Well, hello once more! I'm on vacation from work all this week but yesterday I happened to literally be away from the house from mid morning until around eight last night. My brother and I were driving around, stopping at various places, inserting addresses and generally testing out a new G.P.S. device I purchased for a road trip we're planning this coming Thursday morning. When I arrived home I checked Ray's premium video site and discovered that episode seven of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville had become available for viewing.
As you can tell from the embed the special guest is Sam Moore. Ray opened up the show giving a brief history on the song "C.C. Rider" which set the tone of the episode. He perhaps half jokingly said that it's the official opening song for live performers but didn't specifically single out Las Vegas. Ray spoke of somebody that I'd never heard of...a guy named Wayne Cochran...and then went on to tell how Wayne more than likely influenced the Vegas-era performing style of Elvis. Ray then says that Wayne Newton began opening shows with "C.C. Rider", too. Ray performs the song and it includes shout outs to several members of the band as well as interaction from the harmony singers.
Ray introduces Sam Moore and upon entrance Sam lets out a "How-dee" in the style of Minnie Pearl. Ray mentions his love for rhythm and blues and says that's the music he heavily gravitated toward as he got older and into his teen years. Ray lists several of his favorites in addition to how he worked with quite a few during his years at Mercury in the early '60s. Sam mentions of working with the likes of Ray Charles and Brook Benton. Ray Stevens and Sam perform "Rainy Night in Georgia" which had originally been recorded by Brook. Afterward Ray asks how it was like to sing with Conway Twitty. Sam remarks that he was incredibly nervous prior to meeting Conway for the recording session and once he saw him in person he thought to himself "My...you have a lot of hair!". The audience laughs...but, of course, the funny thing is at the time Conway and Sam recorded their version of "Rainy Night in Georgia" in 1993 Sam's hair had a lot of length to it as well.
Ray asks about Sam's latest CD, An American Patriot. Sam tells of being at a social event and getting chills realizing that he was standing in a spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. once stood and then he does a vocal drum roll and presents Ray with a t-shirt promoting Sam's CD. The project was released in October of 2017 but this episode was taped during recording sessions which had taken place months earlier than that (the latter half of June 2017 to be specific). Sam performs his rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and by song's end the entire cast (including Ray) and the audience are in a hand clapping, sing-a-long presentation. Ray asks him to sing another song...and you can guess what the request would be...Ray asks for "Soul Man". Sam comically refuses to do it but this leads into his 'giving in' and performing it anyway. It's in this performance where Sam has the audience standing up to provide dance routines during the performance. Genuinely getting a kick out of it he proclaims how much fun he's having doing the show. Ray eventually comes out to thank him for being on the show. Sam departs the performance area.
The guests exiting the stage area is something that's become a part of the show recently. I think it began in the latter half of the previous season where the guests exit on-camera. In most episodes up until last season after Ray thanked the guest for appearing it would edit to Ray being center stage or at the piano to perform the closing song. Like I mentioned, here lately, the episodes show the guest leaving the performance area and then the camera pans back over to Ray, seated at the piano or standing, and he starts to perform the closing song. This time the closing song is "Save the Last Dance for Me". Ray had recorded the song, partially, in 1978 and used it as part of what he called a Dance Trilogy. A medley of three dance songs incorporated into a single performance. This trilogy of songs include: "Do You Wanna Dance?", "When You Dance", and "Save the Last Dance for Me". It's the lead-off track on his 1978 Rhythm and Blues tribute album, There is Something On Your Mind.
Episode Seven of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville, guest starring Sam Moore, officially aired on local PBS stations last weekend (most air-dates were on Saturday February 17th). As I mentioned in a previous blog entry the local PBS affiliate in my area will begin airing Season Five episodes the first weekend of April but they will begin with Episode Eight and won't air the first seven episodes of the current season. Like a broken record I have to say it again: Thank God for RayStevens.tv. If it weren't for this premium on-line website I'd not have been able to see the first seven episodes of this season and up until the other day it seemed as if I'd not be able to see Season Five air on KET2 until later this year sometime. I'm glad the rest of Season Five will be airing on television and reaching a more wider local audience than the episodes otherwise would have but I'd never understood why the local PBS station never aired Season Five from it's beginning in early January but chose to repeat the first half of Season Three in it's place.
