The first commercial success for Ray Stevens as I covered in a previous blog entry was this 1961 single about a wonder drug that is guaranteed to cure everything. I believe Ray was intentionally grabbing for attention when he officially titled the song "
Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills". The single, issued by Mercury Records, reached the pop Top-40 in 1961 and was a stepping stone onto an even bigger hit the following year, "
Ahab the Arab". Jeremiah Peabody, a follow-up to his 1960 single about Sgt. Preston, established Ray as a comical artist...as some critics put it "...a singer of off-beat, interesting songs...". Sgt. Preston was a near-hit in 1960...then came Jeremiah Peabody in 1961...followed by "
Ahab the Arab" in 1962...followed by "
Harry the Hairy Ape" in 1963...and rounding out this cast of characters are "
Speed Ball" and "
Butch Babarian". In press releases and single reviews of this time period there was always emphasis placed on Ray's comedic characters...all the while the B-side's of those songs were typically pop and R&B-driven love ballads that the public at large weren't paying much attention to. In those days people apparently never thought to flip a single over and hear what was on the other side. This 1961 song became part of Ray's live stage show in 2009 during a segment that spotlighted the early '60s era of his career.
Issued by Barnaby Records in 1971 this
Greatest Hits collection features a picture of Ray that was so popular that it later appeared on the cover of
The Very Best of Ray Stevens which was issued four years later. This particular collection focuses largely on his late '60s Monument recordings as well as his first recordings for Barnaby in 1970. What many don't know is Barnaby Records bought the master recordings that Ray did on Monument...this is why a lot of his Monument and Barnaby recordings often appear together on the same compilations. It's also the reason why his Monument recordings were always copyrighted to Barnaby Records. If you look on the song credits on any number of Ray Stevens compilations during the '80s and '90s you'll see where his Monument recordings have the phrase
Courtesy of Barnaby Records in the credits. Getting back to this 1971 release...it contains several hugely popular recordings from Ray at that time period. "
Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues", issued late in 1970 and reaching it's popularity peak in early 1971, was the most recent hit on this collection. It hit the Top-5 in England. "
Everything Is Beautiful", his 1970 #1 Grammy winner, is the biggest hit single on this collection. One of my favorites, "
America, Communicate With Me", was a Top-20 hit on the Easy-Listening charts in 1970...it's included on this 1971 collection.
Shifting gears to 1981 we have One More Last Chance, a studio album from Ray Stevens on the RCA label. As you can see I'm working on a pattern...focusing on Ray Stevens products that were released 10 years apart from each other: 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, and 2011. The 1981 album, also one of my favorites, is ballad heavy for the most part. It came along during the Urban Cowboy trend in country music...and one of the songs on this 1981 album told a vivid story about singles bars and the night life. That song, "
Night Games", was the album's first single. It was released late in 1980 and was still being pushed in 1981...the single reached the Top-20 on the country chart. The album's title track featured a wonderful dose of steel guitar and electric guitar...the steel guitar solo's were great...as was Ray's performance. "
One More Last Chance" reached the country Top-40 in 1981. The song was featured in the soap opera,
Texas, as was Ray Stevens! Ray did a guest starring role as himself for a series of episodes culminating in his performance of "
One More Last Chance" on screen.
The release of this collection in 1991 on Curb Records I feel was in response to a collection they released in 1990 on Ray titled
His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. This 1991 collection features a heavier dose of non-comical recordings from Ray Stevens with an alternate version of "
There's a Star Spangled Banner" closing out the CD. An alternate version? Yes! Originally a song with this title appeared on Ray's 1989 album,
Beside Myself. In 1991 the song was largely re-written but it retained the same melody and it was placed on this 1991 compilation. In the 1989 original Ray sings about a P.O.W. in the Middle East before switching to commentary about how the American flag is treated in the Middle East region of the world. In the 1991 re-write Ray sings about all the wars and battles that the flag's waved proudly through. In both songs the chorus and melody remain the same. The only recordings on the collection that would be considered comical songs are "
Along Came Jones", Ray's 1969 pop hit. There is also the inclusion of "
Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?". This song, from 1987, also appeared on
His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. Contemporary releases by Ray in 1991 included "
Power Tools", "
You Gotta Have a Hat", and "
Working for the Japanese". Those recordings are on his
#1 With a Bullet CD. 1991 is also the year he opened up his Branson, Missouri theater. He closed it in 1994.
