January 21, 2010

Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley Revisited

Welcome to my fan-created blog focusing on Ray Stevens. I know that I've gotten a lot more visitors than usual and most of that is because of Ray's hit single, "We The People". This blog site isn't associated with Ray Stevens or anyone else. I say this because some out there may in fact think Ray has something to do with this blog and he doesn't. I created it several years ago to spotlight what I felt was an under-appreciation of Ray Stevens. The last month and a half, though, I've seen just how vicious and hateful people can get if they have an issue with something or somebody. In this case it's Ray's current hit, "We The People". There is also an element of resentment shown toward Ray for merely singing a song that expresses feelings and opinions that so many people feel. As I mentioned before, at the beginning of this song's surgence on You Tube, the opposition mocked and laughed at it and viewed it as harmless. Now, 2,357,956 plays later, these same people and others who only ridiculed the song and called it harmless are now spewing hate for the music video, the song, Ray Stevens, and his fans. Obviously the reason is tied up in the song having an impact with people...which threatens the agenda of the liberal left or else they wouldn't be posting the sort of things they do at You Tube. You can check the music video to see for yourself how outrageous the supporters of ObamaCare are.

Well, I call this blog entry 'Nostalgia Valley' because amidst all the chaos and excitement of Ray's current hit I don't want his catalog of music to be pushed aside. I also hope to expose a lot of Ray's music to people that visit this blog site via social networks. I've seen URL links to my blog entries pop up several times on Twitter and I welcome all those who seriously want to learn about Ray Stevens' career. In order to really understand a situation in the present you have to find out where it started and this blog covers all aspects of his career. Obviously this month has been dominated by "We The People"...not all months are quite like this one! So for those who pop in from a Twitter or Facebook link check out the entire blog. I never approve comments from readers that I feel are insulting to Ray, insulting to me, insulting to his fans, and I never approve comments that have nothing to do with Ray Stevens or my blogs. I see other blogs where the author's approve commentary that a reader wants to say and arguments erupt as a result. Since I do not like that approach I simply don't publish any comment from readers that come off negative toward Ray, me, or his fans.

The picture of Ray in this blog I believe originated from 1969 or 1970...it was in that time frame. This was the period in his career that he was becoming a recurring guest on Andy Williams' television program. The appearances in 1969 led to Ray hosting the summer replacement program in 1970 and this in turn led to Ray writing his 1970 #1 pop hit "Everything Is Beautiful". At that time Ray was all but 31 years old and some unsavory characters on-line have taken it upon themselves during the last several weeks to wonder whatever happened to 1970 Ray Stevens because "We The People" in their opinion is a 100% shift in another direction. For starters, 1970 was 40 years ago and Ray was 40 years younger. Secondly, the Ray in 1970 is pretty much the same as the Ray in 2010 only older and not as mainstream. Lastly, the message that was contained in his 1970 #1 was what he felt the country needed at the time.

The song has religious over-tones and it has a sense of brotherhood and tolerance...sentiments that weren't exactly being felt in 1970 simply because you had all those riots, protests, picketing, attempted assassinations, assassinations, the anti-war crowd, and on and on and on. Some feel that Ray's 1970 hit was a political plug for the liberal left because of it's "brotherhood and tolerance" theme. The fact is you could, and still can be, a conservative and still feel that tolerance and brotherhood are character traits one should strive for. Shift to 2010 and Ray feels that "We The People" is a song that the country needs at this time and so I really can't see any difference between 1970 Ray and 2010 Ray other than the obvious physical and vocal differences.

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