The next episode of the series will guest star Wilson Fairchild. This episode aired this past weekend on local PBS stations and so I'll provide a recap of this episode after it's been uploaded onto the Ray Stevens video site I provided a link to in the previous paragraph.
February 27, 2018
February 26, 2018
Ray Stevens: Promotional On-line Videos...
Hello all...there's been a lot of activity showing up all over several social media sites regarding all things CabaRay...all things CabaRay Nashville...all things Ray Stevens...you get the idea. Everything from video promo's to wine to most recent news of Larry's Country Diner. In an effort to not let everything jumble together and perhaps get confusing or overlooked I'm going to methodically go through and offer each bit of activity that's gone on at a slower pace so everything can sink in.
First off several months ago, prior to the grand opening of the CabaRay, Ray launched an on-line video site called RayStevens.tv and I immediately subscribed. I purchased a full year's service rather than have a monthly payment. This subscription based site is something that offers fans, among many other things, the opportunity to see episodes of CabaRay Nashville. Ray's television program previously aired on RFD television. It aired on that network from November 2015 until December 2016. In January of 2017 the series began airing on local PBS stations across the country.
Ever since the television series moved from RFD to PBS there isn't a day that goes by that someone on social media doesn't complain about their not being able to see Ray's television show anymore...and some wish it were still on RFD.
Anyway...this video site that Ray launched a couple of months ago offers those that do not have the opportunity to see his television show a chance to watch it on-line. He posted a promotional video clip late in November and a second promo clip in late December. In the first clip he makes mention of the often posted commentary from those that used to watch the show on RFD but no longer can once it moved to PBS.
The video promo's do not reflect chronology. The clip marked Promo2 actually appeared on-line first (November 14, 2017) while the clip marked Promo1 appeared on-line second (December 27, 2017). I guess they (Ray and associates) want more emphasis on the December clip and so they re-named it Promo1. A third promo video for the video site arrived on YouTube on his birthday (January 24th). Those not familiar with video uploading, yes, you can edit a video's title and it not even impact the statistical data of the video whatsoever.
Now, of course, you all should be able to notice that each of those promotional video clips were taped on the same day but individually released a month apart (November, December, and January). A promo clip for the CabaRay itself shown up on February 21st...
Once you visit the CabaRay you'll no doubt come across the Bill Lowery High Spirits Emporium Bar located inside the venue. It is in this section of the CabaRay where you can now sample and even purchase a bottle of what's being sold/advertised as CabaRay Wine. In the advertisement on Ray's social media sites it states that he personally selected the kind of wine being sold. They make mention in the description for the wine that it's bottled in Napa, California. You can see, once you click the image, a larger view of the wines being offered at the CabaRay. The label's contain the years 2013 and 2016 along with the CabaRay logo, the type of wine, and the state in which it was bottled. The news release of this CabaRay Wine appeared on Ray's social media sites on February 21st and so it's only been less than a week since the announcement was made. There isn't video footage promoting the wine, yet...I assume there will be such video publicity at some point. At the moment it's advertised in the form of photographs.
Yesterday a post on the Facebook page of Larry's Country Diner (a television show hosted by Larry Black on RFD) advertised that their upcoming season of television programs is going to be taped at Ray's very own CabaRay venue. Their taping season gets underway on March 6th and they'll be taping two episodes each Tuesday through the middle of April.
Along with the activity surrounding the subscription based video site and the introduction of CabaRay Wine and Larry's Country Diner there have been more promo clips uploaded, on YouTube, for Season Five episodes of CabaRay Nashville and this brings me to the news I found out late last night concerning the local PBS station in the area that airs Ray's television show each Saturday at 8pm. In blogs past I have often made the comment that KET2 began a repeat cycle in January of past episodes of Ray's television series rather than airing Season Five (the current season). I checked the show's profile page at KET2's website and found out that the show is going to go on hiatus for a month (other programs, for unexplained reasons, are going to air in CabaRay Nashville's time slot) but then according to the posted schedule CabaRay Nashville is to return to the airwaves on KET2 on March 24th.
