Ray Stevens: Don't I Have that Album?

One of the things that comes up from time to time among fans of Ray Stevens is his extensive album discography. I've written blog entries in the past where I've included lists of his studio albums and lists of some notable compilation albums. However, if you gaze at a Ray Stevens album discography and you're a brand new fan or a long time fan that's decided to look at the amount of albums available...well, it can be a daunting task. There's official studio release albums, there's official compilation albums, there's a wide variety of compilation albums on Ray Stevens featuring songs licensed from multiple record companies, and then there are albums that are re-releases but have different cover art and often times a different album title. Those kinds of re-releases aren't proper re-releases or proper re-issues (a subject of a previous, recent blog entry) because they contain new cover art and almost always different sequential order of the track list. If you're curious there happened to have been less than a dozen of these album re-releases with different title and cover art. The most earliest is a vinyl album originally called Ray 'Ahab the Arab' Stevens and Hal Winters. The original release featured an image of Ray from one of his early photo sessions at Mercury Records. The album itself is a compilation released on Crown Records and it contains songs from Ray Stevens and instrumentals by an act named Hal Winters. It's a 10-track album...and the recordings featured on Ray are from the late '50s.

Those are the same albums but have slightly different titles. As you can tell from the second image the re-issue originated in the mid 1970s because that's, to the best of my knowledge, an artist rendering of Ray with longer hair and modeled after the photo that appears on the back of his 1975 album, Misty. That's just my own assumption. What are the songs by Ray which appear on both albums? Well, there's 5 songs: "Truly Truly", "Nothing But Gold", "Who Do You Love?", "Always On My Mind", and "Cholly Wolly Chang". If you're familiar with the first title then you'll know that Ray doesn't actually say the phrase, 'Truly Truly'. He actually sings the phrase "Truly True". These recordings come from Ray's years at NRC Records. This company was owned and operated by Bill Lowery and Ray was on this label for nearly 2 years give or take a few months short of being a full 2 years (1959-1961). On the single release NRC used the title "Truly True"...so that's why I consider the NRC title official. You can look up the songs from this collection on YouTube. "Nothin' But Gold" never appeared on an NRC vinyl single. 

Some other albums that have been re-issued but with different cover photos are 1972's Turn Your Radio On. It was re-issued in 1982. On the re-issue, on CBS Records, they used a current photo of Ray...a reverse image if you can believe it. Since they used a reverse image I'm not posting it in this blog. Barnaby Records originally released the album in 1972. CBS Records handled distribution at the time...so when it came time for a re-issue, 10 years later, CBS Records handled it. In 1992 Arrival Records, an affiliate of K-Tel Records, re-issued the 1972 gospel album. The re-issue featured new cover art and a new title, The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens. In 1996 Curb Records re-issued Turn Your Radio On as Great Gospel Songs...and in this re-issue, as had happened in 1992, they included a couple of additional songs in addition to different cover art. The songs added were "Everything is Beautiful" and "A Brighter Day". The 1996 re-issue also featured the full length recording of "All My Trials". Great Gospel Songs had the same 12 songs as The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens. 

Ray's 1984 album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens, was re-issued in 1992 under the new title, Mississippi Squirrel Revival. I have no idea for the different title and cover art. MCA released both the 1984 album and the 1992 re-issue...so it's a bit odd that the record company chose to issue it with a different title and cover art. Some have suggested MCA re-titled the re-issue because of that song's familiarity...that might be true...but, still, it should've been re-issued with original cover art and original title. 

A few years later Ray Stevens issued the album, Beside Myself, in 1989. That particular album would see a re-issue twice. The first re-issue contained 8 songs and titled At His Best. Then, for the CD copy, all 10 songs from Beside Myself were included but it still retained it's At His Best title and different cover art. It makes no sense as to why the album was re-issued with a different title and cover art...but whenever you see Beside Myself or At His Best keep in mind they're the same album. On the cover of the re-issue they promote three of the songs: "Marion Michael Morrison", "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O.", and "Your Bozo's Back Again". 

Ray Stevens: Updated Album Discography...

Hello once more...and in this blog entry, as the title suggests, I'll be providing an updated album discography of Ray Stevens. As I've done in the past I won't be including the many, many compilation albums that have been issued on Ray over the decades. There are just too many and if I were to even attempt to track down each and every release from record labels large and small both here domestically and overseas I know I wouldn't be able to track down all of them. So, whenever I go and provide an album discography I limit it to studio albums and notable compilation albums...but I don't include re-issues of albums in various format. There have been a lot of vinyl albums of Ray, for example, converted into CD format...some have made their way onto the internet as digital downloads. There are also cassette tape and 8-track format that have been home to the music of Ray Stevens. In the discography I'll only list when a studio album was originally released...not when they were re-issued, if applicable, nor will I list the formats they were or are available in. This discography is limited to studio album releases...so it also means that I won't be listing his VHS home videos or DVD releases or any single-only releases. The dominant form of music consumption in 1962, the year the first LP from Ray Stevens was released, was vinyl. The dominant form of music consumption in 2021 is the online download and, or, the online streaming. I know there's little difference between a download and a stream. I think that, with a download, it requires the listener to load the music onto a listening device or in a file somewhere on your device (computer/laptop/phone) whereas a stream simply requires a listener to click a button and listen to the audio track without having to save it to their listening device. I'm not a technical wizard...so I use the phrases "download" and "streaming" interchangeably. We know that vinyl has made a resurgence...but so far Ray hasn't joined the trend of putting out music on vinyl like several other recording artists have done. Now then...here is an updated album discography of Country Music Hall of Fame member, Ray Stevens...

1962: 1,837 Seconds of Humor  (Mercury Records)

1963: This Is Ray Stevens  (Mercury Records)

1968: Even Stevens  (Monument Records)

1969: Gitarzan  (Monument Records)

1969: Have a Little Talk With Myself  (Monument Records)

1970: Everything Is Beautiful  (Barnaby Records)

1970: Unreal  (Barnaby Records)

1972: Turn Your Radio On  (Barnaby Records)

1973: Nashville  (Barnaby Records)

1973: Losin' Streak  (Barnaby Records)

1974: Boogity Boogity  (Barnaby Records)

1975: Misty  (Barnaby Records)

1976: Just For the Record  (Warner Brothers)

1977: Feel the Music  (Warner Brothers)

1978: There Is Something On Your Mind  (Warner Brothers)

1978: Be Your Own Best Friend  (Warner Brothers)

1979: The Feeling's Not Right Again*  (Warner Brothers)

1980: Shriner's Convention  (RCA Records)

1981: One More Last Chance  (RCA Records)

1982: Don't Laugh Now  (RCA Records)

1983: Me  (Mercury Records)

1984: He Thinks He's Ray Stevens  (MCA Records; Platinum)

1985: I Have Returned  (MCA Records; Gold)

1986: Surely You Joust  (MCA Records)

1987: Greatest Hits  (MCA Records; Platinum)

1987: Crackin' Up  (MCA Records)

1987: Get The Best of Ray Stevens**  (MCA Records; Television album)

1987: Greatest Hits, Volume Two  (MCA Records; Gold)

1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like  (MCA Records)

1989: Beside Myself  (MCA Records)

1990: His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits   (Curb Records; Gold)

1990: Lend Me Your Ears  (Curb/Capitol Records)

1991: Number One with a Bullet  (Curb/Capitol Records)

1991: Greatest Hits***  (Curb Records)

1993: Classic Ray Stevens  (Curb Records; all-new, original songs)

1997: Hum It  (MCA Records)

