Hello all...I watched the 14th episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville to air on WCVN/KET2 this past Saturday night. It was another fun episode and it kind of broke with some of the established formula of the previous episodes.
Ray came out and performed "Never Too Late", a song from his 2009 CD, One for the Road. The song's lyrics carry an inspirational feel while the music is in the easy-listening/Tin Pan Alley/Great American Songbook vein. Somehow, though, I think the choice to perform that kind of song as a show opener had a lot to do with that episode's special guest, Bobby Goldsboro. I say that because Bobby's biggest commercial successes came with easy-listening and sometimes sing-a-long pop songs and to fit the overall music mood he opened the show with "Never Too Late".
Ray introduced Bobby and the two of them discussed their early years in the music industry. One thing that you'll notice right off the bat is how peppy and energetic Bobby happens to be...and fast talking. He made mention of Ray's session work and the harmony vocals provided in "Little Things" (a single that United Artists released on Bobby late in 1964). Ray makes mention that Bobby's artistic talents go beyond music by spotlighting some of the paintings Bobby created...and some are soon to be on display at the CabaRay Nashville venue once it opens later this fall. Bobby performs "Little Things" and then performs what became his signature hit, "Honey".
It's a highly emotional song and the camera panned over the audience upon the song's conclusion and, yes, there were some teary eyed members of the audience. It's a sad song in case you've never heard it...and I'm consistently amazed that there are quite a few people out there that routinely vote this particular song as "one of the worst ever written". I don't know if that overly dramatic reaction stems from a listener feeling uneasy or vulnerable when listening to the song or if a listener simply hates sad songs...whatever the reason it's a song that doesn't get the kind of respect it should get.
This is a promo for the episode. If you're a regular visitor to Ray's YouTube channel or any of his social media sites then you should be well aware that he's uploaded a lot of promo videos for his television program. Given the fact that the program is locally syndicated on PBS stations across the country all of the video uploads are meant to air on the PBS stations that air the show. If the PBS affiliate in your area carries Ray's program and Bobby happens to be the guest that week, for example, then this is the official promo that may air on your local PBS channel...
Due to the show airing on PBS there aren't any commercials and so it cuts to one segment after the other. After the emotional "Honey" concludes Ray walks out from behind the piano and thanks Bobby for being on the show. The very next segment is the lighthearted Video Jukebox installment and an airing of "The Moonlight Special" animated music video. Talk about going from one extreme emotion to the other in the blink of an eye. The recurring segment featuring Don Cusic appears next and he provides some history on the upcoming performance Ray is about to do...a song from The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. The song? "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?". Ray is in fine uptempo form as he tackles this song...originally a hit for Lonnie Donegan in the United Kingdom (1959) and in the United States (1961). After the performance of this song he closes the show in his usual way...by selecting someone to dance with as an instrumental of "Everything Is Beautiful" plays in the background. The one chosen this time around seemed terrified/nervous.
Here's a little mystery concerning the episode: In the description for this episode on the KET2 web page it states that Ray would be singing "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" and no mention is made of "Never Too Late". This could have been a typo on their part (highly unlikely) so perhaps the original promo for this episode indicated that Ray would be performing that song but "Never Too Late" was chosen instead for the final cut...indicating that the original press release for the episode was never changed/corrected. That's just my theory. This is one of the episodes that had previously aired on RFD television (in May of last year to be specific). It's not a big deal, though, but it's something that caught my eye nevertheless.
In a previous blog entry I listed the upcoming episodes of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville scheduled for WCVN/KET2. They've added a couple more since that blog entry but mysteriously removed a couple they previously had posted...ones that I had shared in that blog entry.
Originally listed to air September 2nd was Con Hunley but now they have an episode listed guest starring Tommy Roe; for September 9th it was listed that Jimmy Wayne would be the special guest but now it's an episode guest starring Mark Wills. The September 16th episode, as originally scheduled, would be Ray's patriotic show guest starring Lee Greenwood and Darryl Worley but now KET2 has the September 16th air-date guest starring Duane Eddy instead.