However, if you remember, Ray produced a 90 minute special last year that PBS stations could air during pledge drives. I found out that this PBS special will air on KET2 next month. In fact, it'll air at 12am on March 4th and it'll rerun on March 6th at 3:30am. If you're not a night owl or if you happen to work during those hours then definitely set your DVR for either of those air dates. I'll be watching it on March 4th and more than likely I'll DVR it at the same time. The PBS special has aired already on several PBS stations over the last several weeks. Iowa's PBS station, IPTV, aired the 90 minute special just this past Saturday. Some PBS stations are offering a DVD of the television special as a donation gift.
Back to the previous paragraph. Once KET2 brings back CabaRay Nashville as a weekly series on March 24th it'll begin with a repeat of Tommy Roe's episode from September 2017. This will be followed by, on March 31st, the episode with Mark Wills as a guest (originally airing on KET2 in September 2017). Then, on April 7th, KET2 will start airing recent episodes from the current season of Ray's series. Season Five officially began the first weekend of January this year but rather than add the first 7 episodes to their schedule they're going to start with episode 8 on April 7th. Episode 8 is the one that aired over the weekend guest starring the duo, Wilson Fairchild. Of course this means KET2 will not be airing the first 7 episodes of Season Five but they'll air the remaining episodes. Here's the upcoming KET2 schedule of CabaRay Nashville air dates:
March 4th: CabaRay Nashville Special (12am)
March 6th: CabaRay Nashville Special (3:30am; repeat)
March 24th: Tommy Roe (repeat from September 2017)
March 31st: Mark Wills (repeat from September 2017)
April 7th: Wilson Fairchild
April 14th: Deana Carter
April 21st: Gary Puckett
April 28th: John Rich (part one)
May 5th: John Rich (part two)
May 12th: Tony Orlando
May 19th: Jamie O'Neal
May 26th: Mark Chesnutt
Notice that John Rich will appear in two back to back episodes. This is the first time that a guest artist will headline on back to back episodes.
Season Six is still in production and those episodes are being taped at the CabaRay. I don't know when those Season Six episodes will begin to air...in a previous blog entry I made the assumption that they might start airing in April of this year on his video site and then air on local PBS stations later in the year.
Oh my...was this a lengthy blog entry or what??
Hopefully episode seven from last weekend (guest starring Sam Moore) will be uploaded onto Ray's video site later today. Usually they're uploaded no later than Sunday, a week after they're aired on PBS, but there have been times where uploads didn't surface until Monday. Once I'm able to see the episode I'll provide a re-cap.
First off several months ago, prior to the grand opening of the CabaRay, Ray launched an on-line video site called RayStevens.tv and I immediately subscribed. I purchased a full year's service rather than have a monthly payment. This subscription based site is something that offers fans, among many other things, the opportunity to see episodes of CabaRay Nashville. Ray's television program previously aired on RFD television. It aired on that network from November 2015 until December 2016. In January of 2017 the series began airing on local PBS stations across the country.
Ever since the television series moved from RFD to PBS there isn't a day that goes by that someone on social media doesn't complain about their not being able to see Ray's television show anymore...and some wish it were still on RFD.
Anyway...this video site that Ray launched a couple of months ago offers those that do not have the opportunity to see his television show a chance to watch it on-line. He posted a promotional video clip late in November and a second promo clip in late December. In the first clip he makes mention of the often posted commentary from those that used to watch the show on RFD but no longer can once it moved to PBS.
The video promo's do not reflect chronology. The clip marked Promo2 actually appeared on-line first (November 14, 2017) while the clip marked Promo1 appeared on-line second (December 27, 2017). I guess they (Ray and associates) want more emphasis on the December clip and so they re-named it Promo1. A third promo video for the video site arrived on YouTube on his birthday (January 24th). Those not familiar with video uploading, yes, you can edit a video's title and it not even impact the statistical data of the video whatsoever.
Now, of course, you all should be able to notice that each of those promotional video clips were taped on the same day but individually released a month apart (November, December, and January). A promo clip for the CabaRay itself shown up on February 21st...
