Ray Stevens: We're approaching 7 months...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! We're approaching seven months since the release of Ray's comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. The album was released on October 8, 2021. I'm sure many of you have become familiar with the comedy songs from that album by now, but, I'm surprised that there hadn't been any follow-up music videos to "Hoochie Coochie Dancer". Ray guest starred on an episode of Huckabee a couple of months ago and his performances and interview from that episode are on YouTube. Ray sang "Disorder Down on the Border", from Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, and he also sang a never before released song called "Where Are All The Twelve Year Olds?". The general public that seen that episode probably thought that the song was on the latest comedy album but it isn't. To date there hasn't been any information released as to whether the song will be on an upcoming album or if it's a song that Ray chose to sing but hasn't officially recorded. 

There are 14 comedy songs on this album...and once the fans saw the album cover we all immediately thought how similar it looked to his 1989 album, Beside Myself. The main difference between that 1989 album and the one released in October 2021 is the 1989 album featured 10 evenly split songs. There were 5 ballads and 5 comedy songs. On the 2021 release there are 14 comedy songs ranging from silly and absurd to pointed and topical. A couple of the songs are definitely in the category of social-commentary. Those songs are "Dis-Connected", "Gas", "Disorder Down on the Border", "The Quarantine Song", and the title track, "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore". When you listen to "Gas", a song Ray recorded in 2021, you're going to come away with a sense that the writer was prophetic...there's a line in there that mirrors the current talking points/excuses coming out of Washington, D.C. as to why there's high fuel costs...this "Gas" song is yet more proof that fuel costs were on the rise throughout 2021...long before Ukraine came under military attack. Aside from those topical, social-comment recordings there are other styles of comedy that Ray brings to the album. "Soap Sally" continues to be a favorite as does "The Gambler and the Octopus", a type of comedy song that builds and builds until an eventual punchline. "My Better Half" is quietly funny...since Ray is singing about a man dealing with a broken relationship the lyrics reflect it. 

I may have mentioned this in a previous blog entry but there's a customer review out there, which was written on April 19th (last month), claiming that there's off-color material on this comedy album and in my opinion that simply isn't true. 

The customer, prior to leveling such a claim, said they were longtime fans of Ray and have purchased a lot of his albums but the reviewer didn't offer any examples, such as citing any lyrics, that are "off-color" on the 2021 album. There are no comment options over there and so you're left without having the chance to question the reviewer's claims or ask the reviewer to explain how they come to their opinion. The labeling of something as off-color is highly subjective. If listening to a comedy song about a "Hoochie Coochie Dancer" or the hilarious scam Ray sings about in "The Gambler and the Octopus", or hearing a version of an urban legend, "Soap Sally", rates as off-color then, as a reviewer, specifically point that out in the customer review rather than smear the entire album under a cloak of vagueness. To counter that reviewer's comments I'll say that if you're a Ray Stevens fan you're going to love this Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore album and you'll be entertained by the various styles of comedy represented. That customer review reminds of a blurb I seen about Ray's 1987 comedy album. The brief review written in 1987 criticized Ray's decision to incorporate what the reviewer more or less called 'mature comedy' onto the album. By 'mature comedy' we're left to assume the reviewer had problems with songs such as "Sex Symbols", "Three Legged Man", "The Day That Clancy Drowned", and "Doctor, Doctor Have Mercy On Me"...but we'll never know since the reviewer/commentator never got specific.

When you listen to "Soap Sally" you're not going to hear anything explicit or "off-color"...what you're going to hear is a very funny re-telling of the urban legend...and this is just one of the fourteen comedy songs found on the album...

Ray Stevens: The Five Days of Halloween, Part Two...