In addition to those three episodes replacing what had originally been scheduled there were 2 episodes added to fill the entire month of September...
Angaleena Presley: September 23
Riders in the Sky: September 30
There's no explanation as to the reason the first 3 episodes in September that had originally appeared on the KET2 schedule have been replaced by other episodes but there must be a reason...I'm sure none of us will ever know the reason and I'm sure they never expected someone (myself) to have noticed the change of episodes anyway...let's hope the originally scheduled episodes make it onto DVD if they never make it to the PBS airwaves. There are to be 52 first-run episodes exclusive to PBS stations in addition to the first 26 episodes that aired on RFD. Half of those 52 first-run episodes have already been assembled and are scheduled to start airing soon.
Next week's episode on KET2 (July 1st) guest stars T. Graham Brown and Ray's daughter, Suzi Ragsdale. This is one of the RFD episodes (originally aired January 30, 2016). After the airing of that episode KET2 begins airing (starting July 8th) the first-run PBS episodes. Harold Bradley and Mandy Barnett are the guests on the July 8th episode.
June 26, 2017
June 19, 2017
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville DVD and Series: My Examination!!!
The first season consists of 13 regular episodes and one Christmas episode. Technically 13 episodes are referred to as a half season and 26 are considered a full season because everything is based upon a once a week air-time and a 52 week calendar year (26 first run episodes plus 26 repeats equals 52). I explained a lot about Ray's production cycle in my previous couple of blog entries but in any case this collection features 13 episodes with all of them showcased in chronological broadcast order based upon it's current run on PBS stations across the country.
The series originated as a lot of you know on the cable channel, RFD, in November of 2015. It's first season on RFD consisted of 14 episodes (one of those episodes, which isn't part of the PBS syndicated package, was the Christmas themed episode). From here on out I'll be referring to the episode lists as Season One/RFD; Season Two/RFD and Season One/PBS. All of the episodes currently airing on PBS affiliates originally aired on RFD.
Ray has had taping sessions at various times throughout 2016 and into this year and those episodes are going to start airing on PBS stations at some point later this year. The footage is in post-production. Then, in 2018, he plans on taping his episodes from the actual CabaRay venue after it officially opens. I was at long last finally able to see the first episode and episode nine!! In episode nine John Conlee performed "Common Man" after talking about his radio background. Jeff Bates appeared on the program, too, and after performing his song he and Ray spoke about Conway. Ray and Jeff also mentioned "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me". Given that the episode originally aired in early January of 2016 it wouldn't be until November the same year that a music video emerged of the song...and eventually an entire Christmas CD soon after that. As most of you know I wasn't able to see Ray's television program during it's original run on RFD and couldn't see it on PBS until WCVN/KET2 began airing it on March 25th of this year.
The series is taped in bits and pieces and assembled into separate half hour programs during marathon-style taping sessions. In a lot of ways the recording and production of the series resembles Hee Haw.
As mentioned...there are 13 episodes on this 4-disc collection...but for some reason there's a bit of a difference in the broadcast order of RFD and PBS.
What happened is 2 episodes from Season Two/RFD, perhaps by mistake or by design, have aired on Season One/PBS already. An episode guest starring Gene Watson from June 18, 2016 (Season Two/RFD) aired on the local PBS station a couple of weeks ago on June 3rd. On June 10th the episode guest starring James Gregory (Season Two/RFD) aired on PBS stations. The 13th and final episode of Season One/PBS guest stars Billy Dean and it aired just this past Saturday on the PBS channel in my area (June 17th). This is also the final episode of Season One/RFD from March 19, 2016. So, for whatever reason, PBS stations haven't aired a couple of January episodes from Season One/RFD but they did air a couple of summer episodes from Season Two/RFD to fill-in the gaps.
