose weight, and pills to help frail people gain weight. It's a satire on pills...miracle pills, specifically...and as an added pleasure there's a parody of those lengthy disclaimers that appear as voice-overs on healthcare commercials.
The tempo changes for the next song, "Walkin' the Dog". In this one Ray sings of constantly bickering with his wife. Instead of moping around the house he simply goes outside, gets Rover, and walks the dog. He reckons that once he starts to take the dog for a walk he may run into a woman putting on the dog (presumably to be a possible new love interest). Track Five is thrilling...a cover of "Hearts Made of Stone". I looked up the song's title and found out that it had been a Rhythm and Blues hit in 1954 for a group called The Charms. I had heard an audio clip of Ray's recording and since that time I had been wondering the reason for the 1950's-style of audio (complete with echo!) and I eventually found out the reason. It's clearly the stand-out song on the CD if only for it not vocally sounding like anything else. I love the over-dubbed do-wah harmonies heard throughout.
The most country sounding recording on the entire CD is "Pickin' on the Chicken". This one, too, is one of my favorites. In the song Ray sings from a chicken's point of view and he demands to know the reason so many negative expressions are associated with chickens, hens, and eggs. Throughout the song we're treated to a list of expressions and sayings that put the chicken in a bad light...expressions like 'madder than a wet hen'; 'that's chicken feed'; 'He's got egg on his face'; 'One flew the coop'; etc. Ray also manages to get in a reference to Willie Nelson, too, in a laugh out loud funny one-liner.
The second-most country sounding recording is "The Baptism of Stumpy Brown". The song is about an atheist that suddenly finds religion in his 90s and insists on being baptized as a result. The frail body in a raging river is bound to cause some incidents...and Ray tells of those in this story. Inspiration surfaces in the song "Little by Little". There is a song on here called "You Didn't Build That"...let's just say I find it hilarious...but it's something that more than likely is not going to go over too well with, say, fans of the President. That song is followed by a contemporary classic in the form of the illegal immigration anthem "Come to the U.S.A." (a song from 2010). Illegal immigration is a hot topic and one that's consistently controversial. Although I'm reviewing the CD there's an Mp3 copy for sale, too, and that means customers can pick and choose the songs they want to purchase from Here We Go Again! I prefer having a physical copy of the CD.
Along the lines of manhood and masculinity comes "A Handshake Will Do", track 11. The lyrics cry foul on guys hugging other guys unless it's called for and Ray gives examples for when it's okay. Ironically, on the day this CD went on sale, a picture of Larry Gatlin attempting to hug Ray appeared on Ray's social media sites. There's no reference to this song, as far as the picture is concerned, though. I call it just one of those ironic coincidences.
Ray had appeared as a guest artist on the Grand Ole Opry on March 21st on a segment hosted by Larry Gatlin.
The CD's closing track, "Knock Him Out John", is another one of my favorites. I call it a tribute to the late Jerry Clower. It's a recap of Jerry's story of the time he and some of his friends went hunting for racoons and ended up having an encounter with a lynx. Ray's recording is the story set to music. Ray does his rendition of Jerry's holler and it appears at various moments during the song's chorus.
I thoroughly enjoyed the CD...his restless energy and incredible vocals are on full display on this CD!
After the bouncy opening track about Taylor we're treated to Ray covering one of his musical idols, Ray Charles. I pretty much know that the purists that'll hear the Ray Stevens rendition of the Ray Charles classic "What'd I Say" aren't gong to like it. After all, they may ask, how can you top a Ray Charles recording?
I don't necessarily believe Ray Stevens set out to try and top the classic rendition from Ray Charles, though. I think that Ray Stevens simply wanted to record the song and so he did. I happen to love the rendition. Even if some may groan about the idea of someone other than the late Ray Charles performing that song at least it gives Ray Stevens an opportunity to display his obvious love for classic Rhythm and Blues music.
Aside from the song about Taylor Swift, one of my other favorites from this CD is "There Must Be a Pill For This". This one is vintage Ray Stevens...it tells the story of pills...and the enormous quantity of pills that are on the market for everything under the sun. Pills to help thick people lose weight, and pills to help frail people gain weight. It's a satire on pills...miracle pills, specifically...and as an added pleasure there's a parody of those lengthy disclaimers that appear as voice-overs on healthcare commercials.