Yesterday a post on the Facebook page of Larry's Country Diner (a television show hosted by Larry Black on RFD) advertised that their upcoming season of television programs is going to be taped at Ray's very own CabaRay venue. Their taping season gets underway on March 6th and they'll be taping two episodes each Tuesday through the middle of April.
Along with the activity surrounding the subscription based video site and the introduction of CabaRay Wine and Larry's Country Diner there have been more promo clips uploaded, on YouTube, for Season Five episodes of CabaRay Nashville and this brings me to the news I found out late last night concerning the local PBS station in the area that airs Ray's television show each Saturday at 8pm. In blogs past I have often made the comment that KET2 began a repeat cycle in January of past episodes of Ray's television series rather than airing Season Five (the current season). I checked the show's profile page at KET2's website and found out that the show is going to go on hiatus for a month (other programs, for unexplained reasons, are going to air in CabaRay Nashville's time slot) but then according to the posted schedule CabaRay Nashville is to return to the airwaves on KET2 on March 24th.
However, if you remember, Ray produced a 90 minute special last year that PBS stations could air during pledge drives. I found out that this PBS special will air on KET2 next month. In fact, it'll air at 12am on March 4th and it'll rerun on March 6th at 3:30am. If you're not a night owl or if you happen to work during those hours then definitely set your DVR for either of those air dates. I'll be watching it on March 4th and more than likely I'll DVR it at the same time. The PBS special has aired already on several PBS stations over the last several weeks. Iowa's PBS station, IPTV, aired the 90 minute special just this past Saturday. Some PBS stations are offering a DVD of the television special as a donation gift.
Back to the previous paragraph. Once KET2 brings back CabaRay Nashville as a weekly series on March 24th it'll begin with a repeat of Tommy Roe's episode from September 2017. This will be followed by, on March 31st, the episode with Mark Wills as a guest (originally airing on KET2 in September 2017). Then, on April 7th, KET2 will start airing recent episodes from the current season of Ray's series. Season Five officially began the first weekend of January this year but rather than add the first 7 episodes to their schedule they're going to start with episode 8 on April 7th. Episode 8 is the one that aired over the weekend guest starring the duo, Wilson Fairchild. Of course this means KET2 will not be airing the first 7 episodes of Season Five but they'll air the remaining episodes. Here's the upcoming KET2 schedule of CabaRay Nashville air dates:
March 4th: CabaRay Nashville Special (12am)
March 6th: CabaRay Nashville Special (3:30am; repeat)
March 24th: Tommy Roe (repeat from September 2017)
March 31st: Mark Wills (repeat from September 2017)
April 7th: Wilson Fairchild
April 14th: Deana Carter
April 21st: Gary Puckett
April 28th: John Rich (part one)
May 5th: John Rich (part two)
May 12th: Tony Orlando
May 19th: Jamie O'Neal
May 26th: Mark Chesnutt
Notice that John Rich will appear in two back to back episodes. This is the first time that a guest artist will headline on back to back episodes.
Season Six is still in production and those episodes are being taped at the CabaRay. I don't know when those Season Six episodes will begin to air...in a previous blog entry I made the assumption that they might start airing in April of this year on his video site and then air on local PBS stations later in the year.
Oh my...was this a lengthy blog entry or what??
Hopefully episode seven from last weekend (guest starring Sam Moore) will be uploaded onto Ray's video site later today. Usually they're uploaded no later than Sunday, a week after they're aired on PBS, but there have been times where uploads didn't surface until Monday. Once I'm able to see the episode I'll provide a re-cap.
February 18, 2018
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville Overview
The current season has 14 episodes and half of those have aired. The episode airing this weekend on some of the local PBS stations (episode 7) features Sam Moore as a guest. I will see this episode next weekend on Ray's video site. Anyway...I counted up 14 air dates on the calendar...and the current season of Ray's show will conclude the weekend of April 13th. The following weekend (April 20th) the Sixth Season is to get underway and those episodes will originate from the CabaRay Showroom. Given the social media message I came across earlier this morning from a Monkees fan club it looks as if the Mickey Dolenz episode will either be the first episode of Season Six or the second episode of Season Six due to the fact that the final two episodes of Season Five are to air on the weekends of April 6th and April 13th. The upcoming Sixth Season should conclude the weekend of July 6th. We're getting ahead of ourselves, obviously, because the current season is just midway through. If you've been a long time follower or visitor of this blog then you should know that Ray considers a season to consist of 13 episodes as do a lot of niche programmed cable, satellite, and on-line channels.