Happy Halloween week Ray Stevens fans...and in this blog entry I'm putting the focus on two spooky songs that deal with legends and the kind of local small town folklore that's passed from one generation to another. I'm debating in my mind which song to embed first...and I think I'll go with a 2009 recording from Ray Stevens titled "Hangin' Around". This song is set in southern Georgia and it tells the eerie story of a child of a policeman named Grady whose wife died giving birth. Ray tells of the girl, named Lady, who later in life hooks up with a woman named Sadie. Eventually the two leave town but return half a year later with a guy, Tony, who Lady says is her husband. Sadie eventually goes crazy, we're told, and Tony disappears. Ray lets us know that some people in town say Tony's in the swamp "Hangin' Around" and as the music plays in the background with sharp hits on the harmonica the mood is dramatic and ominous as Ray sings about perhaps the locals are going to find much more than tree limbs and things twisting in the winds. What is Ray telling us? "Hangin' Around" is from his 2009 album, One For the Road. That album was originally sold exclusively at Pilot truck stops during the first half of 2009 before it was eventually made widely available. The song wasn't highlighted much and the album itself was overshadowed by a music video release in December 2009...but it was a good album nonetheless. Here's "Hangin' Around"...  

Another Halloween-type highlight, a spooky song is from his current comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. It's "Soap Sally"!! Yes...the tale of the woman in the woods who takes great pleasure in throwing her victims into cauldrons so she can cook them up. I've spotlighted the song in a blog entry not too long ago but given it's Halloween week I'm spotlighting it once again! It's so engaging and funny but maintains the spooky, funky overtone throughout...I know you're going to love it...

Ray Stevens audio track: "Soap Sally"...

Now, not being too familiar with a lot of folklore and tales passed down from generations, I was unaware of the legend of "Soap Sally" until I heard this brand new comedy song from Ray Stevens from Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. He tells us all about the woman and the things she does to potential victims. From the pen of Buddy Kalb comes this tale of witchcraft, evil, and some may say debauchery and amorous. Ray's recording of "Soap Sally" shouldn't be confused with Tommy Roe's recording with the same title. Ray's recording is a completely different song. In this version of the urban legend Ray sings about a nude "Soap Sally" who, if she catches you, she will turn you into soap. A line in the song goes "...she'll catch ya, she'll hex ya, she'll tie you up with rope...". The story takes place in a town called Smoke Valley in 1999. One day someone from out of town decides to venture into the woods and contact "Soap Sally". In spite of being warned of her evil and insanity the out of town stranger glibly responds isn't everyone a little crazy? So, he makes his way into the woods and encounters "Soap Sally"...and it's at this point in the song where amorous kicks in...pointing out that there's someone for everyone, apparently. I don't think this will be released as a single or music video but I decided to spotlight it anyhow. The new comedy album from Ray touches all kinds of moods and subject matter and "Soap Sally" is one of the wildest comedy songs on the album from a lyrical standpoint.  

Ray Stevens: My Review of "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore"

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! It's officially release day of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore!! Later this morning Ray will be interviewed on the Bill Cody morning radio show on WSM. The series is called Coffee, Country, and Cody. Bill and his on-air partner, Charlie Mattos, are on the air real early and they sign off at 10am Central time. A portion of their radio program airs on Circle TV. Ray posted on his social media that he'd be on at some point during the final hour of the show...which kicks off at 9am Central time, 10am Eastern time. Ray is also taping an episode of the Huckabee television series later today. He'll be guest announcing...and I inquired if Ray is only going to announce or will he do any singing...a reply I got stated that Ray will only be on the show as the guest announcer. I'm going to watch the show Saturday night and see what's in store. In the meantime...it's October 8th and the new comedy album from Ray Stevens is available!! I Pre-ordered my copy of the album and so I've listened to it several times and I finished listening to it again prior to my starting this review. The album contains 14 fabulous recordings...all aspects of comedy are on display in this album. I say that because some people out there probably find yourselves thinking that Ray Stevens specializes in a certain style of humor and doesn't venture outside of it. I'd argue that he's all the time singing a wide variety of songs and has touched on all forms of clean comedy. He won't do explicit or warning label humor. On Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore we find Ray singing about a wide range of topics and subject matter...which includes some very pointed commentary on current events.