1997: Christmas Through a Different Window  (MCA Records)

2000: Ear Candy  (Clyde Records)

2002: Osama Yo' Mama  (Curb Records)

2004: Thank You  (Clyde Records)

2005: Box Set  (Clyde Records; includes a few new recordings)

2007: New Orleans Moon  (Clyde Records)

2008: Hurricane  (Clyde Records)

2008: Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!?  (Clyde Records)

2009: One For the Road  (Clyde Records)

2009: Ray Stevens Christmas  (Clyde Records)

2010: We The People  (Clyde Records)

2011: Spirit of '76  (Clyde Records)

2012: The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music  (9-CD's; Clyde Records)

2014: Gospel Collection  (Clyde Records/Gaither Music)

2015: Here We Go Again!  (Player Records/Clyde Records)

2016: Just a Closer Walk With Thee  (Clyde Records/Green Hill Productions/Gaither)

2016: Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me  (CabaRay Entertainment)

2021: Great Country Ballads  (Curb Records)

2021: Melancholy Fescue  (Curb Records)

2021: Slow Dance  (Curb Records)

2021: Nouveau Retro  (Curb Records)

2021: Iconic Songs of the 20th Century****  (Curb Records)

2021: Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore  (Curb Records)

The 1979 album, The Feeling's Not Right Again, is a compilation album. I always include it an any Ray Stevens album discography because so much was put into the cover art (front and back of the album) and it features what was then an all-new song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", among the previously released songs. 1987's Get The Best of Ray Stevens is included because it was sold through direct marketing...television commercials, newspaper, and magazine advertisements for the double album frequently appeared in the final years of the decade; for Ray it was a successful television commercial reaching audiences outside of country music media...paving the way for further direct marketing experiments in the 1990s. 1991's Greatest Hits features an alternate version of "There's a Star Spangled Banner". The song originally appeared on the 1989 album, Beside Myself, but in 1991 the song was re-recorded and it features newly written lyrics for the opening verse. 2021's Iconic Songs of the 20th Century contains compact disc versions of the first four digital downloads Ray released this year. It hasn't been announced if Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore will only be digitally available or if it'll be available in compact disc format, too. 

Ray Stevens: Renfro Valley 2020...

Hello once again...could it be? Is this my fourth fan created Ray Stevens blog entry in a day's time?? Yes, but let's not get too excited...I've been on vacation from work the last two weeks and I go back to work tomorrow and so I'm savoring my last day of vacation as best as I can...blogging about Ray Stevens!!

A couple of days ago I wrote about a Ray Stevens concert this coming June in Renfro Valley...located in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. In my blog, which you can read HERE, I posted an image of the concert advertisement and how it didn't feature a ticket price as all of the other headliner concert attractions. There still isn't a ticket price listed on the Renfro Valley website for Ray's concert but an advertisement on his Facebook page states that tickets, as I mentioned in a previous blog entry, go on sale March 18th. It's my belief that the ticket price of his concert at Renfro Valley on June 21st at 5pm will no doubt be revealed by March 18th...a no brainer on my part, obviously.

Speaking of concerts...the first concert of the 2020 season at the CabaRay is next month!! The first concert of the season is March 12th and you can purchase tickets to the CabaRay on several websites. There's a Facebook page which directs you to the CabaRay on-line ordering page. You can also purchase tickets at the venue's box office. You can find all information by clicking HERE. This year Ray is performing concerts on Thursday and Saturday nights for most of the season. There will be some added Friday concerts according to the 2020 season schedule.

In a recent blog entry I posted an image of one of the record players that I got as a Christmas gift. I'm now going to post an image of the second record player...

That was one of two pictures I hastily snapped with this built-in web camera on my laptop. It's a Victrola Cambridge model record player with an FM radio dial and other features. In that earlier blog entry I mentioned that I'd play a vinyl album or a single on this record player tonight...I hadn't yet. I played a vinyl album on the other turntable already...earlier this morning I played a 1985 RCA album, Collector's Series, featuring eight Ray Stevens recordings. I'll be comparing the playback/audio of the brown turntable with this lighter color turntable. The brown turntable, posted in an earlier blog entry, is a Symphonic brand and it features a CD player and a cassette player in addition to the radio feature. The concept of turntables and vinyl albums have become, within the last handful of years, a novel item with a lot of people who weren't even born when vinyl and record players were the dominant form of listening to music. There's an area in a local Wal-Mart store featuring several rows of re-issued vinyl albums and boxes of record players are located on shelves below. Some contemporary acts have some of their titles available on vinyl. I remember when I began this blog in 2008...at that time I wondered if I was the only one that had vinyl albums and singles as well as a record player...in the years since I've seen a resurgence. I wonder if Ray will ever think about issuing something on vinyl in limited quantities? One of the aspects of a vinyl album is that, most of the time, there were photo's on the back of the album or photo's of the artist featured on the inner sleeve, or there were lengthy essays/liner notes on the backs of album covers. This kind of thing still happens from time to time with CD releases and how liner notes or exclusive photos show up in the fold-out cover...but it's nothing like the era of vinyl.

Ray Stevens: Golden LP Series, Part One...

Well, here we are...a Saturday afternoon. Ray Stevens is scheduled to appear at The Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino later tonight in New Mexico. In the meantime I thought it would be a good opportunity to start this latest blog series where I write about every Ray Stevens studio album in history from 1962 through 2012. I title this series as such because vinyl albums, also known as an LP (long-playing), were manufactured in large quantities through the late '80s and to a lesser extent as the 1990's began. Vinyl became less and less visible though, in retail stores, by that point in time so music consumers purchased cassette tape and the CD as an alternative. Vinyl singles continued to show up as late as 1994, for example, perhaps for jukebox operators who hadn't switched to a digital alternative. I have a few vinyl singles from the early '90s in my modest collection so I know that some record companies were still pressing them.

This blog series kicks off in 1962 with the release of Ray's first ever studio album titled 1,837 Seconds of Humor on Mercury Records. I have the 1962 album in CD format, paired with his second studio album from 1963. I have the 1963 vinyl album in addition to this CD two-in-one release. The 1962 album was designed to support his current single at the time, "Ahab the Arab". The song, as you can see, appears in big red letters on the album cover...which also includes an illustration of Ahab and his camel, Clyde. The fact that the single's name is in bold lettering and big print and the actual title of the album showcased underneath all of the song titles and above the illustration is an obvious marketing decision to publicize the single's enormous popularity. "Ahab the Arab" ended up selling more than a million copies during it's initial release and it reached the Top-5 on the pop chart and the Top-10 on the R&B chart. It was also one of the fastest climbing singles as most novelty songs tend to be. In those days, especially with radio being more embracing of comedic/novelty releases, it wasn't uncommon to watch a comedy single debut on the Hot 100 near the bottom of the list and within weeks be knocking on the door of the Top-20 or Top-10. "Ahab the Arab" would become one of the signature songs for Ray Stevens. It's inclusion on future compilation releases by a wide variety of labels both domestic and international is a testament to the song's popularity in Ray's career. The camel, Clyde, became one of Ray's logo's and the name of his own record label. Prior to this album's release in 1962 the label had issued, at the time, a single-only release on Ray titled "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills". The single reached the pop Top-40 in 1961 and it became part of 1,837 Seconds of Humor when the LP came along in 1962. There are 11 songs on this album and all of them were written by Ray Stevens. The album's producer is Shelby Singleton. Aside from the 1961 hit single and 1962's "Ahab the Arab", a lesser known release came along later in 1962 titled "Scratch My Back" which tells the story of a man who simply loves having his back scratched. It didn't reach the pop Hot 100 but it's an amusing tale nonetheless. A lot of the songs are performed in a frantic, uptempo pace and most of them clock in at 2 and a half minutes in length, or shorter, with a couple reaching beyond the 3 minute range. Even though the album was popularly known for it's "Ahab the Arab" connection there are a few other topical songs on here, too, as well as pop-culture references throughout: "PFC Rhythm and Blues Jones" tells of a music maker who gets drafted into the military; "Saturday Night at the Movies" is a timeless tale of celebrity ego and vanity that's all too familiar even today; "The Rock and Roll Show" spoofs rock and roll music first and foremost while also spoofing radio station-sponsored events like sock hops and the DJ's hired to emcee the event. Chubby Checker's hit, "Let's Twist Again", is referenced to memorably in "Ahab the Arab". The dance craze based on Checker's original, "The Twist", is referenced to by Ray in "The Rockin' Boppin' Waltz". The ultimate pop-culture reference comes with "Popeye and Olive Oil". The non-novelty on here is "Furthermore" which will probably sound like a novelty song now but back then was considered to be the love ballad of the album. It became a single and achieved a placing on the Hot 100 for a few weeks.