Season One/RFD Air-Dates/Broadcast Order:
1. Steve Wariner: November 7, 2015
2. Larry Gatlin: November 14, 2015
3. Bobby Bare: November 21, 2015
4. Don Schlitz: November 28, 2015
5. Charlie McCoy and Lori Stegner: December 5, 2015
6. Bobby Braddock: December 12, 2015
7. Jimmy Fortune: December 19, 2015
***Special episode: Suzy Bogus (Christmas program; hasn't aired on PBS): December 26, 2015***
8. Aaron Tippin: January 2, 2016
9. John Conlee and Jeff Bates: January 9, 2016
10. Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard: January 16, 2016
11. Lee Greenwood and Darryl Worley: January 23, 2016 (hasn't aired on PBS yet; scheduled to air on WCVN/KET2 on September 16, 2017)
12. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale: January 30, 2016 (hasn't aired on PBS yet; scheduled to air on WCVN/KET2 on July 1, 2017)
13. Billy Dean: March 19, 2016
Season Two/RFD Air-Dates/Broadcast Order:
1. James Gregory and Helen Highwater String Band: May 7, 2016 (aired on WCVN/KET2 already)
2. Bobby Goldsboro: May 14, 2016
3. Williams and Ree: May 21, 2016
4. Bellamy Brothers: June 4, 2016
5. The Gatlin Brothers: June 11, 2016
6. Gene Watson: June 18, 2016 (aired on WCVN/KET2 already)
7. Collin Raye: June 25, 2016
8. Bill Anderson: July 2, 2016
9. Sylvia: July 9, 2016
10. Con Hunley: July 16, 2016
11. Leroy Van Dyke: July 23, 2016
12. Janie Fricke: July 30, 2016
Here are the episodes that have aired and those yet to air on the local PBS affiliate in my area. You will notice that WCVN/KET2 isn't planning on airing much of what aired during the Season Two/RFD line-up. So I am hoping that more DVDs of his television program become available throughout the year!! Also, the first 13 episodes listed below are exactly what appears on Ray's latest DVD project...
WCVN/KET2 Air-Dates/Broadcast Order:
1. Steve Wariner: March 25, 2017
2. Larry Gatlin: April 1, 2017
3. Bobby Bare: April 8, 2017
4. Don Schlitz: April 15, 2017
5. Charlie McCoy and Lori Stegner: April 22, 2017
6. Bobby Braddock: April 29, 2017
7. Jimmy Fortune: May 6, 2017
8. Aaron Tippin: May 13, 2017
9. John Conlee and Jeff Bates: May 20, 2017
10. Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard: May 27, 2017
11. Gene Watson: June 3, 2017 (from Season Two/RFD)
12. James Gregory: June 10, 2017 (from Season Two/RFD)
13. Billy Dean: June 17, 2017
1. Bobby Goldsboro: June 24, 2017
2. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale: July 1, 2017 (from Season One/RFD)
3. Harold Bradley: July 8, 2017
4. Shenandoah: July 15, 2017 (footage taped February 2017)
5. Michael W. Smith: July 22, 2017
6. B.J. Thomas: July 29, 2017
7. Rhonda Vincent: August 5, 2017
8. Restless Heart: August 12, 2017
9. John Michael Montgomery: August 19, 2017
10. Baillie and the Boys: August 26, 2017
11. Con Hunley: September 2, 2017 (footage taped February 2017)
12. Jimmy Wayne: September 9, 2017
13. Lee Greenwood and Darryl Worley: September 16, 2017 (from Season One/RFD)
The second group of 13 episodes consists of some programs originally meant for RFD but weren't aired (based on social media postings late last year during taping sessions by the guest stars) and there are some from a taping session held earlier this year and those episodes will be brand new to all of Ray's fans since they hadn't aired before. The 11th episode is Con Hunley's second guest appearance. He appeared in an episode that RFD aired in July of last year. There was a taping session held in December of 2016 and those episodes are no doubt also part of the second group of 13 episodes WCVN/KET2 is scheduled to air.
From June 26th to June 30th Ray is going to be busy taping footage for even more episodes of the television series. These episodes are probably not going to start airing on PBS affiliates until maybe late fall or early winter this year. Once those episodes air, however, as I mentioned earlier, additional episodes are going to be taped at his CabaRay venue!
You can purchase the 13-episode, PBS-aired First Season DVD by clicking HERE.
June 11, 2017
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville DVD!!