The tempo changes for the next song, "Walkin' the Dog". In this one Ray sings of constantly bickering with his wife. Instead of moping around the house he simply goes outside, gets Rover, and walks the dog. He reckons that once he starts to take the dog for a walk he may run into a woman putting on the dog (presumably to be a possible new love interest). Track Five is thrilling...a cover of "Hearts Made of Stone". I looked up the song's title and found out that it had been a Rhythm and Blues hit in 1954 for a group called The Charms. I had heard an audio clip of Ray's recording and since that time I had been wondering the reason for the 1950's-style of audio (complete with echo!) and I eventually found out the reason. It's clearly the stand-out song on the CD if only for it not vocally sounding like anything else. I love the over-dubbed do-wah harmonies heard throughout.
The most country sounding recording on the entire CD is "Pickin' on the Chicken". This one, too, is one of my favorites. In the song Ray sings from a chicken's point of view and he demands to know the reason so many negative expressions are associated with chickens, hens, and eggs. Throughout the song we're treated to a list of expressions and sayings that put the chicken in a bad light...expressions like 'madder than a wet hen'; 'that's chicken feed'; 'He's got egg on his face'; 'One flew the coop'; etc. Ray also manages to get in a reference to Willie Nelson, too, in a laugh out loud funny one-liner.
The second-most country sounding recording is "The Baptism of Stumpy Brown". The song is about an atheist that suddenly finds religion in his 90s and insists on being baptized as a result. The frail body in a raging river is bound to cause some incidents...and Ray tells of those in this story. Inspiration surfaces in the song "Little by Little". There is a song on here called "You Didn't Build That"...let's just say I find it hilarious...but it's something that more than likely is not going to go over too well with, say, fans of the President. That song is followed by a contemporary classic in the form of the illegal immigration anthem "Come to the U.S.A." (a song from 2010). Illegal immigration is a hot topic and one that's consistently controversial. Although I'm reviewing the CD there's an Mp3 copy for sale, too, and that means customers can pick and choose the songs they want to purchase from Here We Go Again! I prefer having a physical copy of the CD.
Along the lines of manhood and masculinity comes "A Handshake Will Do", track 11. The lyrics cry foul on guys hugging other guys unless it's called for and Ray gives examples for when it's okay. Ironically, on the day this CD went on sale, a picture of Larry Gatlin attempting to hug Ray appeared on Ray's social media sites. There's no reference to this song, as far as the picture is concerned, though. I call it just one of those ironic coincidences.
Ray had appeared as a guest artist on the Grand Ole Opry on March 21st on a segment hosted by Larry Gatlin.
The CD's closing track, "Knock Him Out John", is another one of my favorites. I call it a tribute to the late Jerry Clower. It's a recap of Jerry's story of the time he and some of his friends went hunting for racoons and ended up having an encounter with a lynx. Ray's recording is the story set to music. Ray does his rendition of Jerry's holler and it appears at various moments during the song's chorus.
I thoroughly enjoyed the CD...his restless energy and incredible vocals are on full display on this CD!
March 18, 2015
Ray Stevens: Just 5 More Days...
Hello all...oh yes, there's just 5 more days until the release date of the upcoming Ray Stevens CD Here We Go Again!. I'm in my usual anxious, anticipatory, nervous mood just ahead of release day...I plan on posting several more blogs over the weekend and of course on Monday. I pre-ordered my copy of the CD on Amazon back in late February...I have no idea if pre-ordering ensures a CD being shipped in advance so it arrives on release day...but I have a feeling it doesn't.
In the past I've often gotten, surprisingly, a product on release day or a day later. I'm assuming this is because I pre-ordered the product well in advance and so my order was among the first to be shipped out. Then again, I've had experiences in the past of pre-ordering a product only to have others receive their item ahead of me...so it's never a case of being "among the first" to pre-order something. Sometimes the locale of the customer plays a huge factor, too.
As you all may be aware, Ray has an upload on his YouTube channel previewing the songs on the CD. I played the clip just once...the audio clips are too lengthy (for me). That's the reason I hadn't embedded it too many times on my blog...not nearly as many times as the hit music video, "Taylor Swift is Stalkin' Me". Speaking of the music video...it's gotten an increase of 3,077 unique views since my previous blog entry. It's grand total so far is 72,120. It may vault into the 80,000 range over the weekend. The interesting thing is the music video hasn't gotten any sort of high profile publicity beyond some write-ups that have circulated on the internet publicizing the video's existence. The totals of the video rest pretty much entirely on video sharing and, to date, there's not been any outside influence...meaning there's been no publicity from any syndicated AM radio talk programs nor has he appeared on Fox News Channel nor has their been any on-air reference to the video's existence on that particular channel. It's only my opinion but I think the video could easily jump into the 100,000 range if it were to get some publicity on talk radio or be mentioned in an entertainment segment on the Fox News Channel's morning program. I believe the lack of that kind of publicity is the thing that's keeping the video from breaking out into that stratosphere. Then again, Ray may like the pace that the video's on. He can ride it's success a lot longer which can benefit the publicity of the CD in the long run.