Coming up next in the series is This Is Ray Stevens from 1963, Ray's second studio album.

Ray Stevens and those liner notes...

One of the things about Ray's earlier albums is that you could usually count on reading interesting or in-depth liner notes from writers or contemporaries of Ray...and at least one album features liner notes from Ray himself. In what I call the CD age, anywhere from the mid '80s through the early 2000's prior to the Mp3 digital download becoming the most preferred choice of music purchases, several CD compilations on Ray Stevens featured liner notes. A CD reissue of his first two studio albums features the original liner notes from the vinyl albums. In the picture the image of both albums appear on the CD. The insert features a fold-out that contains a reprint of the original liner notes. There is no credit given to who wrote the liner notes. I have the vinyl version of This Is Ray Stevens but I forgot to look and see if the liner notes writer was credited or not. Sometimes liner notes were written by a staff member of the record label, too. A fair amount of confusion arises a lot of times if a CD reissue features newly written liner notes while the vinyl counterpart has different liner notes. This scenario plays out with the reissue of Ray's 1968 album, Even Stevens. The album, originally on Monument Records, featured liner notes by writer Tupper Saussy who penned "The Earl of Stilton Square" found on the album. The CD reissue from 1996 features liner notes from Randy Poe. The 1969 Gitarzan vinyl album contains liner notes from Merv Griffin while the 1996 reissue contains Randy Poe liner notes. A writer by the name of John Grissim wrote the liner notes for Ray's other 1969 album, Have a Little Talk With Myself. To date that 1969 album has not been reissued. On the back of that particular album there are a couple of pictures of Ray inside the recording studio. A compilation from Mercury, rather two compilations from Mercury, The Rock and Roll Show and The Best of Ray Stevens, each featured liner notes. Each of those compilations are closely linked due to the fact that both releases feature tracks from the early '60s. In fact, The Rock and Roll Show is a 9-track reissue of Ray's first studio album, 1962's 1,837 Seconds of Humor. The two songs omitted from the reissue are "Rockin' Boppin' Waltz" and "Furthermore".

After 1969's studio album, Have a Little Talk With Myself, liner notes wouldn't grace the back of another Ray Stevens studio album until 1978's There Is Something On Your Mind. In this case Ray himself wrote the liner notes as he gave his feelings and opinions of the classic and obscure R and B songs being highlighted on the collection. I believe that the 1978 release was his last studio album to feature liner notes. Now then, a couple of compilation albums afterward would feature liner notes: 1987's Greatest Hits, a Platinum selling album for MCA, featured notes from Ronnie Pugh. In 1991, Curb Records issued a Greatest Hits collection with liner notes by Don Ovens. In 1995 Curb Records issued the compilation 20 Comedy Hits...it contains a fold-out insert with liner notes and pictures. A guy named Barry Alfonso wrote the 1995 liner notes. This is the collection that features the 1993 rendition of "Shriner's Convention" lifted from the Platinum selling Ray Stevens Live! home video. 1995 was also the year that the 1993 home video was released in CD format. It was also in 1995 that Warner Brothers released a 3-CD collection of recordings that Ray did for the label in the mid to late '70s. Unfortunately there were no accompanying liner notes on any of those CD's! What a shame!

In 1997 Rhino Records issued their collection on Ray Stevens with liner notes by Dr. Demento. This collection was fueled largely by the fact that 1997 marked Ray's 40th year as a recording artist.

A year later Varese Sarabande, the label that had reissued Even Stevens and Gitarzan in 1996 on CD, went through the Barnaby catalog and assembled The Country Hits Collection in 1998. This particular collection featured quite a few songs that are still rather obscure to the general audience...with a track list made up of mostly album tracks found almost exclusively on vinyl at that point in time (more about that later). The 1998 CD contains 16 songs with liner notes written by a man named Mike Ragogna in January 1998. It includes quotes from Ray on a couple of the songs. The first 5 songs on the CD are single releases while the remaining 11 are album tracks. The liner notes feature pictures of various promo advertisements of Ray's singles, too. The CD contains 3 tracks taken from his 1973 under-rated Losin' Streak album. Another of the songs in The Country Hits Collection was released as an exclusive b-side in 1975, "Piece of Paradise". Unless a fan out there has the actual 45-single of "Indian Love Call" backed with "Piece of Paradise", then this 1998 CD is the only collection that offers the b-side in CD format.

In 2001 came All-Time Greatest Hits on Varese Sarabande with liner notes written by Brian Mansfield. The liner notes for the Varese Sarabande releases tend to be more detailed, which I like, instead of sounding like a gushing fan essay, which I obviously like, too! In 2002 Varese Sarabande issued 12 Hits, a CD that features, you guessed it, 12 songs...recorded between the years of 1968 and 1975. The liner notes this time around were written by Howard Evets. When I read the 12 Hits liner notes for the first time I overall enjoyed them but then after re-reading the notes several times in the days following my purchase of the collection I grew annoyed that the latter part of the track-list wasn't mentioned and quite a few career milestones weren't mentioned, either, just in case any of the CD's would be purchased by someone new to Ray's music.

The versions of "Ahab the Arab" and "Harry the Hairy Ape" that are on this CD are from his 1969 Gitarzan album on Monument which is a common occurrence on many compilation albums released on Ray. At least Varese Sarabande made note of this on the back of the CD...some labels don't tell if they've used a re-recording or an original of a song on the visible part of the CD. It isn't until after purchasing that the disclaimer is shown in small print inside the fold-out. I don't really have an issue with re-recordings if they're better, musically and or vocally, than the original...but some out there absolutely detest re-recordings with a passion. Later on, Collectible's Records released a treasure of Ray Stevens music via the 2 album on 1 CD concept in 2005. Collectible's released 6 of Ray's 7 studio albums for Barnaby Records from the '70s. Three CD's were released, each contained 2 full-length studio albums. This marked the debut of those albums in CD format: Everything Is Beautiful was paired with Unreal, both albums from 1970. Turn Your Radio On (1972) and Misty (1975) were paired together and lastly, Nashville (1973) and Boogity Boogity (1974) were paired together. Sadly, there were no liner notes provided...it boggles the mind how a release of that magnitude (6 studio albums!) didn't contain any liner notes of some kind. Each of the CD's fold-outs feature musician and photo credits with thumbnail images of the front and back of the albums but beyond this there's nothing else. I mention those 2005 releases because of their significance in bringing long out of print recordings back into distribution. A purist may be put off by the fact that the track lists are in different order from how they originally appeared on their vinyl counterpart but I never make a big deal about that because it's not that big of a deal, to me.