I'd had the image of the back of the CD in my photo collection for a couple of weeks and have been waiting for the proper time to post it. The album opens up with "Hoochie Coochie Dancer". Now, this comical song features a story of a man who meets up with a woman at a carnival...not knowing her true motives...and one thing leads to another and he finds himself presenting her with a wedding ring. Then he tells us that he was struck in the back of the head and the next thing he knew was waking up with a headache but no sign of the ring or the dancer. Ray continues the up-tempo feel on track two, "Coco Cabana Band". This song was premiered on country music website, The Boot, on October 7th. The song is a fabulous performance from Ray as he delivers vocal impressions of monkeys and a wild scat singing solo. The band is made up of 5 primates: A gorilla, baboon, chimpanzee, monkey, and orangutan. They migrated from the Congo and made stops in several U.S. cities before settling in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Ray describes the band as the top bananas in all of Alabama. "Gas", track three, is a song that should be very familiar to Ray Stevens fans in that the audio track's been available on YouTube since the month of June. It was promoted in June as the first single from the forthcoming comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. The song is about a U.S. President who has a problem with "Gas"...and lyrically the song uses puns and double-entendre conflating the real-world issue of fuel with flatulence. 

After opening the album with three up-tempo songs Ray slows down the tempo dramatically with "My Better Half". Now, this is a song that I find hilarious but it's performed with an incredibly serious, bluesy delivery. From the pen of Bobby Braddock the song tells of a man describing a typical night by himself...since the man is alone and doesn't feel whole he uses a lot of singular rather than plural language and it's this subtle touch that causes the song to be hilarious...at least it is to me. We're back with up-tempo on "Moonshine"...a song that includes just about every slang reference to homemade alcohol. Track six is the comical ballad "The Gambler and The Octopus"...this wild story is about a gambler at a bar who makes numerous bets with a bartender. The gambler claims the octopus can play a flugelhorn...followed by several other instruments...and each claim is proven true which causes the bartender to have to pay up with free drinks. The gambler then has the tables turned when the bartender claims that he has an instrument in the back which he doesn't believe the octopus can play. The bartender brings in the bagpipes...and the octopus, well, if I reveal what happens next it'll give away the payoff/punchline.

Now, "The Gambler and The Octopus" is quite a story but the following track, "Soap Sally", in a lot of ways tops it. In that song Ray sets the mood...there's some spooky, funky, swampy undertones accompany the story of a woman who wears no clothes...behaves like something close to a witch...with a reputation for dastardly evil doing. In the song we're told the woman is definitely an outcast...and yet playing into the old saying that there's someone for everyone a man decides that Sally may not be an actual outcast or a witch but confesses that he himself is half crazy, too, and by song's end he hooks up with her. The CD has 14 songs and if it were a vinyl album "Soap Sally" would be the last song on Side One. Track eight is "Down in Mexico"...a previously recorded song by The Coasters. Ray sings the song fabulously as only he can do, and given his love for their music and the passage of time, he updated the song musically. He closes the song with one of the lengthiest, funniest, and dare I say sexually comical series of yelps, moans, and grunts. 

"Dis-Connected" is a bouncy sing-a-long that I hope becomes a single release. It's one of the shortest songs on the album and the subject matter is potentially relatable in that it depicts a relationship that's crumbling due to the internet and social media enabling people to talk with texts and through other online capabilities rather than speaking to, or having a relationship with, someone in person. In the song Ray sings that the guy's got over 1,500 friends but regardless of that he feels "Dis-Connected". Next up is "The Quarantine Song"...and you should all be familiar with the song if you follow Ray's career. It debuted as a music video in 2020 about COVID-19...and by year's end an audio recording of the song was issued by Curb Records. The video's gotten more than 3,000,000 unique views. "Old Dog" is a cute sing-a-long about a guy who declares love for his wife and no matter how old they get she still excites him. 

