January 22, 2010

Ray Stevens: 30 years ago in Hahira, Georgia

30 years ago Ray Stevens told us a funny story about a couple of Shriner's inside a hotel in Hahira, Georgia. The story was filled with satire and innuendo as one of the most intriguing facets of the song at the time was that most of it took place during a one-sided phone conversation...meaning the listener was only hearing the reactions of one person instead of the voice of two. The music video was filmed in 1995 and the song itself was released in early 1980. At the time of the song's release, of course, there wasn't such a thing as widespread use of cell-phones, pagers, and other devices and so a lot of the charm of the song is in the use of a land-line phone...with a cord...and this was visually depicted on the music video. In my opinion a lot of the charm of the song deals with the gentle satire that's heard throughout as the names of fraternities are spoofed and the "rules" of such organizations are also spoofed as Bubba is depicted as the strict Shriner behaving himself.

Coy, on the other hand, is seen as the goofball who just wants to have fun. The concept of satirizing organizational self-importance can be interpreted as well due to Bubba threatening to throw Coy out of the Shrine if he continues to act up...going as far as saying Coy could face public shunning as a result. Although the Shriner's are who get the focus in this song you can apply these same set of beliefs of all-importance to just about any social club. Prior to the song's 1980 release it's been reported that Ray had the local Shriner's in and around Nashville, Tennessee listen to the song before he released it. Ray got the okay sign that the satire wasn't offensive or harsh and it was released in early 1980 on the RCA label. The single reached the Top-10 on the country music charts proving that the country music audiences across the nation accepted the song and found it hysterical. The album of the same name also placed in the Top-10 on the country music album charts. Check my blog entry called "Ray Stevens: 45 at 30" for detailed information about the song and album.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Show your appreciation for the music of Ray Stevens...leave a comment...