I hadn't purchased many compilation CD's of Ray since the mid 2000's because I already have the songs...so I have no way of knowing if any of the latter day compilation CD's on Ray that pop-up from time to time on Amazon have liner notes or not. I also purchase more Mp3 digital downloads than CD's even though I do plan on getting a CD copy of Spirit of '76, Ray's 2011 project. I have it in Mp3 format but at some point want the official CD copy, too.

There have been a couple of CD's released by Ray which contain what I call greeting notes...typically these are a few sentences or a paragraph from Ray remarking on the creation/concept of the particular CD (see the releases of 2002's Osama Yo' Mama, 2004's Thank You, and 2009's One For the Road for examples). Ray's current release, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music, features an in-depth booklet filled with commentary and information about all 108 recordings in the box set.

Ray Stevens: Studio Albums

1. 1,837 Seconds of Humor; 1962 Mercury Records
2. This Is Ray Stevens; 1963 Mercury Records
3. Even Stevens; 1968 Monument Records
4. Gitarzan; 1969 Monument Records
5. Have a Little Talk With Myself; 1969 Monument Records
6. Everything Is Beautiful; 1970 Barnaby Records
7. Unreal; 1970 Barnaby Records
8. Turn Your Radio On; 1972 Barnaby Records
9. Nashville; 1973 Barnaby Records
10. Losin' Streak; 1973 Barnaby Records
11. Boogity-Boogity; 1974 Barnaby Records
12. Misty; 1975 Barnaby Records
13. Just For The Record; 1976 Warner Brothers
14. Feel the Music; 1977 Warner Brothers
15. There Is Something On Your Mind; 1978 Warner Brothers
16. Be Your Own Best Friend; 1978 Warner Brothers
17. The Feeling's Not Right Again; 1979 Warner Brothers**
18. Shriner's Convention; 1980 RCA Records
19. One More Last Chance; 1981 RCA Records
20. Don't Laugh Now; 1982 RCA Records
21. Me; 1983 Mercury Records
22. He Thinks He's Ray Stevens; 1984 MCA Records
23. I Have Returned; 1985 MCA Records
24. Surely You Joust; 1986 MCA Records
25. Crackin' Up; 1987 MCA Records
26. I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like; 1988 MCA Records
27. Beside Myself; 1989 MCA Records
28. Lend Me Your Ears; 1990 Curb/Capitol
29. #1 With a Bullet; 1991 Curb/Capitol
30. Classic Ray Stevens; 1993 Curb Records
31. Hum It; 1997 MCA Records
32. Christmas Through a Different Window; 1997 MCA Records
33. Ear Candy; 2000 Clyde Records
34. Osama Yo' Mama; 2002 Curb Records*
35. Thank You; 2004 Clyde Records
36. New Orleans Moon; 2007 Clyde Records
37. Hurricane; 2008 Clyde Records
38. Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What???; 2008 Clyde Records
39. One For the Road; 2009 Clyde Records
40. Ray Stevens Christmas; 2009 Clyde Records
41. We The People; 2010 Clyde Records
42. Spirit of '76; 2011 Clyde Records
43. Bozo's Back Again; 2011 Clyde Records***

**- This 1979 album featured just one new song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", with the rest of the album previously recorded material from Ray's other Warner Brothers albums. I placed it in the studio album category with the asterisk because it features that one new single, which reached the Adult-Contemporary Top-20.

*- This 2002 album features three newly recorded songs, "Osama Yo' Mama", "United We Stand", and "Freudian Slip" with the rest of the material lifted from his 2000 album, Ear Candy.

***- This 2011 CD features re-recordings of songs that Ray recorded mostly in the early '80s which have long been out of print. Among the highlights is his re-recording of "Just For the Hell Of It" which originally appeared on the Cannonball Run movie starring Burt Reynolds.

In the '90s Ray's main output were music video collections...first on VHS home video and later on DVD. He continued to issue music video collections on DVD later on and currently he releases music videos on You Tube.

Studio Albums from Ray Stevens...

Good Monday mid-morning! Way, way back in 2008 when I started this fan blog page I listed the various albums that have been on the market spotlighting the music of Ray Stevens. A lot of the compilation albums that hit stores in the '70s and especially the '80s and into the early '90s were out of Ray's control. Some people assume that Ray was responsible for all of those various compilation releases but in reality he wasn't. Those days are long gone but glancing at Ray's discography it'll be helpful if we lift the studio albums from the list.

Contractually, in many artists career, the release of a Hits album or two is part of a deal. There were some compilation releases that Ray was aware of but a vast majority were the result of record labels licensing, re-licensing, re-re-licensing Ray's songs for low-budget collections. Those kind of releases flooded the market in the '70s and '80s and were out of Ray's control. So, for those who visit his web-site and look at his discography, I hope you all don't think that all of those releases were did with Ray's approval because they weren't.

There was a time when I could walk inside the local Wal*Mart in 1993/1994 and see quite a few releases on Ray from Polygram (a division of Mercury Records) and then there was the K-Tel various artist collections of novelty songs and often there would be 1 or 2 early '60s songs from Ray among the track list. There was also a collection of gospel songs released on K-Tel...the title of the release was The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens. This was more or less the third or fourth re-issue of his 1972 Turn Your Radio On album. A quick way of knowing if a compilation on Ray Stevens is contractually approved is if the record label is the same as the one Ray was recording for at the time of it's release. When Ray was on Barnaby they issued several compilation albums on him. The same holds true for MCA and Curb Records. A lot of the other compilation releases were did after he had long departed the label's roster.

Here are the studio albums from Ray Stevens:

1. 1,837 Seconds of Humor; 1962 (Mercury Records)
2. This Is Ray Stevens; 1963 (Mercury Records)
3. Even Stevens; 1968 (Monument Records)
4. Gitarzan; 1969 (Monument Records)
5. Have a Little Talk With Myself; 1969 (Monument Records)
6. Everything Is Beautiful; 1970 (Barnaby)
7. Unreal; 1970 (Barnaby)
8. Turn Your Radio On; 1972 (Barnaby)
9. Losin' Streak; 1973 (Barnaby)
10. Nashville; 1973 (Barnaby)
11. Boogity-Boogity; 1974 (Barnaby)
12. Misty; 1975 (Barnaby)
13. Just For the Record; 1976 (Warner Brothers)
14. Feel the Music; 1977 (Warner Brothers)
15. There Is Something On Your Mind; 1978 (Warner Brothers)
16. Be Your Own Best Friend; 1978 (Warner Brothers)
17. The Feeling's Not Right Again; 1979 (Warner Brothers)**
18. Shriner's Convention; 1980 (RCA)
19. One More Last Chance; 1981 (RCA)
20. Don't Laugh Now; 1982 (RCA)
21. Me; 1983 (Mercury)
22. He Thinks He's Ray Stevens; 1984 (MCA; Platinum)
23. I Have Returned; 1985 (MCA; Gold)
24. Surely You Joust; 1986 (MCA)
25. Crackin' Up; 1987 (MCA)
26. I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like; 1988 (MCA)
27. Beside Myself; 1989 (MCA)
28. Lend Me Your Ears; 1990 (Curb-Capitol)
29. #1 With a Bullet; 1991 (Curb-Capitol)
30. Classic Ray Stevens; 1993 (Curb)
31. Hum It; 1997 (MCA)
32. Christmas Through a Different Window; 1997 (MCA)
33. Ear Candy; 2000 (Clyde Records)
34. Osama Yo' Mama; 2002 (Curb)*
35. Thank You; 2004 (Clyde Records)
36. New Orleans Moon; 2007 (Clyde Records)
37. Hurricane; 2008 (Clyde Records)
38. Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What??; 2008 (Clyde Records)
39. One For the Road; 2009 (Clyde Records)
40. Ray Stevens Christmas; 2009 (Clyde Records)
41. We The People; 2010 (Clyde Records)
42. Spirit of '76; 2011 (Clyde Records)
43. Encyclopedia of the Greatest Novelty Songs (To Be Announced)

**-The 1979 release, The Feeling's Not Right Again, could be considered a compilation album since all the songs except one in particular were available on other albums. "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" was the only new song on the album...the rest of the material had been recorded in 1976, 1977, and 1978.