"Red Hot Chili Cook Off" is a song that had previously been released as a music video and has finally found an album to call home. The comical song tells the story of a chili fan who tastes all kinds of chili and he lets us know how much he loved or hated it. The chili gives him all kinds of internal fits and discomfort...pleading with us to by-pass it altogether. It takes place at a chili cook off in Jalapeno, Texas. The album's title track, "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore", is a social commentary about the mixed up, backward absurd country we find ourselves living in. Ray sings about the over-reaction from some people when it comes to several animated cartoon characters (he name drops Elmer Fudd, the Coyote, and Pepe Le Pew). Ray also points out a lot of the recent controversies and laments that when some people get happy it makes other people mad so there "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore". Ray closes the album with "Disorder Down at the Border"...a song about, well, the title tells you what it's all about. I don't apologize for my enthusiasm and fandom of Ray Stevens and so it should come as no surprise that this album is absolutely fantastic in my opinion. 

If you look at the musician credits in the fold out cover you'll see Ray credited with several synthesizer originated instruments on most of the songs (bass, baritone saxophone, clarinets, marimba, trombones, drums) in addition to his piano and keyboard contributions. There is also inclusion of funny musician credits. In the credits for "Moonshine" Ray is credited with doing the 'glug-glug' sound effect, for example. In "The Gambler and The Octopus" he's credited with several instruments but is also credited for 'burps' and 'gulps'. This kind of thing can be found on most of the songs with vocal sound effects. Usually the credits don't get so specific but it's comical that they listed Ray's vocal effects within the musician credits. It's a great comedy album from Ray Stevens!

Ray Stevens: One Day until the Comedy Album...

Well, I mentioned in the previous blog entry that I'd be back later this morning...and an hour later was probably not what you were expecting...but yes, we're officially now one day away from the release of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. If you've been reading some of my most recent blog entries then you know that I already have the album in my collection. I Pre-ordered the album on Ray's website and the CD arrived in the mail several days ago. However, tomorrow is the official release day. Will Ray put out a new music video later today? Will he hold off on that until Friday? We know he'll be putting out a music video for "Hoochie Coochie Dancer"...but we just don't know when it'll hit the internet. 

Did any of you catch Ray Stevens on Nashville's Channel 5 on Wednesday? Ray was interviewed on a local Nashville series, Talk of the Town. He's appeared on this series before...but yesterday was his most recent. He spoke about how great it is that the CabaRay has re-opened and he was asked about the upcoming comedy album. He mentioned "Hoochie Coochie Dancer", remarked on the video success of "The Quarantine Song", and although he didn't mention it by name he made a reference to the song called "Dis-Connected", from his upcoming comedy album, when the conversation turned to the internet. You can watch the interview by clicking HERE. You can also continue to Pre-order the album from Ray's webpage for an autographed copy. This offer ends tomorrow...so if you want an autographed copy of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore get your orders in today by clicking HERE. As of this writing Amazon has the CD copy available for Pre-order (they aren't offering an autographed copy) but there hasn't been a product page set up for the Mp3 digital download copy. Most releases on Amazon are available for Pre-order in either CD or digital download format and in some cases both formats are available for Pre-order...but for whatever reason Amazon hasn't ever put up a Pre-order page for the digital download of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I'm assuming a product page for the digital download will emerge on Amazon on October 8th...tomorrow...release day for the album! In the meantime on the Top-100 Country New Releases in the CD format, Ray's upcoming album is among the 40 most popular New Releases on Amazon as of last hour. The Amazon product page to Pre-order the CD copy of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore can be viewed HERE. As mentioned, an autographed Pre-order copy of the album is only available through Ray's website. When you click that link, if it's on or after October 8th, you'll obviously no longer see the Pre-order button and instead you'll see the Add to Cart button. 

In a bit of unusual news...Ray Stevens will be the guest announcer on this weekend's episode of Huckabee. The show is taped on Friday evenings and it's aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) on Saturday nights at 8pm. I know that it repeats on Sunday, too, but I'm not aware if Ray is going to be there just as a guest announcer (filling in for Keith Bilbrey) or if he'll be asked to sing anything. The actual music guests that episode are Kelly Lang and T.G. Sheppard...so it appears as if Ray will be there just as a guest announcer. Now, considering that the show is taped on a Friday, that means Ray will be at the recording studio on the day his upcoming comedy album is released. Will Ray premiere his music video on Mike Huckabee's show or will it receive any mention? The recording studio for the show is at the site of the former Twitty City in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Trinity Broadcasting purchased the Hendersonville facilities during the 1994 Estate Sale, which happened a year after Conway Twitty passed away. If Ray is asked to sing on the Huckabee show do you think he'll sing "Hoochie Coochie Dancer" or "Soap Sally" or perhaps "Dis-Connected"? We'll all find out this weekend!