Issued by Varese Sarabande in 2001 this
All-Time Greatest Hits collection gathers up 23 recordings from Ray Stevens taken at various moments during the '60s and '70s. The collection has some great liner notes which appear in booklet form complete with pictures. Purists complained about the CD, at the time, because it didn't include the original recordings of a couple songs. "
Ahab the Arab", "
Harry the Hairy Ape", and "
Funny Man" are featured here via late '60s re-recordings. Originally those three songs were recorded in 1962 and 1963 but the CD focuses on the 1968 soulful re-recording of "
Funny Man" and the more widely distributed 1969 versions of "
Ahab the Arab" and "
Harry the Hairy Ape". Outside of those three recordings everything else represented here are the originals. The CD kicks off with the obscure 1960 single, "
Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". This is one of the few collections that feature the recording. The collection does a nice job at showcasing several recordings from Ray that often go over-looked on other collections. "
Everybody Needs a Rainbow", a great inspirational song from Ray, rarely gets much coverage so I was glad to see it emerge on this CD. The recording came along in 1974 but yet everything Ray did in 1974 seemed to be over-shadowed by "
The Streak"...a single that sold more than five million copies world-wide and is track 19 on this collection. In late 2001 Ray released the topical "
Osama Yo' Mama" which eventually sold more than half a million copies and became one of the biggest selling country singles of 2002. This was among the many recordings that emerged in the months after the September 11th terror attacks. Some critics, who obviously weren't in the mood for comedy, criticized Ray's choice of response and pointed out that other entertainers were serious in their reaction to 9/11. Of course, other critics understood that Ray uses humor to address situations going on in the country and the world, and that "
Osama Yo' Mama" was a perfect outlet for him.
Now we're up to 2011! I was originally thinking about posting pictures of Ray during the last 50 years but when I went to look for some pictures of him from the mid '60s I couldn't find them. I know I have them...somewhere...but at the last minute I decided on this concept. "
The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" is the most recent commercial single from Ray Stevens. The recording, poking fun at the TSA, is his first single of the year and it's music video on You Tube has gotten over 136,000 unique views. The song is part of Ray's
Spirit of '76 collection. The song came out at a time when the enhanced pat-downs and security screening at airports, dictated by the TSA, was all over the news. Ray went on a radio call-in tour during much of February 2011 to promote the single and the video. As is the case with topical material, by late March, the TSA wasn't getting much of the headlines as they were in late January and into February...and as a result this particular recording met the same fate. He's currently working on a new music video set to be released at some point in early May titled "
Obama Budget Plan".
The first commercial success for Ray Stevens as I covered in a previous blog entry was this 1961 single about a wonder drug that is guaranteed to cure everything. I believe Ray was intentionally grabbing for attention when he officially titled the song "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills". The single, issued by Mercury Records, reached the pop Top-40 in 1961 and was a stepping stone onto an even bigger hit the following year, "Ahab the Arab". Jeremiah Peabody, a follow-up to his 1960 single about Sgt. Preston, established Ray as a comical artist...as some critics put it "...a singer of off-beat, interesting songs...". Sgt. Preston was a near-hit in 1960...then came Jeremiah Peabody in 1961...followed by "Ahab the Arab" in 1962...followed by "Harry the Hairy Ape" in 1963...and rounding out this cast of characters are "Speed Ball" and "Butch Babarian". In press releases and single reviews of this time period there was always emphasis placed on Ray's comedic characters...all the while the B-side's of those songs were typically pop and R&B-driven love ballads that the public at large weren't paying much attention to. In those days people apparently never thought to flip a single over and hear what was on the other side. This 1961 song became part of Ray's live stage show in 2009 during a segment that spotlighted the early '60s era of his career.
Issued by Barnaby Records in 1971 this Greatest Hits collection features a picture of Ray that was so popular that it later appeared on the cover of The Very Best of Ray Stevens which was issued four years later. This particular collection focuses largely on his late '60s Monument recordings as well as his first recordings for Barnaby in 1970. What many don't know is Barnaby Records bought the master recordings that Ray did on Monument...this is why a lot of his Monument and Barnaby recordings often appear together on the same compilations. It's also the reason why his Monument recordings were always copyrighted to Barnaby Records. If you look on the song credits on any number of Ray Stevens compilations during the '80s and '90s you'll see where his Monument recordings have the phrase Courtesy of Barnaby Records in the credits. Getting back to this 1971 release...it contains several hugely popular recordings from Ray at that time period. "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues", issued late in 1970 and reaching it's popularity peak in early 1971, was the most recent hit on this collection. It hit the Top-5 in England. "Everything Is Beautiful", his 1970 #1 Grammy winner, is the biggest hit single on this collection. One of my favorites, "America, Communicate With Me", was a Top-20 hit on the Easy-Listening charts in 1970...it's included on this 1971 collection.