*-The 2002 release, Osama Yo' Mama, featured a track list mostly lifted from his 2000 Ear Candy release and so it, too, can be considered mostly a compilation project.

I included the 1979 and 2002 releases in the studio album category because each release contained a major hit single for Ray...it was a scenario in which each album was constructed to support the hit single instead of the other way around.

Here is a list of Notable Compilation Collections:

1. The Best of Ray Stevens; 1967 (Mercury; re-issued in 1970, 1987, and 1993)
2. Greatest Hits; 1971 (Barnaby)
3. The Very Best of Ray Stevens; 1975 (Barnaby)
4. The Many Sides of Ray Stevens; 1977 (GRT; 2-LP collection)
5. Greatest Hits; 1983 (RCA)
6. Collector's Series; 1985 (RCA; features 8 recordings Ray did for RCA)
7. Greatest Hits; 1987 (MCA; Platinum)
8. Greatest Hits, Volume Two; 1987 (MCA)
9. Get The Best of Ray Stevens; 1987 (MCA; 2-LP collection sold on TV)
10. His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits; 1990 (Curb; Gold)
11. Greatest Hits; 1991 (Curb; features alternate version of "There's a Star Spangled Banner")
12. Cornball; 1995 (Warner Brothers)
13. Do You Wanna Dance?; 1995 (Warner Brothers)
14. The Serious Side of Ray Stevens; 1995 (Warner Brothers)
15. The Country Hits Collection; 1998 (Varese Sarabande)
16. All-Time Greatest Hits; 2001 (Varese Sarabande)
17. The Millennium Collection; 2004 (Hip-O)
18. Box Set; 2005 (Clyde Records)

The 1985 collection was re-released in 1987 and in 1992. "One More Last Chance" appeared on the original release in 1985 but it was replaced on the two re-releases by the comical "Put It In Your Ear". Since Collector's Series is the only compilation to showcase Ray's RCA recordings exclusively it's become a notable release. I really don't see RCA or whoever owns the original recordings issuing anything on Ray anytime soon. It would be nice if Ray's studio albums from 1980, 1981, and 1982 were to get re-issued in Mp3 form or in CD form, but, considering that no other release outside of the eight song Collector's Series have become available the chances are it'll never happen. Warner Brothers, until 1995, also kept Ray's recordings in the vaults and never kept them in print and commercially available. It continues to remain baffling why Ray's RCA recordings remains out of print in an era when re-issue's of older albums is very commonplace.

The 1995 3-CD series from Warner Brothers represented the first time his recordings for the label were spotlighted in great detail. Most compilations prior to 1995 feature "In The Mood" and "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" but never bother to spotlight any of his other recordings for the label. The 3-CD series did a great job at spotlighting a lot of his under-rated recordings for the label...some of the recordings reached the country charts and one of them, "You Are So Beautiful", reached the country Top-20 in 1976...but given how out of circulation the songs had become (the label never kept any of his songs in print) it was, for a lot of people, like a discovery. There were a couple of songs Ray recorded for Warner Brothers that weren't highlighted in the 3-CD series but the bulk of his output for the label had finally become commercially available again.

The 2001 release on Varese Sarabande includes the rare 1960 recording by Ray of "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". This recording is rarely available except on low-budget various artist collections...it's nice to see the song available on a collection as top-notch as All-Time Greatest Hits. This collection is also notable for including "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", an under-rated Top-40 country hit for Ray in 1974. It's a bouncy, cheery recording and it's never been included on hardly any collections, even though it was a hit, so it was great seeing it available on a modern-day release.

Earlier I mentioned the lack of RCA material in print by Ray Stevens. To date the RCA material is the least commercially available. Ray's studio albums for Barnaby Records, well, most of them, were re-issued on CD format in 2005 by Collectible's Records. Each CD contained 2 studio albums for a total of 6 studio albums re-issued altogether. 1973's Losin' Streak wasn't re-issued. It remains on vinyl.

The 2005 CD releases were:

1. Everything Is Beautiful / Unreal
2. Nashville / Boogity-Boogity
3. Turn Your Radio On / Misty

Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley, Part 24...

The latest music video from Ray Stevens, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has risen to 111,038 unique views...this is an increase of 2,436 views in a couple days time.

We take a trip back 30 years to 1981 to highlight another great album from Ray Stevens. It's an album that I can write things about without getting tired of doing so. So far I think I've written 3 or 4 other blog entries about this unheralded gem of an album...the title of which is One More Last Chance.

Unheralded may be an exaggeration but based upon the passage of time it's clearly become an obscure album even though at the time of it's original release it boasted two major country hits for Ray in the form of the title track, "One More Last Chance", which reached the country music Top-40, and "Night Games", which had reached the country Top-20 late in 1980. Based on the fact that it's first single hit late in 1980 and the title track hit in the early half of 1981 and no other singles were released means that for the bulk of 1981 there wasn't anything new being promoted on Ray Stevens in relation to this album. An unconventional source of publicity, however, came along later in 1981 when Ray made a guest appearance on the soap opera, Texas. Ray had some dialogue in the soap opera and he was written in as the celebrity appearing at a fictional night-club. Ray performed "One More Last Chance" in the show.

The albums first single, "Night Games", dealt with singles bars and it fit in perfectly with the Urban Cowboy craze in country music during that time period. Those not familiar with the phrase "urban cowboy" need to read up on the movie starring John Travolta and it's impact on country music sales and mainstream popularity during 1980-1983.

Ray, as some outside of the loop may not be familiar with, used to appear in concert wearing a cowboy hat during the early '80s...and the Western fashions that you see him wearing on the 1981 album was commonplace for nearly all country singers who were affiliated with, or supported, the Urban Cowboy trend.

Depending on who you ask there's all kinds of opinion on the fad...the more devout traditionalists in country music have nothing but contempt for Urban Cowboy while the more commercially aware country singers credit the craze with either boosting their careers or affording them some publicity outside of country music. There's a popular misconception that if a singer is commercially aware, or trendy, that they're not a legitimate "artist". This belief is something I don't agree with...but it's a belief that's popular nonetheless. The way I see it, a singer can be in it for the music but still have the desire to want their music to be commercially successful, too. Some people out there take the attitude that singers must be in it "for the love of the music" and any hint of commercial aspirations from a singer will result in that singer being treated like the plague. I know that sounds harsh but I've read commentary for years from those who hold those similar kinds of views so I know what I'm writing about.