Ray Stevens: Two Days until New Comedy Album...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Two days to go until the upcoming comedy album is officially released! It's still available for autograph Pre-order at Ray's website. This offer goes until October 8th. You can Pre-order your autograph copy by clicking HERE. I wanted to get a little bit of frustration off my chest here at the beginning of the blog entry so I won't need to bring it up later. A couple of things, actually. I don't know if you feel the way I do but I'm tired of people trolling Ray's social media and posting spam content using his name or having usernames associated with Ray's name. Time and time again I'll be reading the comment section of his social media posts and I'll inevitably see posts from people with usernames that are so laughingly fake and spam-sounding. Another frustration is the snobbish attitude that exists from people who've decided to declare themselves the arbiter of talent and comedy. I came across an ignorant fool which is what I'll call him since I never use cuss words online. Anyway, this ignorant fool had copied and pasted a recent overview of Ray's upcoming comedy album that was posted on one of the websites promoting the release and ignorantly proclaimed that the album is "unfunny and painful". It's aggravating when people who clearly have no interest in his music and obviously aren't going to purchase or listen to his songs feel the need to play music critic as if Ray exists to please only their listening pleasure. You get that kind of thing a lot if you read music critic commentary...it's always about how the critic felt while listening to something and it's never about whether the critic thinks the audience that the song or the album is targeting is going to love it. It's just one of the reasons why I've often described myself as an enthusiast rather than a critic.  

I was listening to the album last night and was picking up on a lot of things I unintentionally overlooked when I initially was listening to it. Once the album is available online and I can download it...rather than pull out the CD player each and every time I want to hear the songs...but once I get the songs on my computer when I purchase the digital download on Amazon Friday (my laptop doesn't have a disc tray) I'll be able to play the songs a lot simpler, quicker, and with frequency. "Hoochie Coochie Dancer" is the soon to be released music video...the third track, "Gas", had already been issued as an audio track on YouTube as well as on Amazon. It was promoted as the first single from the upcoming comedy album. 

The album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, seen above, also features "The Quarantine Song" and "Red Hot Chili Cook Off"...two songs that were previously released as music videos. So, when the comedy album hits this Friday, those three songs will have already been available with "Hoochie Coochie Dancer" being the next release. This upcoming music video, which hasn't been released yet, is what I'm thinking is suppose to be the main selling point for the album. I had been thinking they would release the music video several days before the album but it looks like they're probably going to release both the music video and the album on the same day...and have each cross-promote the other...but then again he could wait and release the music video several days after the comedy album is released. We'll ultimately find out what's going to take place as the week moves on and we reach Friday October 8th. Once the album is released I'll be posting embeds of audio tracks. 

Curb Records, I'm assuming, will put the audio tracks onto YouTube. Once this happens I'll be sharing some of the songs on future blog entries. I can't wait to write a blog entry on "Soap Sally", one of the songs on the album! "Dis-Connected" is a song that I hope becomes pushed as a single. Ray name dropped "Coco Cabana Band" as one of his favorites and so he probably will promote that song as a follow-up to "Hoochie Coochie Dancer". In my opinion all of the songs are great but like anything else from Ray Stevens, as fans, we usually begin to split hairs and begin to differentiate between the really great and the great. The great being: "Coco Cabana Band", "My Better Half", "Down in Mexico", "Gas", "Moonshine", "The Quarantine Song", and "Red Hot Chili Cook Off". That leaves the other seven recordings in the really great category: "Hoochie Coochie Dancer", "Dis-Connected", "Disorder Down at the Border", "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore", "The Gambler and The Octopus", "Soap Sally", and "Old Dog". 

Ray Stevens: Comedy album Pre-order Autograph offer...

