January 14, 2010

Ray Stevens: 15 Years Ago

This blog entry takes a look at 1995 and as a result I title the blog entry 15 Years Ago. Half of the reason why I title this entry with that name is obviously I'll be writing about 1995 but also because it's a reference to a 1970 #1 country hit by Conway Twitty. I am a fan of his and some others but by and large Ray Stevens is who I'm the most expressive about.

1995 was notable for several releases...three of the releases were compilation projects released by Warner Brothers. I assume that enough time had passed and so those in charge at the label decided to finally put some spotlight onto Ray's songs from that time period. By the time 1995 had rolled around it had been 16 years since Warner Brothers had released it's last album on Ray. It was the 1979 album, The Feeling's Not Right Again, which tied in with a Barry Manilow reference in song called "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". If you readers detect frustration in my writing style it's because I'd always been baffled, puzzled, amazed, confused, and all the other adjectives when it came to the lack of Warner Brothers material available. I don't know if it was a label's decision or Ray's decision to keep the material out of print. Aside from a trio of 1995 albums that Warner Brothers released on Ray, it's been 15 years since anything a bit more comprehensive was released detailing the 1976-1979 period.

One of the things that excited me at the time of the 1995 CD's debut was the notion of hearing songs that the project's compiler states are "previously unreleased". To my way of thinking those songs had never been available anywhere until now. There are quite a few songs that are tagged "previously unreleased" but it wasn't until later that I learned that the songs had been released before. The songs that are referenced as being previously unreleased on those 1995 collections actually come from his 1978 salute to classic R&B music, There Is Something On Your Mind. Why those particular songs are referred to as previously unreleased is anyone's guess. When you look through the songs you'll see a lot from 1978. Ray issued two albums that year. The R&B tribute I just mentioned plus an album called Be Your Own Best Friend.

The Serious Side of Ray Stevens as I mentioned in a few other blog entries is a misleading title because all of the collections are filled with mostly serious material with the exception of three novelty songs. This serious side includes ten love ballads of various emotion recorded during 1976-1978. The bulk of the recordings on the collection come from 1978...five of the ten songs are from 1978 while 1976 and 1977 fill out what's left. There is no songs from 1979 because technically he only recorded/released one single for the label in 1979 and that particular release appears on another collection. As I am always likely to do...I won't pick a favorite song. I like them all!! Song contents:

1. One and Only You; 1976
2. Talk To Me; 1978
3. Alone With You; 1977
4. Daydream Romance; 1977
5. Once In A While; 1976
6. Set The Children Free; 1977
7. The Feeling's Not Right Again; 1978
8. Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right; 1978
9. L'amour; 1978
10. Be Your Own Best Friend; 1978 {Top-40 country hit}

Do You Wanna Dance is self-explanatory. The songs that are featured on this collection have something to with music in some way or another. There are nine songs on this collection. I assume the lengthy inclusion of a couple of medleys make up for a tenth song. 1976 has the lion's share of songs this time around. Ray's 1976 album being titled Just For The Record features several songs whose subject matter is music oriented in their title. The collection opens up with "Feel The Music" as one of two songs from 1977 to grace the collection. The other song from 1977 is "Blues Love Affair". The medley songs run about 4 minutes each. "Dance Trilogy" features a medley of "Do You Wanna Dance?", "When You Dance", and "Save The Last Dance For Me". "Old Faithful Trilogy" features "Shake a Hand", "Since I Met You Baby", and "Always". Song contents:

1. Feel The Music; 1977
2. Dance Trilogy; 1978
3. Blues Love Affair; 1977
4. Country Licks; 1976
5. Honky Tonk Waltz; 1976 {Top-30 country hit}
6. One Man Band; 1976
7. Can't Stop Dancing; 1976
8. Old Faithful Trilogy; 1978
9. You've Got The Music Inside; 1978

The collection titled Cornball was the first release of the series. It's catalog number is 9 45890-4 and the following two releases have nearly identical numbers 9 45891-4 and 9 45892-4. The collection features three novelty songs amongst the ten that are spotlighted on this set. Ironically the title track, "Cornball", isn't a comedy song. It's a love ballad. The collection opens and closes with two chicken clucking recordings, the A and B sides of a single Ray released as The Henhouse Five Plus Too in late 1976. The songs on here aren't part of any pattern or theme and of the three collections released in 1995 this one features the most hit singles and perhaps this is due to this collection being the first in the series? Song contents:

1. In The Mood; 1976 {Top-40 pop and country hit}
2. I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow; 1979 {Top-50 pop; Top-20 Adult-Contemporary}
3. You Are So Beautiful; 1976 {Top-20 country hit}
4. Money Honey; 1978
5. Cornball; 1976
6. Dixie Hummingbird; 1977 {Top-50 country hit}
7. One Mint Julep; 1978
8. Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash; 1978
9. Save Me From Myself; 1977
10. Classical Cluck; 1976 {b-side of "In The Mood"}

Aside from those three collections being issued in 1995, the major project that year was Ray's direct-to-video movie, Get Serious! The movie contains ten music videos interwoven around dialogue to tell a story of Ray being on the run from the law. The crime? Politically incorrectness of course. I think a lot of people who have issues with Ray's style of comedy should check the movie out because he addresses the politically correct movement head-on gently poking fun at the overly sensitive along the way.

1 comment:

  1. When I first started diggin' Ray Stevens, I practiced his music for 8-10 hrs. a day. I would write my own harmony, it has to be the highlight of my life, how it served as a companion and friend when I was feeling hurt and unloved, He Saved Me From Myself! That was many years ago, and it still remains very important to me. I guess if your gonna learn something choose the best to learn from. That would be Ray Stevens

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