News broke several days ago about an upcoming product concerning Ray Stevens. I became aware of the product while doing one of my Google image searches for Ray. I happened to come across an image of a DVD offering the first season of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville (13 episodes). Whenever I come across something about Ray that's out of the ordinary I contact Ray's people and ask questions. The image was credited from originating at Ray's site. Since I write a fan-created blog focusing on Ray I prefer to post information that's official and accurate.
Admittedly I was aware of this product for several days...but I didn't feel secure enough to post much about it...so I privately shared the images with some other fans of Ray Stevens. I contacted Ray's people about the DVD but didn't get a reply...they were obviously planning/preparing for the CMA Music Festival. (Note: I wrote about his appearance at the Fan Fair event in my previous blog post from earlier this morning.).
Anyway, after sending Ray's people a message about this mysterious DVD image that I came across, I visited his website. Once the page opened up there's a great big advertisement for the DVD. Upon seeing this I realized that the DVD image credited to Ray in the Google image search happened to be official. Even though I had clicked the image of the DVD and it took me to Ray's store I still didn't feel okay writing about the product because of the lack of publicity for it...but considering the big advertisement at Ray's website I'll officially add my enthusiasm and excitement for this product and I'll spare no hold-back.
Isn't this a lovely sight?? This is something that I'd been hoping for ever since Ray debuted his television series back on RFD television in November 2015. I had hoped that a DVD of the program would emerge at some point and sure enough it has. Ray moved the show from RFD to PBS in January of this year. I've since placed my order for the DVD and I can't wait for it to get here...finally I'll be able to see episode 1 (guest starring Steve Wariner) in it's entirety and the several episodes that the DVR didn't record (namely episode 9 guest starring John Conlee and Jeff Bates!) and the episodes the DVR automatically removed (3 altogether!!). There were more episodes that aired on RFD than just 13 but the air-date schedule happened to confuse a lot of people and apparently it's unique production cycle is the reason for it's departure from RFD (but that's just my guess). It operated under a 13 week first-run/13 week rerun schedule. Once the 13th episode reran, new episodes would begin to air for 13 more weeks (a total of 26 first-run episodes and 26 reruns comprise a 52 week calendar year). Most television programs air 26 first-run episodes and then go into their hiatus/rerun period during the summer months. Ray's program wasn't taped in the 26 first-run, 26 rerun style...so the first 13 episodes billed as Season One could arguably be referred to as half a season. I'm hoping a Part 2 is also on the horizon featuring the remaining 13 episodes that originally aired on RFD. There has also been footage shot for an additional 26 episodes but the footage hasn't been constructed/edited into individual half hour programs yet. Once the editing process is completed then those episodes will start airing on PBS, too.
How can YOU order your copy of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series?? I'm glad you asked!! You can purchase your copy of the DVD by visiting Ray's store and do what I already did...order it! You can visit the web-store by clicking HERE. If you have never ordered from his site before you will have to register as a customer and provide the usual details (name, shipping address, e-mail, payment method, etc. etc.). It's a 4-disc collection. Episodes 1 through 4 are on Disc 1, episodes 5 through 8 are on Disc 2, episodes 9 through 12 are on Disc 3, episode 13 and Bonus material is on Disc 4. I'm assuming the bonus material are out-takes, bloopers, etc. etc. Once I get the DVD and watch it and take note of the sound/picture, etc. etc. I'll post my review.
Admittedly I was aware of this product for several days...but I didn't feel secure enough to post much about it...so I privately shared the images with some other fans of Ray Stevens. I contacted Ray's people about the DVD but didn't get a reply...they were obviously planning/preparing for the CMA Music Festival. (Note: I wrote about his appearance at the Fan Fair event in my previous blog post from earlier this morning.).
Anyway, after sending Ray's people a message about this mysterious DVD image that I came across, I visited his website. Once the page opened up there's a great big advertisement for the DVD. Upon seeing this I realized that the DVD image credited to Ray in the Google image search happened to be official. Even though I had clicked the image of the DVD and it took me to Ray's store I still didn't feel okay writing about the product because of the lack of publicity for it...but considering the big advertisement at Ray's website I'll officially add my enthusiasm and excitement for this product and I'll spare no hold-back.