Yes, there's going to be plenty of time for me to write about this upcoming album once it's released but you know how it goes on this fan created blog page! I can't help myself from promoting and writing about the music of Ray Stevens...and so here I am blogging about Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore! I mainly decided to write another blog entry about the comedy album because I don't want the subject matter to slide too much down into the archives. We're just under 2 weeks from the album's release day, October 8th. I was asked by somebody on a social media site if I happened to know who wrote the songs on this album. I don't have this album yet...but I Pre-ordered the album on September 24th. If you Pre-order the album between September 24th and October 8th you'll get an autographed copy. I don't know if the autograph will be on the cover...or on the jewel case or where it'll be. When Ray released his 2015 comedy album my copy was autographed...the compact disc wasn't inside a jewel case, though. It was inside a cardboard carrying case. In order to get the autograph on the front of the album it was shipped with the carrying case unsealed. When they ship compact discs without an autograph they're sealed in the usual plastic wrap. So, my guess is, those who Pre-ordered the upcoming comedy album as I did will receive a copy of the album in a cardboard carrying case with his autograph on it. In addition to Ray's 2015 Here We Go Again! comedy album using a cardboard carrying case...the same was true for the compilation album Laughter is the Best Medicine and the sampler disc of songs from his 9-CD Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. However, all of his other compact discs are housed inside the standard hard plastic jewel case. 

This comedy album will feature 14 songs. In a couple of my previous blog entries I mentioned the amount of songs that will be on the album and in one blog entry I provided a track list. I'll find out who wrote what when the album is in my possession. A Pre-order doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the album before the October 8th release date. On the product page it has a disclaimer stating that the album ships on October 8th...the reason for the Pre-order is for those wanting an autographed copy of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I'll also purchase the digital download when it's released. I will also share numerous songs from the album in future blog entries...Curb Records usually uploads the audio tracks from albums that they release...and so I'll share audio tracks once they become available. I'm really, really intrigued by several of the song titles on the collection. I've included the track list once again and I've placed a symbol next to the song titles that have my curiosity raised...

1. Hoochie Coochie Dancer

2. Coco Cabana Band

3. Gas

4. My Better Half

5. Moonshine*

6. The Gambler and The Octopus*

7. Soap Sally*

8. Down in Mexico*

9. Dis-Connected*

10. The Quarantine Song

11. Old Dog

12. Red Hot Chili Cook Off

13. Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore*

14. Disorder Down at the Border*

My curiosity being raised specifically on the songs with eye catching titles suggesting there will be topical humor abundant...and topical subject matter is something Ray defended in a recent write-up about his current activities and the upcoming comedy album. I'm excited to hear what all of these songs are going to sound like and what the storylines happen to be!! I wonder if "Moonshine" will feature a classic country music arrangement or will it sound bluegrass? It may not even be about alcohol and it might be a comical love song about the moon's light. We'll find out when we hear it! 

I have a feeling that "Old Dog" is the same song that he performed as a duet with Tanya Tucker on an episode of CabaRay Nashville. Some of my online associates wondered if Tanya will be on the official recording...but there's no indication that she participated in the recording...considering that her name isn't listed on the back of the CD as a duet partner. She could make an uncredited appearance...but I highly doubt she did...my guess is Ray recorded the song solo...if it's even the same song that is! We're just assuming it'll be the same song he and Tanya performed on his television show. 

"My Better Half" following "Gas" had me thinking that it'll be a song about the President...since "Gas" is about him...but then again it could be a totally unrelated song. A number of months ago Ray posted photos of himself in the process of making what were music videos...photos surfaced of him in front of green screens. Now, when he shared those photos I went off-the-wall with excitement thinking there would be some brand new music videos in the not too distant future. Time has passed since those photos emerged...but thinking back to those photos, now, they seem to fit any number of songs on this upcoming comedy album!! 

"Soap Sally" has my mind thinking of all kinds of things...what in the world would a song with that title sound like or be about? We know from the title that it's possibly going to be about someone named Sally and the subject matter of soap...but beyond that I can't think of what the song's story will be about. Pre-order Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore HERE. The autograph offer only lasts for a limited time: September 24th through October 8th.