September 3, 2015

Ray Stevens: That Nashville Sound...

Hello again! Late last night...I should call it early in the morning since it happened to be around 2am...I came across a video upload on YouTube of a complete performance of the Nashville Public Library's series titled That Nashville Sound. The special event that took place on May 31st of this year is of particular interest because of it's involvement with Ray Stevens.

The event celebrated Ralph Emery's career as host of Nashville Now (1983-1993) and the impact the cable series had on country music during that 10 year period. Throughout that decade and beyond various television critics in the 1980s and 1990s referred to Ralph as the Johnny Carson of cable television. As far as his varied career on television and on country radio some even called Ralph the Dick Clark of country music.

On stage at the venue the familiar/iconic desk, complete with the TNN logo, brought back memories of the series. The line-up for the special event included Con Hunley, Lorrie Morgan, Barbara Mandrell, Steve Hall/Shotgun Red, and of course Ray Stevens. Like the television series each guest came out and participated in an interview detailing the latest happenings in their career or in their personal lives. After each segment each guest moved down the line-up of chairs (there wasn't a couch and chair like in the TV series). Unlike the television series there wasn't any live music performances. To make up for this the special event included a large selection of snippets from various episodes of Nashville Now of artist's singing or being interviewed. If you happen to be a fan of Roger Miller, too, you'll be in for a treat. During the section focusing on Ray Stevens there's video footage of these 2 comedic geniuses and clever songwriters sharing the stage during an episode of Nashville Now. Roger tells a joke to Ray's utter delight. The two of them rarely appeared on stage together but the moments they did are priceless. The clip is brief but entertaining.



In Ray's segment he mentions his memoir and some of his plans for future products and his current CD. Among those plans is the hope of having a music/talk program in the same tradition of Nashville Now. He also talks about some other things that I'll hold back making mention of...you'll have to click the video to learn more. At the time of this taping on May 31, 2015 Ray's current CD had been available for just a couple of months (it's release date happened to be March 23, 2015).

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