Shifting gears to 1981 we have One More Last Chance, a studio album from Ray Stevens on the RCA label. As you can see I'm working on a pattern...focusing on Ray Stevens products that were released 10 years apart from each other: 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, and 2011. The 1981 album, also one of my favorites, is ballad heavy for the most part. It came along during the Urban Cowboy trend in country music...and one of the songs on this 1981 album told a vivid story about singles bars and the night life. That song, "Night Games", was the album's first single. It was released late in 1980 and was still being pushed in 1981...the single reached the Top-20 on the country chart. The album's title track featured a wonderful dose of steel guitar and electric guitar...the steel guitar solo's were great...as was Ray's performance. "One More Last Chance" reached the country Top-40 in 1981. The song was featured in the soap opera, Texas, as was Ray Stevens! Ray did a guest starring role as himself for a series of episodes culminating in his performance of "One More Last Chance" on screen.
The release of this collection in 1991 on Curb Records I feel was in response to a collection they released in 1990 on Ray titled His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. This 1991 collection features a heavier dose of non-comical recordings from Ray Stevens with an alternate version of "There's a Star Spangled Banner" closing out the CD. An alternate version? Yes! Originally a song with this title appeared on Ray's 1989 album, Beside Myself. In 1991 the song was largely re-written but it retained the same melody and it was placed on this 1991 compilation. In the 1989 original Ray sings about a P.O.W. in the Middle East before switching to commentary about how the American flag is treated in the Middle East region of the world. In the 1991 re-write Ray sings about all the wars and battles that the flag's waved proudly through. In both songs the chorus and melody remain the same. The only recordings on the collection that would be considered comical songs are "Along Came Jones", Ray's 1969 pop hit. There is also the inclusion of "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?". This song, from 1987, also appeared on His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. Contemporary releases by Ray in 1991 included "Power Tools", "You Gotta Have a Hat", and "Working for the Japanese". Those recordings are on his #1 With a Bullet CD. 1991 is also the year he opened up his Branson, Missouri theater. He closed it in 1994.
Issued by Varese Sarabande in 2001 this All-Time Greatest Hits collection gathers up 23 recordings from Ray Stevens taken at various moments during the '60s and '70s. The collection has some great liner notes which appear in booklet form complete with pictures. Purists complained about the CD, at the time, because it didn't include the original recordings of a couple songs. "Ahab the Arab", "Harry the Hairy Ape", and "Funny Man" are featured here via late '60s re-recordings. Originally those three songs were recorded in 1962 and 1963 but the CD focuses on the 1968 soulful re-recording of "Funny Man" and the more widely distributed 1969 versions of "Ahab the Arab" and "Harry the Hairy Ape". Outside of those three recordings everything else represented here are the originals. The CD kicks off with the obscure 1960 single, "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". This is one of the few collections that feature the recording. The collection does a nice job at showcasing several recordings from Ray that often go over-looked on other collections. "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", a great inspirational song from Ray, rarely gets much coverage so I was glad to see it emerge on this CD. The recording came along in 1974 but yet everything Ray did in 1974 seemed to be over-shadowed by "The Streak"...a single that sold more than five million copies world-wide and is track 19 on this collection. In late 2001 Ray released the topical "Osama Yo' Mama" which eventually sold more than half a million copies and became one of the biggest selling country singles of 2002. This was among the many recordings that emerged in the months after the September 11th terror attacks. Some critics, who obviously weren't in the mood for comedy, criticized Ray's choice of response and pointed out that other entertainers were serious in their reaction to 9/11. Of course, other critics understood that Ray uses humor to address situations going on in the country and the world, and that "Osama Yo' Mama" was a perfect outlet for him. 
Now we're up to 2011! I was originally thinking about posting pictures of Ray during the last 50 years but when I went to look for some pictures of him from the mid '60s I couldn't find them. I know I have them...somewhere...but at the last minute I decided on this concept. "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" is the most recent commercial single from Ray Stevens. The recording, poking fun at the TSA, is his first single of the year and it's music video on You Tube has gotten over 136,000 unique views. The song is part of Ray's Spirit of '76 collection. The song came out at a time when the enhanced pat-downs and security screening at airports, dictated by the TSA, was all over the news. Ray went on a radio call-in tour during much of February 2011 to promote the single and the video. As is the case with topical material, by late March, the TSA wasn't getting much of the headlines as they were in late January and into February...and as a result this particular recording met the same fate. He's currently working on a new music video set to be released at some point in early May titled "Obama Budget Plan".
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