I hadn't provided an episode list in awhile but in case you hadn't seen any episodes of this series or you're wondering who's all been on the show, so far, then take a look.
The show began airing in November of 2015 on RFD-TV under the title Ray Stevens Nashville. It moved to local syndication on PBS beginning in January 2017 as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. Excluding the Christmas episode all of the RFD episodes ran on PBS during the first half of 2017 and were advertised as Season One and Season Two. Those episodes (26 in total) were released on two separate 13-episode DVDs. The first all new episode of the series didn't arrive until mid summer 2017...billed as the series Third Season. The guests on that episode were Harold Bradley and Mandy Barnett. The Third and Fourth seasons consist of 13 episodes each and they aired throughout the remainder of 2017. In the Fourth Season the RFD Christmas episode guest starring Suzy Bogguss finally aired on PBS as did a Halloween episode guest starring Janie Fricke plus a second Christmas episode, first run on PBS, guest starring Deborah Allen also aired. The Fifth Season got underway in January of this year and the 7th episode of the season is airing on local PBS stations this weekend.
Here is the episode list based on it's official PBS run. I realize not every local PBS station has aired episodes of the series in chronological order and I realize that not every PBS station is airing the current season but this is the official episode list. The first two seasons are available on DVD and those 26 episodes first aired on RFD in the latter half of 2015 and throughout most of 2016:
Season One: (January - March 2017)
1. Steve Wariner
2. Larry Gatlin
3. Bobby Bare
4. Don Schlitz
5. Charlie McCoy
6. Bobby Braddock
7. Jimmy Fortune
8. Aaron Tippin
9. John Conlee and Jeff Bates
10. Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard
11. Gene Watson
12. James Gregory
13. Billy Dean
Season Two: (April - June 2017)
1. Bobby Goldsboro
2. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale
3. Williams and Ree
4. Leroy Van Dyke
5. Bellamy Brothers
6. The Gatlin Brothers
7. Collin Raye
8. Darryl Worley and Lee Greenwood
9. Bill Anderson
10. Sylvia
11. Con Hunley
12. Jimmy Wayne
13. Reed Robertson
Season Three: (July - September 2017)
1. Harold Bradley and Mandy Barnett
2. Shenandoah
3. Michael W. Smith
4. B.J. Thomas
5. Rhonda Vincent
6. Restless Heart
7. John Michael Montgomery
8. Baillie and the Boys
9. Tommy Roe
10. Mark Wills
11. Duane Eddy
12. Angaleena Presley
13. Riders in the Sky
Season Four: (October - December 2017)
1. Rex Allen, Jr.
2. Lari White
3. Charley Pride
4. Janie Fricke (originally aired on RFD)
5. Gary Mule Deer
6. Gary Morris
7. John Berry
8. Jeannie Seely
9. Don McClean
10. Felix Cavaliere
11. Suzy Bogguss (originally aired on RFD)
12. Deborah Allen
13. New Year's Eve Cast Show
Season Five: (January - April 2018)
1. Ray Hildebrand
2. Steve Wariner (edited airing of the series debut episode)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Daily and Vincent
5. Jenny Gill
6. Tracy Lawrence
7. Sam Moore (current episode as of this writing; airing on local PBS stations)
8. Wilson Fairchild
9. Deana Carter
10. Gary Puckett
11. John Rich
12. Tony Orlando
13. Mark Chesnutt
14. Jamie O'Neal
The 14th episode should air the weekend of April 13th and the following weekend Season Six should get underway. Once again I'll write more about the next season once it officially gets underway.
February 17, 2018
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville: Tracy Lawrence...
Hello all...it's a snowy Saturday late afternoon here as I type this fan created blog entry. I'm giving a re-cap of the February 11, 2018 episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. It was uploaded onto Ray's video website, raystevens.tv, not too long ago and I just finished watching the episode.