Ironically, "Night Games" closes out the 1981 album. "One More Last Chance" opens up the album. In between those two songs lay a wealth of country ballads and mood music. In hindsight one of the songs that should have also been issued as a single is "Let's Do It Right This Time". When you hear it you'll wonder why it wasn't a commercial single, too. Perhaps this is why it was chosen in 1985 to be part of RCA's Collectors Series release that they did on Ray. "Certain Songs" has a power ballad feeling...the arrangement is similar to the style popularly associated with Barry Manilow. Elsewhere on the album is the slow ballad "Just About Love" as well as "Take Your Love", another song that should have been a commercial single in my opinion!! "It's Not All Over", a song about a man who won't let a woman leaving him confine him to loneliness, is another example of a song that should have been issued as a single.

The only song that breaks the slow to mid-tempo pace of the album is the wild, Mexican-Spanish arrangement on "Pretend", the slow ballad pop hit popularized by Nat King Cole. The atmosphere created by Ray successfully causes you to forget, during the course of the performance, what the original sounded like.

1. One More Last Chance
2. Just About Love
3. Certain Songs
4. Melissa
5. I Believe You Love Me
6. Pretend
7. It's Not All Over
8. Let's Do It Right This Time
9. Take Your Love
10. Night Games

Although I know that this 1981 album hasn't been issued digitally, either on CD or Mp3, I nonetheless am aware that vinyl copies still come up for sale at on-line auction sites. I purchased my copy of the vinyl album from an auction site.

Also, purchasing a turn-table isn't such a difficult thing to do, either. There's a couple of places on-line that sell record players and I'm sure you can find them in shopping stores around Christmas time as a "nostalgia" item from the very same companies who sell their items on-line during the rest of the year.

I got a turn table for Christmas this past year...right off the racks of a local shopping store! So, it's highly possible to come across turn tables if you look for them. eBay and other places enable a person to substantially add vinyl albums and singles to start their collection or add to their collection. Again...there are ways for people to get vinyl and to get record players and it's no longer an excuse for some out there to say "I can't find a record player anywhere!!". This sentiment was accurate maybe 20 years ago during the huge proliferation of the CD market but nowadays it's rather easy to find reputable on-line companies that offer record players. The brand name of two of my record players is Crosley. This marks the third record player I own. My first one was built into what appears to be a suitcase which is model number CR249 at Crosley's web-site. The second one I bought is from a company called Detrola and the third one in the picture you see above is from Crosley.

Each of the record players are still in working condition...the reason I wanted multiple record players is just to have them. You don't want to wear out a record player and then not have a back-up ready. A record player will last as long as it's taken care of...and you don't really want to wear one out from excessive plays...so what I do is use them sparingly. The image off to the right that shows the picture of Losin' Streak, a 1973 album from Ray Stevens, is an image of my Detrola record player with it'd lid raised. This particular record player comes with a cassette attachment, radio, and CD player.

My Modest Ray Stevens LP and Cassette Collection...

A few blog posts ago I listed my "modest 45 RPM collection" of Ray Stevens singles. In this blog I'll accompany that entry with one that lists my vinyl and cassette collection of Ray Stevens material. I feel that breaking things down into vinyl and cassette format will be a bit more easily digested by the various visitors who stop by here. I also have Ray Stevens on CD, video, DVD, and Mp3, too, and I might make a list of those items as well at some point. The reason I do this is because it dawned on me that after 2 and a half years of writing this fan-created blog page that I've never really spoke much about my own personal collection of Ray Stevens items. I've mostly spent time talking/writing about Ray's career, his music, and the critics, etc etc. and not much time on my collections.

The following is a list of vinyl LP's by Ray Stevens that I own...

1963: This Is Ray Stevens
1968: Even Stevens
1969: Gitarzan
1969: Have a Little Talk With Myself
1970: Everything Is Beautiful
1970: Unreal
1971: Greatest Hits
1971: The Rock and Roll Show (Mercury Records compilation)
1972: Turn Your Radio On
1973: Nashville
1973: Losin' Streak
1974: Boogity-Boogity
1975: Misty
1975: The Very Best of Ray Stevens
1976: Just For the Record
1977: Feel the Music
1978: There Is Something On Your Mind
1978: Be Your Own Best Friend
1979: The Feeling's Not Right Again
1980: Shriner's Convention
1981: One More Last Chance
1982: Don't Laugh Now
1983: Me
1985: I Have Returned
1986: Surely You Joust
1987: Crackin' Up
1987: Greatest Hits, Volume Two
1987: Get The Best of Ray Stevens
1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like

I have a military program called "Here's To Vets" which featured Ray as a special guest on one of their episodes. The episode, dating back to 1973, was transferred onto vinyl as a lot of radio programs were. In the episode the host discusses the military and the war plus it includes comments from Ray about the military as well. Several of his songs are played throughout the program.

The following is a list of cassette tapes by Ray Stevens that I own...

1970: The Best of Ray Stevens (Mercury Records; 1987 re-issue)
1974: Boogity-Boogity
1980: Shriner's Convention
1983: Greatest Hits (RCA release)
1984: He Thinks He's Ray Stevens
1985: I Have Returned
1985: Collector's Series (RCA release)
1986: Surely You Joust
1987: Greatest Hits (MCA release)
1987: Crackin' Up
1987: Greatest Hits, Volume Two (MCA release)
1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like
1989: Beside Myself
1989: Funny Man (Mercury compilation)
1990: His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits (Curb release)
1990: Lend Me Your Ears
1991: #1 With a Bullet
1991: Greatest Hits (Curb release)
1993: Classic Ray Stevens (new recordings in spite of it's title)
1993: Ray Stevens Live! (soundtrack of the home video of the same name)
1995: Get Serious! (soundtrack of the home video movie)
1995: Cornball** (1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979)
1995: The Serious Side of Ray Stevens** (1976, 1977, and 1978)
1995: Do You Wanna Dance?** (1976, 1977, and 1978)
1996: Great Gospel Songs (Curb release of early '70s gospel material)
1996: All-Time Hits (Mercury compilation)
1997: Hum It
1997: Christmas Through a Different Window
2000: Ear Candy
2002: Osama Yo' Mama

**- These releases in 1995 were by Warner Brothers. Never before and never since has there been an overview of his Warner Brothers material quite like those three 1995 collections.

Ray Stevens: Favorite Album Covers, Part 2...

Part 1 of this series was posted last year during July 2009. I've finally gotten around to supplying a part 2. It's really quite simple...all I do is post images of my favorite Ray Stevens album covers.

This 1981 album is ballad heavy and it features a couple hit songs: the title track, "One More Last Chance", and the album closer "Night Games". I've liked the album cover from the moment that I saw it. For those who may be wondering: "who's the woman?". I have no idea! The album features a couple more extra's in the background. The setting, of course, is a bar. I believe night-club is the more widely used phrase, though. This album came along during the Urban Cowboy era in country music. I know country music purists despise this era and the music but I have a fondness for it. I was raised on country music of the early and mid '80s and as a kid I wasn't old enough to really differentiate between one kind of music from another...I liked what I heard is all that I knew. Years later I learned how hated the Urban Cowboy era was after reading a lot of critical and fan-based commentary on country music as a whole. Obviously, though, I don't let what others say sway my opinion much. The back of this album shows Ray wearing the cowboy hat and grinning. Some of the songs include: "Melissa", "Pretend", "Just About Love", and "Let's Do It Right This Time".