How can YOU order your copy of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series?? I'm glad you asked!! You can purchase your copy of the DVD by visiting Ray's store and do what I already did...order it! You can visit the web-store by clicking HERE. If you have never ordered from his site before you will have to register as a customer and provide the usual details (name, shipping address, e-mail, payment method, etc. etc.). It's a 4-disc collection. Episodes 1 through 4 are on Disc 1, episodes 5 through 8 are on Disc 2, episodes 9 through 12 are on Disc 3, episode 13 and Bonus material is on Disc 4. I'm assuming the bonus material are out-takes, bloopers, etc. etc. Once I get the DVD and watch it and take note of the sound/picture, etc. etc. I'll post my review.
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...Episode 12...
It's an early Sunday morning (June 11th) and Ray has had a very busy last couple of days during the CMA Music Festival (also known as Fan Fair). He appeared at a booth and greeted all kinds of fans and members of the music press judging by the photo's that have appeared on social media. Ray signed CD's, books, photo's, and had his photo taken during three separate hour long sessions. The times were 1:30pm-2:30pm Central (June 8th, June 9th, and June 10th). You can look at the photo's that were posted on Ray's Facebook page. They're in the Mobile Uploads album section of his page and you can view the photo's by clicking HERE.
As of this writing he only has 6 photo's posted from the meet and greets...perhaps more may be added...and if so the photo's from the Fan Fair appearances with his fans stop at the photo of the key to Pascagoula, Mississippi. The other photo's are screen caps from his television series and from a book signing of his memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville. Today he'll be participating in a locally produced version of "Celebrity Family Feud" on the CMA Close-Up Stage inside the Fan Fair X venue. It's being promoted as The Country Stars vs. The Reality Stars. The line-up for the Country stars happen to be: Ray, Jeannie Seely, Darryl Worley, Craig Campbell, and Parmalee. The Reality stars happen to be: Nicole Franzel, Caleb Reynolds, Sheila Kennedy, James Fuertes, and Jessica Figueroa. This charity event is going to take place at 1:30pm Central time today. Keep in mind that this is a locally produced version of the series...it isn't going to feature Steve Harvey as the host.
Last night at 8pm eastern the local PBS channel aired episode 12 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. I watched it and taped it...and about an hour ago I checked my DVR recording log because I couldn't find last night's episode in the line-up. Once again (much like the error message a couple of episodes ago) I received a message saying that KET2 wasn't available and therefore last night's episode didn't tape. It's a mystery to me...because I happened to be watching the very episode that the DVR didn't tape "because the channel was not available". Thankfully I made notes and last night's episode guest starred James Gregory and the Helen Highwater String Band.
Ray opened the show singing a rousing version of "Kiss a Pig" (originally recorded by him in 1985; I Have Returned). This is followed by a clip of Ray spoofing James Bond (originally from the 1993 home video, Ray Stevens Live!). James Gregory is then brought out and he performs a comedy routine. Afterward he and Ray have a discussion about weight loss. Although Ray is known for his comical songs and videos anytime somebody that's also known for their comedy appears on the same stage Ray often takes on the role of straight man...I don't know if it's intentional or not.
The Helen Highwater Stringband appear and perform a song called "Cryin' and Singin'". One of the band's members, Missy Raines, uploaded their performance from Ray's television program a couple of months ago and you can see it by clicking HERE. The band share the same microphone when they sing which is a rarity for group performances but this is one of those instances in which the proper definition is an actual band...rather than a group. In an effort to not get into the weeds too much there's a difference between calling an act "a group" or "a band". Search on-line social media for such arguments, though. After the string band performance the regular feature, Video Jukebox, appeared. This time around his music video of "Everything is Beautiful" aired. Don Cusic introduced the next segment focusing on the pop music classic "Splish Splash". Ray had recorded it for inclusion on his Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. It's on Disc 7 (it's a 9-CD collection; the songs appear in alphabetical order). If you thought "Kiss a Pig" happened to be rousing (as I had described it) then the performance of "Splish Splash" tops that one.