Ray opens the show performing "Gitarzan". The episode was recorded during mid-year 2017 but it aired for the first time this year. I looked up the song's more technical information and found out it was released as a single in January of 1969...so last month marked it's 49th anniversary. I typically do not keep the month of release for a single or an album in my memory and so, yes, I looked up the single's release month because I already knew it's release year was 1969. But isn't it mind boggling...it's been part of Ray's concerts for many years...and he still performs it with incredible energy and gusto.
The special guest on this particular episode happens to be Tracy Lawrence. If you're familiar with country music from the last 20 some years then you should be very familiar with him. He was one of the superstars of country music during the 1990s commercial and radio programmed renaissance of the genre. During that decade more radio stations had switched to the country music format and most of the singers of country were selling half a million or more copies with each album release...quite a few were routinely selling Double (two million) and Triple Platinum (three million) each release.
Ray introduces Tracy Lawrence and says that he had asked Tracy to be a guest on the show during a recent appearance at the Opry. Just for fun I Googled their names and the Opry and in the search results I found out that the last time the two were scheduled performers at the Opry was back in May of 2017 which is right around the time the current season of Ray's television series was taped.
Tracy says that the two of them share a common connection with Atlanta...well, kind of. The video above doesn't contain this exchange but Tracy's giving a big hearty laugh after Ray asked just where Atlanta, Texas happened to be and wondered if it was in Oklahoma. Tracy confirms that Atlanta, Texas exists and it's more close to the Arkansas and Louisiana borderline's than Oklahoma. He speaks of his first taste of success stemming from radio appearances on local Opry-style radio programs in 1990 and how he compared it to the Louisiana Hayride days in country music's history. Ray mentions that two instrumental figures in his early career, Shelby Singleton and Jerry Kennedy, were from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Tracy performs "Texas Tornado", which hit number one in 1995. Ray brings up Tracy's charity called Mission: Possible. Tracy talks of it's origin and how it provides Thanksgiving dinner to various people during the week of Thanksgiving each year. He said that the most recent fund raiser brought in over $140,000. Due to it being a Christian charity it receives no funds or grants or anything from any Government organization. Tracy performs "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" which hit number one in 2007 and featured guest vocals from Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. This performance was followed by "Time Marches On" which Tracy remarked was his biggest hit so far (it spent three weeks at number one in 1996).
Ray closes the show telling the audience about being involved in the soundtrack of the 1981 Burt Reynolds movie, Cannonball Run. Ray mentions singing the movie's theme song and how he was inspired to write the movie's main love song, "Just for the Hell of It". He performs the love song and it gave me chills...it's almost identical to the 1981 recording...music, vocalization, phrasing. He had re-recorded the song recently for a CD called Bozo's Back Again but this marks the first time I'd ever seen Ray perform the song on television.
The episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville airing this weekend on some of the local PBS stations across the country feature Sam Moore as a special guest. This episode will be uploaded onto Ray's video site next weekend sometime. Once I'm able to view it I'll provide my re-cap/review.
Ray opens the show performing "Gitarzan". The episode was recorded during mid-year 2017 but it aired for the first time this year. I looked up the song's more technical information and found out it was released as a single in January of 1969...so last month marked it's 49th anniversary. I typically do not keep the month of release for a single or an album in my memory and so, yes, I looked up the single's release month because I already knew it's release year was 1969. But isn't it mind boggling...it's been part of Ray's concerts for many years...and he still performs it with incredible energy and gusto.
The special guest on this particular episode happens to be Tracy Lawrence. If you're familiar with country music from the last 20 some years then you should be very familiar with him. He was one of the superstars of country music during the 1990s commercial and radio programmed renaissance of the genre. During that decade more radio stations had switched to the country music format and most of the singers of country were selling half a million or more copies with each album release...quite a few were routinely selling Double (two million) and Triple Platinum (three million) each release.
Ray introduces Tracy Lawrence and says that he had asked Tracy to be a guest on the show during a recent appearance at the Opry. Just for fun I Googled their names and the Opry and in the search results I found out that the last time the two were scheduled performers at the Opry was back in May of 2017 which is right around the time the current season of Ray's television series was taped.
