July 30, 2010

Catch a Glimpse of Ray Stevens...

Catch a glimpse of Ray Stevens this weekend as he participates in two distinctly different programs. One of the programs, Marvin Hamlisch Presents the 1970's: The Way We Were, airs on PBS starting Saturday July 31st. The special will air at various times throughout August as well. The program will air as part of the fund raising campaigns which PBS stations have long presented on a semi-regular basis. The concept of PBS has to do with public funding...Public Broadcasting System. I'm sure everyone knows all about PBS fund raisers, or, pledge breaks as they're called. This time around the Hamlisch special will be featured during a pledge break. Ray will perform "Everything Is Beautiful", his #1 hit from 1970. There will be a DVD which will feature an additional performance from Ray, his #1 from 1974, "The Streak". As I mentioned in a previous blog entry I have no idea if Ray will talk or give retrospective thoughts of the 1970's or if he's just there to sing. There will be a lot of other artists and acts from that decade, of course, featured on the special but since this is my Ray Stevens fan created blog page I focus on Ray Stevens...obviously! This special was taped back on March 17th of this year.

The second program that'll feature Ray this weekend is the Grand Ole Opry. Ray will make a guest appearance this Saturday during the 8:15pm-8:45pm time slot, Central time. In the east the segment will air between 9:15pm and 9:45pm. The host of the segment is Jeannie Seely and the other artists performing that half hour will be the Opry Square Dancers. Chances are that Ray will get to sing a couple of songs...maybe 3. We'll hear it this Saturday via WSM radio's audio link and find out for ourselves what all Ray will perform. The station streams it's programming on-line. Will this live Opry appearance compete with his taped appearance on the Hamlisch PBS special? It's difficult to tell. The way I see it Ray's portion of the Hamlish special won't air until mid-way through...and with pledge breaks on PBS it's possible that one can listen to Ray's Opry appearance on Saturday night and then switch to a PBS station in their viewing area and track down the Hamlisch special and catch Ray on television. I'll be keeping track of both programs during that 8:15pm-8:45pm time frame this Saturday. A lot of you may not have the opportunity to see the PBS special this Saturday...it all depends on where you live. Some PBS stations won't air it until August...so for those Ray Stevens fans who've checked their local PBS web-sites and discovered that the Hamlisch special doesn't air this Saturday don't fret because there should be a lot of other airings in August so check your local PBS web-site's list of programming frequently. Although as I mentioned I'm way more interested in Ray Stevens' participation in the special...those who are nostalgic for the '70s will also enjoy the show.

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