Given the song's history and familiarity plus the fact that Bobby Darin gave it a distinctive vocalization, originally, Ray happened to be more than up to the task of recreating the feeling of the song. Even though "Splish Splash" isn't necessarily a 'ha-ha' kind of comedy song it nevertheless was viewed as a novelty song by some due to it's unusual lyrics (for the time period) and it's overall subject matter. Afterward Ray told a hamster joke prior to the closing music beginning to play over the sound system. As usual Ray asked a member of the audience to be his dancing partner as the credits rolled. Although this is episode 12 of the 13-episode "first season" I can't say I'm disappointed to much in my lack of episodes on my DVR. My lack of disappointment is due to some news that broke several days ago...click on the third blog entry starting at the bottom for the month of June for further information over on the right hand side of the page in the archives!!
Last night at 8pm eastern the local PBS channel aired episode 12 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. I watched it and taped it...and about an hour ago I checked my DVR recording log because I couldn't find last night's episode in the line-up. Once again (much like the error message a couple of episodes ago) I received a message saying that KET2 wasn't available and therefore last night's episode didn't tape. It's a mystery to me...because I happened to be watching the very episode that the DVR didn't tape "because the channel was not available". Thankfully I made notes and last night's episode guest starred James Gregory and the Helen Highwater String Band.
Ray opened the show singing a rousing version of "Kiss a Pig" (originally recorded by him in 1985; I Have Returned). This is followed by a clip of Ray spoofing James Bond (originally from the 1993 home video, Ray Stevens Live!). James Gregory is then brought out and he performs a comedy routine. Afterward he and Ray have a discussion about weight loss. Although Ray is known for his comical songs and videos anytime somebody that's also known for their comedy appears on the same stage Ray often takes on the role of straight man...I don't know if it's intentional or not.
The Helen Highwater Stringband appear and perform a song called "Cryin' and Singin'". One of the band's members, Missy Raines, uploaded their performance from Ray's television program a couple of months ago and you can see it by clicking HERE. The band share the same microphone when they sing which is a rarity for group performances but this is one of those instances in which the proper definition is an actual band...rather than a group. In an effort to not get into the weeds too much there's a difference between calling an act "a group" or "a band". Search on-line social media for such arguments, though. After the string band performance the regular feature, Video Jukebox, appeared. This time around his music video of "Everything is Beautiful" aired. Don Cusic introduced the next segment focusing on the pop music classic "Splish Splash". Ray had recorded it for inclusion on his Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. It's on Disc 7 (it's a 9-CD collection; the songs appear in alphabetical order). If you thought "Kiss a Pig" happened to be rousing (as I had described it) then the performance of "Splish Splash" tops that one.
Given the song's history and familiarity plus the fact that Bobby Darin gave it a distinctive vocalization, originally, Ray happened to be more than up to the task of recreating the feeling of the song. Even though "Splish Splash" isn't necessarily a 'ha-ha' kind of comedy song it nevertheless was viewed as a novelty song by some due to it's unusual lyrics (for the time period) and it's overall subject matter. Afterward Ray told a hamster joke prior to the closing music beginning to play over the sound system. As usual Ray asked a member of the audience to be his dancing partner as the credits rolled. Although this is episode 12 of the 13-episode "first season" I can't say I'm disappointed to much in my lack of episodes on my DVR. My lack of disappointment is due to some news that broke several days ago...click on the third blog entry starting at the bottom for the month of June for further information over on the right hand side of the page in the archives!!
June 5, 2017
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville Showroom...
Hello there once again!! Oh yes, I know that I missed nearly an entire month of fan-created blog posting during the month of May but I didn't have much extra time to write a quality entry. I could've posted breezy messages and called it a 'blog entry' but I usually, hardly ever, do that kind of thing unless some kind of urgent news about Ray breaks and I want to get it onto my blog as soon as possible. In my hiatus I'd been busy with my off-line life...my job demands for much of May included working extra days (mandatory) and it created a situation in which my only free time was Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings...hardly any time available to spend seriously concentrating on my blog posts. Before going any further I want to share a video clip that Ray posted in early May of the nearly completed CabaRay Showroom. There are some more things left to complete (the parking lot, for example) but I think the major construction is complete as far as the actual building is concerned.