The clever concept of Ray playing the part of a painter in my opinion is one of Ray's most inventive. On this 1983 album cover we see Ray decked out in modest attire...sweat shirt and blue jeans...looking at a painting he is supposedly painting of himself all the while having an oval mirror next to him showing us a profile. As you can see, the entire front of the album is made to look like a painting you'd see hanging on a wall in a museum. The album is simply titled, Me, and the album cover depicts this title rather strongly. The album features ten songs...almost all of the selections were written by Ray. There was one chart hit from the album but yet the promotion effort from Mercury Records was lackluster at best. I say this because during my research of Ray's career through the years I have yet to find any major write-up for this particular album. Some of the songs include: "Me", "Game Show Love", "Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee", and the chart hit "My Dad". Dale Gonyea wrote "My Dad" and C.W. Kalb, Jr. wrote "Piedmont Park". The rest of the songs were written by Ray.

This is one of my favorite album covers because of the detail. There's the stormy sky overhead and the twisty way the line is written coming out of Ray's mouth. The line is a phrase heard throughout the title track, "Hurricane". The album in fact does contain 12 comedy songs that'll blow you away. There was a redneck theme that permeated through a good portion of the songs...the album is much longer than the 12 songs would suggest given that several of the songs are well over 3 minutes in length. One song, "Bubba the Wine Connoisseur", runs more than 5 minutes. In a lot of ways "Hurricane" is a reworking of "The Streak". Once you hear "Hurricane" you'll understand what I'm talking about. "Hey Bubba, Watch This!" is a very funny song about a do-it-yourself kind of man named Junior who apparently considers himself a world-class inventor. It doesn't help matters that Junior's a nut-case. His inventions result in disaster for Bubba. "Sucking Sound" originated on this album and in it Ray sings about the work force in America and the visions from Ross Perot during the 1992 Presidential election.

From 1973 comes this Nashville album. The direction in Ray's career by this time had gone into the country direction. Ray, even today, says that he doesn't actually set out to record songs or write songs that'll fit specific music formats. He insists that he records music that he likes and that he hopes is commercial in some way. Of course, at the same time, he admits that having an attitude like that never really allowed him to become disciplined. By this I think he means that he isn't confined inside a box when he goes to record songs...some artists only want to sing one style and that's it. Ray has always been an artist that's sang just about anything. The music on this album you'd think would be wall-to-wall country, right? Aside from the title track, "Nashville", the only other song on the album to sound deliberately country is "Piece By Piece". The rest of the songs on here are arranged in a pop-country style pretty much. Ray does a funny rendition of "Never Ending Song of Love" on this album but gets dead serious on "Undivided Attention". Some other songs on the album are "Golden Age", "Love Me Longer", and the instrumental, "Float".

This is the current album from Ray Stevens. 2010's We The People shows Ray dressed as a founding father...the picture comes from a publicity still taken from the music video of the same name. The music video of "We The People" is nearing 3,000,000 hits on You Tube. The album features 22 songs of political and patriotic flavor. There is another release available which features a CD and a DVD...the DVD features four music videos. The same picture of Ray appears on each release. I like the album cover because it shows Ray in costume...most of Ray's recent releases feature him in stage clothes. This is the first release in awhile to show Ray in costume which used to be something of a tradition on his album covers. Also it showcases a contemporary picture of Ray...some of the recent releases dig into the archives and use past publicity pictures of Ray on the album covers. The 2008 Hurricane CD, for example, used a 1992 picture of Ray taken from Comedy Video Classics. Some of the songs on We The People include "Caribou Barbie", "Obama Nation", "Come to the USA", "The Fallen Ones", and "Throw the Bums Out!".

I once had this album cover as my desktop background on my computer. This picture of Ray was used as a publicity picture on and off in the late 1980's. This collection features songs at random from Ray's MCA years. The CD was released in 1994 and it features 12 songs...four songs from each of the following years: 1984, 1987, and 1989. It's anyone's guess why MCA chose those particular years to highlight but all 12 songs that were selected are great. Also, they're among some of the longest songs Ray recorded during that time period. "Erik the Awful" is 4 minutes, 34 seconds. "Gourmet Restaurant" is 3 minutes, 45 seconds. "Your Bozo's Back Again" is 3 minutes, 51 seconds. Other songs include "I Saw Elvis in a UFO", "It's Me Again, Margaret", and "Doctor, Doctor Have Mercy on Me".

Ray Stevens: The Complete Albums Discography

As a response to my previous blog entry where I wrote out the commercial singles that have been released in Ray's career, I'm now going to list the official release albums. Now, much like the list of singles, the album list is quite lengthy. However, I'm only going to cite official release albums or special releases of note from independent labels. Ray Stevens official web-site is still the perfect place to find out all you want about the albums that have been released on him...his site lists all the albums by every kind of record label imaginable. In my previous blog entry, for those who don't know how to read a singles discography, the chart information that I supplied is meant for the A-side of each single. The chart information isn't meant to be applied to both the A and B side, unless a B-side also reached the charts. As I did with the singles, I'll also indicate which albums made the charts and if any have been certified Gold or Platinum. Albums that charted below #40 on either the pop or country list will be noted as a Pop or Country Album hit.

1962: 1,837 Seconds of Humor- Mercury Records Pop Album hit

1963: This Is Ray Stevens- Mercury Records

1968: Even Stevens- Monument Records

1969: Gitarzan- Monument Records Pop Album hit

1969: Have a Little Talk With Myself- Monument Records

1970: Everything Is Beautiful- Barnaby Records Top-40 Pop Album

1970: Unreal- Barnaby Records Pop Album hit

1970: The Best of Ray Stevens- Mercury Records

1972: Turn Your Radio On- Barnaby Records Pop Album hit; Top-20 Country Album

1973: Losin' Streak- Barnaby Records

1973: Nashville- Barnaby Records Top-40 Country Album

1974: Boogity-Boogity- Barnaby Records Pop Album hit; Top-10 Country Album; this is the album that features "The Streak".

1974: Greatest Hits- Barnaby Records Top-20 Country Album

1975: Misty- Barnaby Records Pop Album hit; Top-5 Country Album

1976: The Very Best of Ray Stevens- Barnaby Records Pop Album hit; Top-20 Country album

1976: Just For The Record- Warner Brothers Top-40 Country album

1977: Feel The Music- Warner Brothers Country Album hit

1978: There Is Something On Your Mind- Warner Brothers

1978: Be Your Own Best Friend- Warner Brothers

1979: The Feeling's Not Right Again- Warner Brothers album's picture and letter design is a spoof of a popular Barry Manilow album; this is a compilation album that featured "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" as it's only new song.

1980: Shriner's Convention- RCA Records Top-5 Country album; Pop Album hit

1981: One More Last Chance- RCA Records

1982: Don't Laugh Now- RCA Records

1983: Greatest Hits- RCA Records Country Album hit

1983: Me- Mercury Records

1984: He Thinks He's Ray Stevens- MCA Records Top-5 Country Album; Pop Album hit; Platinum album

1985: I Have Returned- MCA Records; #1 Country Album; Gold album

1985: Collector's Series- RCA Records

1986: Surely You Joust- MCA Records Top-15 Country Album

1987: Greatest Hits- MCA Records; Country Album hit; Platinum album

1987: Crackin' Up- MCA Records; Top-30 Country album

1987: Greatest Hits, Volume Two- MCA Records; Country Album hit; Gold album

1987: Get The Best of Ray Stevens- MCA Records Double album advertised on television; It combines Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits, Volume Two with the addition of a few songs.

1987: Collector's Series- RCA Records; RCA re-issued the 1985 compilation but omitted the 1981 hit single, "One More Last Chance" and replaced it with the novelty song, "Put It In Your Ear" from 1980.