Here's the product link from Amazon...you can pre-order the CD HERE and don't forget to listen to the Opry or attend the Opry in person this Saturday night March 21st...Ray Stevens is to be a special guest.
In the past I've often gotten, surprisingly, a product on release day or a day later. I'm assuming this is because I pre-ordered the product well in advance and so my order was among the first to be shipped out. Then again, I've had experiences in the past of pre-ordering a product only to have others receive their item ahead of me...so it's never a case of being "among the first" to pre-order something. Sometimes the locale of the customer plays a huge factor, too.
Here's the product link from Amazon...you can pre-order the CD HERE and don't forget to listen to the Opry or attend the Opry in person this Saturday night March 21st...Ray Stevens is to be a special guest.
February 23, 2015
Ray Stevens: New CD coming March 24, 2015...
Hello once more! This is my third blog entry focusing on an upcoming CD from Ray Stevens. The project is titled Here We Go Again and it's scheduled to be released on March 24th and so we're nearly a month away from getting some new Ray Stevens recordings to add to our collections. In my previous blog entry about the CD I left a link to Amazon's product page. As of today the product page still doesn't have an image of the CD cover. Amazon also doesn't carry a digital copy (Mp3).
Several days ago I ventured over to another on-line store, CD Universe, and I did a search for Ray's CD and not only does the on-line store offer it for pre-order, too, but CD Universe provides the CD's cover image!! If that isn't great enough the product page also lists some of the songs are to be on the upcoming project! I'm a bit puzzled as to why the product page doesn't list all of the songs.
You can click the CD Universe LINK and see some of the song titles that are to be on the upcoming release and see if you're also puzzled as to the reason the track list leaves out certain selections. One track not listed is "Pickin' on the Chicken", a song that Bill Cody played on his radio program several weeks ago during a guest appearance from Ray. So, once you look over the 9 song titles listed on the CD Universe product page add the omitted "Pickin' on the Chicken" to that list, too.
The bottom line is we now know the names of 10 of the songs that are to be on the CD. One song I can't wait to hear, based on it's title, is "There Must Be a Pill For This". As mentioned in a previous blog, there's a possibility that "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off" is among the songs on this upcoming CD even though it's not listed on CD Universe's incomplete track list.
Although Amazon is the leader in on-line music sales, CD Universe is offering more detailed information (cover art, select song titles, Mp3 and CD availability, etc.). It's your personal choice which on-line store you choose to pre-order the CD. Also, you can always wait until it becomes available at Ray's website store. I'm surprised that this CD hasn't been promoted heavily on his own website with banners and announcements...considering it's only a month until release day.
Perhaps the publicity will start in full swing later this month or at the very least early March...and as it stands there's not too many days left in February...so publicity for this CD should be right around the corner...
Several days ago I ventured over to another on-line store, CD Universe, and I did a search for Ray's CD and not only does the on-line store offer it for pre-order, too, but CD Universe provides the CD's cover image!! If that isn't great enough the product page also lists some of the songs are to be on the upcoming project! I'm a bit puzzled as to why the product page doesn't list all of the songs.
You can click the CD Universe LINK and see some of the song titles that are to be on the upcoming release and see if you're also puzzled as to the reason the track list leaves out certain selections. One track not listed is "Pickin' on the Chicken", a song that Bill Cody played on his radio program several weeks ago during a guest appearance from Ray. So, once you look over the 9 song titles listed on the CD Universe product page add the omitted "Pickin' on the Chicken" to that list, too.
The bottom line is we now know the names of 10 of the songs that are to be on the CD. One song I can't wait to hear, based on it's title, is "There Must Be a Pill For This". As mentioned in a previous blog, there's a possibility that "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off" is among the songs on this upcoming CD even though it's not listed on CD Universe's incomplete track list.
Although Amazon is the leader in on-line music sales, CD Universe is offering more detailed information (cover art, select song titles, Mp3 and CD availability, etc.). It's your personal choice which on-line store you choose to pre-order the CD. Also, you can always wait until it becomes available at Ray's website store. I'm surprised that this CD hasn't been promoted heavily on his own website with banners and announcements...considering it's only a month until release day.
Perhaps the publicity will start in full swing later this month or at the very least early March...and as it stands there's not too many days left in February...so publicity for this CD should be right around the corner...
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