Meanwhile, during my hiatus from blog writing, several more episodes of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville have aired on KET2. The last blog post I wrote featured a review of episode 7 (Jimmy Fortune guest star).
Episode 8 featured Aaron Tippin as the special guest. On this episode Ray opened the show performing "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone, Part One". After the performance he offers commentary about the physique of special guest, Aaron Tippin. Ray asks about Aaron's past and they discuss some of his duties as a former pilot/aviator. Afterward Aaron gives Ray a bottle of Blackberry Wine. They discuss Aaron's Silver Anniversary in country music. Ray displays a CD celebrating the milestone. Ray remarks about the photo's inside the fold-out and points out a photo of Aaron and Bob Hope during the Gulf War (1991) and this eventually leads into Aaron performing "You've Got to Stand For Something" which became a monster hit in country music during the Gulf War. After a break (fade out) the next scene features Ray introducing Aaron once more for a performance of a brand new song, "God's Not Through with Me Yet". In the Video Jukebox segment the famous music video of "It's Me Again, Margaret" is played. Ray closed the main portion of the show by singing "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone, Part Two".
Sadly episode 9 didn't record. I got an error message on my recording log saying that the channel wasn't available during the taping. It happened to be an odd situation because after contacting the station via social media messaging and asking if the channel had any sort of technical issues Saturday night (May 20th) the very next week (May 27th) episode 10 recorded without any problem. The person that replied to my e-mail couldn't understand the glitch given that, to their knowledge, the station remained on the air the night of May 20th...so it's a mystery as to why the DVR didn't record episode 9 and why the recording log had an error message about the channel not being available. To add to my minor misery over the episode not recording...that particular episode guest starred one of my favorites, John Conlee, and it also featured Jeff Bates. What a night for your DVR to not function properly!!
Episode 10 (May 27th) featured Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard as special guests. Ray opened the show singing "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me". Ray and Tanya perform a cute duet. I do not know the actual name of the song but the line that's often repeated "I Might Be an Old Dog, Honey" is probably the song's title. She then performs "Strong Enough to Bend". T.G. Sheppard performs "I Loved 'Em Everyone" and talks about his current duet project CD. Ironically, Ray and T.G. recorded a duet together called "This One Burger King Town" in 2012 but they didn't perform the song for this particular episode. There's a possibility that he and T.G. performed it during the taping and that it didn't make it into the final cut but that's just me making a guess. Ray and company tape the program in segments and edit everything together later (almost similar in recording technique to "Hee Haw"). Ray closed the main portion of the show by singing "Along Came Jones".
Concurrently, May 27th happened to be the night that Ray made a guest appearance on The Grand Ole Opry. In a segment hosted by Bill Anderson, who advertised the upcoming grand opening of the CabaRay showroom (slated for August), Ray came out to strong applause and after some opening remarks he launched into "It's Me Again, Margaret". In recent times during live performances he cut out his vocal impression of the telephone dial but on that particular night he dazzled the audience (judging by their applause) during his phone dial impression (you can see it on the music video if you're not sure of what I'm referring to). After telling a joke about a hapless kid named Earl and cheating on a school test Ray performed "Misty".
Episode 11, which aired this past Saturday night (June 3rd) featured Gene Watson as the special guest. Ray opened up the show singing "Power Tools" aided by snippets of the music video. Gene Watson is introduced and he talks about his start in the music business. One of Ray's background vocalists, Sheri Copeland Smith, steps into the foreground and shares thoughts about George Jones as does Gene...in particular a tour in Canada that he and George were on. Gene then speaks a little bit about performing at the unidentified Jones Country in the early 1980s. Gene referred to it as "the outdoors music park George owned..." but didn't exactly call it by it's actual name. Gene sang "Farewell Party" and in the Video Jukebox segment the music video of "The Haircut Song" was featured. Gene performs the more uptempo "14 Karat Mind" and then Ray closes the show performing a stellar rendition of "Mr. Businessman".