1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like- MCA Records; Country Album hit

1989: Beside Myself- MCA Records Country Album hit

1990: All-Time Greatest Comic Hits- Curb Records Gold album

1990: Lend Me Your Ears- Curb Records

1991: #1 With a Bullet- Curb Records Country Album hit

1991: Greatest Hits- 1991 Curb Records This compilation features an alternate take on "There's a Star Spangled Banner"; the first take appears on his 1989 Beside Myself album.

1992: A Brighter Day- 1992 Clyde Records This title was only available to fan-club members; it's a mammoth collection of religious and inspirational recordings lifted mostly from 1969-1972 but also includes a couple of songs from the mid '70s.

1993: Classic Ray Stevens- 1993 Curb Records In spite of the title, all ten songs on this album were brand-new; the title is a reference to the "classical" scene being depicted on the album's cover; some people, even today, think this is a greatest hits collection. .

1995: Cornball- Warner Brothers

1995: The Serious Side of Ray Stevens- Warner Brothers

1995: Do You Wanna Dance?- Warner Brothers These 3 titles on Warner Brothers were obscure during their original release and for a long time were out of print until the digital download age in music became popular; the three titles shine the light on his under-rated Warner Brothers material.

1996: Great Gospel Songs- Curb Records This is a compilation album of religious and inspirational songs recorded by Ray during the 1969-1972 time frame.

1997: Hum It- MCA Records

1997: Christmas Through a Different Window- MCA Records Country Album hit

1998: The Country Hits Collection- Varese Sarabande This collection features random songs recorded by Ray Stevens during the 1969-1975 time frame with heavier emphasis on album tracks and love ballads.

2001: All-Time Greatest Hits- Varese Sarabande This collection of songs is notable for the inclusion of Ray's 1960 recording of "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon", 1974's "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", and impressive liner notes.

2002: Osama Yo' Mama- Curb Records Top-30 Country Album; 7 of the songs on this collection had been released 2 years earlier on a CD titled 'Ear Candy'; The 3 songs that had been added to complete this 10 song project are: "Osama Yo' Mama", "Freudian Slip", and "United we Stand"; The 3 songs from 'Ear Candy' that didn't appear on this CD: "King of Christmas", "The Dog Song", and "No Lawyers in Heaven".

2004: Thank You- Clyde Records

2005: Turn Your Radio On / Misty- Varese Sarabande Two albums on One CD

2005: Nashville / Boogity Boogity- Varese Sarabande Two albums on One CD

2005: Everything Is Beautiful / Unreal- Varese Sarabande Two albums on One CD

2006: Box Set- Curb Records Country Album hit; Top-5 Comedy Album chart; Originally issued on his own Clyde Records label in 2005 and Curb distributed it the next year, 2006; These are all mostly re-recordings of hit songs from Ray...some of the songs had been recorded in the early '90s and most of the rest re-recorded at various moments throughout the late '90s and into the 2000's; The recordings for Curb Records in the early '90s that are contained on here, along with songs from his 1997 return to MCA, are the originals. There are too many songs to dissect.

2007: New Orleans Moon- Clyde Records

2008: Hurricane- Clyde Records This collection features mostly original recordings but it does feature several re-recordings of songs that originated in the mid 1980's; Tracks 1-6 and track 11 are originals while tracks 7-10 and track 12 are re-recordings of earlier songs.


2008: Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What???- Clyde Records

2008: The 50th Anniversary Collection- Curb Records Top-10 Comedy Album chart; this is a low-budget release focusing on select songs from the Box Set project from 2005.

2009: One For The Road- Clyde Records There are 15 songs on this collection with 6 being re-recordings: "Jack Daniels, You Lied To Me Again", "Oh, Lonesome Me", "Mary Lou Nights", "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", "The Streak", and "It's Me Again, Margaret"; The rest of the tracks are original recordings.


2009: Only The Best of Ray Stevens- Varese Sarabande This project contains the three 2005 Two Album on One CD releases plus a greatest hits CD. Four CD's in all accompany the project.

2009: Ray Stevens Christmas- Clyde Records

Ray Stevens: Vinyl Digging

This is a cropped picture of a poster that was offered in 1977 with the purchase of Ray's Feel the Music album. The full poster was a fold-out, of course. When I bought my vinyl copy of the album several years ago it wasn't sealed. It was a used copy but it's in fine condition. I have a couple of record players and sometimes I play some of my vinyl Ray Stevens. Vinyl digging, as this blog is titled, is a reference to finding vinyl albums of Ray on-line at auction sites from all over and web-sites. As in the case of finding buried treasure once I find buried vinyl treasure on Ray Stevens I proudly put it on display. Yeah, yeah, I can already hear it from critics saying "if it's buried, just leave it there". Fortunately there are those like myself who won't allow such a thing to happen. I've posted that 1977 image before, I think? The picture of Ray that you see is the one that appeared on the back of Feel The Music. The front of the album didn't feature his picture.

As you can see with the Greatest Hits project...it features the same photo, only in black and white. This particular vinyl album features the usual material, picked almost at random. It would be my guess to say that the album was released in 1977 or 1978...judging by the material on the album. There are no selections on here recorded after 1975 which of course is a give away of when the album could have been released...1976, 1977, or even 1978.
The lettering on the album is dated...I think it would be considered kitsch? I happen to like the lettering...in a nostalgic sort of way. As I've touched upon in other blogs Ray had no control over all the compilation albums that were being released on him. Small label subsidiaries often issued 2 or 3 compilation albums per year and this continued into the CD age. One of the many subsidiary labels was Polygram Records. It's in the Mercury Records family of labels. Ray recorded for Mercury during 1961-1963 and again in 1983. Polygram and other subsidiaries were known to issue collections on Ray spotlighting various songs he recorded for Mercury. BMG usually issues collections that feature a song or two that Ray recorded for RCA Records, 1980-1982. Some collections are built around 3 or 4 chart hits and the rest of the album filled out with non-hit songs that have become popular down through the years. A perfect example is the song "The Dooright Family". Ray wrote and recorded the song and it appeared on his 1980 Shriner's Convention album for RCA. The song never entered the country or pop charts in 1980 but yet it appears on several compilation albums...because it's become a popular song in his career...and it's hilarious. Another example is "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?", a song from 1986. It appears on several MCA compilation albums even though it was not a "hit song" in the conventional way. It appears on his 1987 Gold album, Greatest Hits Volume Two and Ray sings it in concert all the time.

This is a 45 RPM single of "Unwind", a pop single for Ray in 1968. It is notable for being the first non-comical song to reach the Hot 100 for Ray...his previous chart singles were novelty/comedy songs. "Unwind" was the lead off single from Even Stevens, a collection of serious songs highlighted by "Mr. Businessman", Ray's first non-comical Top-40 hit. The picture sleeve for the single comes from overseas. It was the German issue of the single. The b-side, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", borrows the familiar lyric of "for he's a jolly good fellow which nobody can deny" and applies it in an entirely different setting. This new setting happens to be a love song about love gone bad...and that brings me to this...

Barry Manilow, known for his sad love songs even though he's recorded all kinds of songs, got the parody treatment in 1979 from Ray. I did a photo trick and put Ray's 1979 single next to Barry's 1974 breakthrough album as a visual comparison to just how detailed the parody had gone. The parody was all centered around "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", a song from Dale Gonyea. The song parodies, melodically, "I Write the Songs", one of Manilow's biggest hits. I did a blog several months ago about Ray's parody of Manilow but I can't recall if I put up those pictures or not. I know that I posted Ray's 1979 album and Barry's 1975 album for visual comparison purposes.