Take a look at a Billboard advertisement currently on display...
Meanwhile, during my hiatus from blog writing, several more episodes of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville have aired on KET2. The last blog post I wrote featured a review of episode 7 (Jimmy Fortune guest star).
Episode 8 featured Aaron Tippin as the special guest. On this episode Ray opened the show performing "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone, Part One". After the performance he offers commentary about the physique of special guest, Aaron Tippin. Ray asks about Aaron's past and they discuss some of his duties as a former pilot/aviator. Afterward Aaron gives Ray a bottle of Blackberry Wine. They discuss Aaron's Silver Anniversary in country music. Ray displays a CD celebrating the milestone. Ray remarks about the photo's inside the fold-out and points out a photo of Aaron and Bob Hope during the Gulf War (1991) and this eventually leads into Aaron performing "You've Got to Stand For Something" which became a monster hit in country music during the Gulf War. After a break (fade out) the next scene features Ray introducing Aaron once more for a performance of a brand new song, "God's Not Through with Me Yet". In the Video Jukebox segment the famous music video of "It's Me Again, Margaret" is played. Ray closed the main portion of the show by singing "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone, Part Two".
Sadly episode 9 didn't record. I got an error message on my recording log saying that the channel wasn't available during the taping. It happened to be an odd situation because after contacting the station via social media messaging and asking if the channel had any sort of technical issues Saturday night (May 20th) the very next week (May 27th) episode 10 recorded without any problem. The person that replied to my e-mail couldn't understand the glitch given that, to their knowledge, the station remained on the air the night of May 20th...so it's a mystery as to why the DVR didn't record episode 9 and why the recording log had an error message about the channel not being available. To add to my minor misery over the episode not recording...that particular episode guest starred one of my favorites, John Conlee, and it also featured Jeff Bates. What a night for your DVR to not function properly!!
Episode 10 (May 27th) featured Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard as special guests. Ray opened the show singing "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me". Ray and Tanya perform a cute duet. I do not know the actual name of the song but the line that's often repeated "I Might Be an Old Dog, Honey" is probably the song's title. She then performs "Strong Enough to Bend". T.G. Sheppard performs "I Loved 'Em Everyone" and talks about his current duet project CD. Ironically, Ray and T.G. recorded a duet together called "This One Burger King Town" in 2012 but they didn't perform the song for this particular episode. There's a possibility that he and T.G. performed it during the taping and that it didn't make it into the final cut but that's just me making a guess. Ray and company tape the program in segments and edit everything together later (almost similar in recording technique to "Hee Haw"). Ray closed the main portion of the show by singing "Along Came Jones".
Concurrently, May 27th happened to be the night that Ray made a guest appearance on The Grand Ole Opry. In a segment hosted by Bill Anderson, who advertised the upcoming grand opening of the CabaRay showroom (slated for August), Ray came out to strong applause and after some opening remarks he launched into "It's Me Again, Margaret". In recent times during live performances he cut out his vocal impression of the telephone dial but on that particular night he dazzled the audience (judging by their applause) during his phone dial impression (you can see it on the music video if you're not sure of what I'm referring to). After telling a joke about a hapless kid named Earl and cheating on a school test Ray performed "Misty".
Episode 11, which aired this past Saturday night (June 3rd) featured Gene Watson as the special guest. Ray opened up the show singing "Power Tools" aided by snippets of the music video. Gene Watson is introduced and he talks about his start in the music business. One of Ray's background vocalists, Sheri Copeland Smith, steps into the foreground and shares thoughts about George Jones as does Gene...in particular a tour in Canada that he and George were on. Gene then speaks a little bit about performing at the unidentified Jones Country in the early 1980s. Gene referred to it as "the outdoors music park George owned..." but didn't exactly call it by it's actual name. Gene sang "Farewell Party" and in the Video Jukebox segment the music video of "The Haircut Song" was featured. Gene performs the more uptempo "14 Karat Mind" and then Ray closes the show performing a stellar rendition of "Mr. Businessman".
Take a look at a Billboard advertisement currently on display...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)