Tracy says that the two of them share a common connection with Atlanta...well, kind of. The video above doesn't contain this exchange but Tracy's giving a big hearty laugh after Ray asked just where Atlanta, Texas happened to be and wondered if it was in Oklahoma. Tracy confirms that Atlanta, Texas exists and it's more close to the Arkansas and Louisiana borderline's than Oklahoma. He speaks of his first taste of success stemming from radio appearances on local Opry-style radio programs in 1990 and how he compared it to the Louisiana Hayride days in country music's history. Ray mentions that two instrumental figures in his early career, Shelby Singleton and Jerry Kennedy, were from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Tracy performs "Texas Tornado", which hit number one in 1995. Ray brings up Tracy's charity called Mission: Possible. Tracy talks of it's origin and how it provides Thanksgiving dinner to various people during the week of Thanksgiving each year. He said that the most recent fund raiser brought in over $140,000. Due to it being a Christian charity it receives no funds or grants or anything from any Government organization. Tracy performs "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" which hit number one in 2007 and featured guest vocals from Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. This performance was followed by "Time Marches On" which Tracy remarked was his biggest hit so far (it spent three weeks at number one in 1996).
Ray closes the show telling the audience about being involved in the soundtrack of the 1981 Burt Reynolds movie, Cannonball Run. Ray mentions singing the movie's theme song and how he was inspired to write the movie's main love song, "Just for the Hell of It". He performs the love song and it gave me chills...it's almost identical to the 1981 recording...music, vocalization, phrasing. He had re-recorded the song recently for a CD called Bozo's Back Again but this marks the first time I'd ever seen Ray perform the song on television.
The episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville airing this weekend on some of the local PBS stations across the country feature Sam Moore as a special guest. This episode will be uploaded onto Ray's video site next weekend sometime. Once I'm able to view it I'll provide my re-cap/review.
February 12, 2018
Ray Stevens Best Friend turns 40...
It's early Monday morning and I find myself putting together a 40th anniversary spotlight on a Ray Stevens album from 1978 titled Be Your Own Best Friend. This is one of Ray's finest albums and it includes quite a lot of love ballads...more than, I'd say, any Ray Stevens album up to that point in time. Unusual for an album it features nine recordings...rather than the standard ten or eleven. It is one of Ray's under-rated albums in a career that has seen a lot of them due to the common practice of focusing on single releases at the expense of the LP (long-play album).
If you do not own this vinyl album then I suggest searching for it on-line and purchasing it. It's, as I said, one of his finest albums. One of the things that grabbed my attention regarding this album is the visuals. This is an image of the album with it's shrink wrap not removed and so if you click the image you'll see the annoying glimpses of shiny distractions but if you don't want to see that then just look at the image as it appears off to the left. As you can see the album's visuals feature a striking all-white background with a tanned Ray Stevens decked out in a white suit and black dress shirt seated at a table or he may be seated at the side of a piano. I never came across any information in my years as a Ray Stevens fan explicitly stating if he's seated at a table or piano. Anyway...once I got a copy of this album the thing that leapt to mind was it's visuals and then I listened to the album. I was familiar with several of the songs already because Warner Brothers had issued a 3 volume set of material Ray had recorded for them in the mid to late '70s. Those releases arrived in 1995. I didn't get my copy of the vinyl Be Your Own Best Friend until several years after that. As a fan of Ray Stevens I had joined his fan club in 1995...with some money I had gotten during my high school graduation party. One of the first things I received was a list of his albums. I was excited to see this because I didn't realize, at the time, he had released so many albums. It also made me curious as to what songs made up those albums because throughout my childhood I was only familiar with the songs on the several cassette tapes owned by my grandfather but I wanted to know more and more about Ray and so I started my quest to find out everything and anything about Ray Stevens...but that's a story for another day...getting back to this 1978 album...
Ray recorded it during his years at Warner Brothers. Even though the material he recorded for the label has more or less been kept out of print you can find his studio albums on-line if you search auction sites...specifically eBay. Given his reputation for recording comedy/novelty songs it's no surprise that the few selections from his Warner Brothers years that have managed to remain in print on various greatest hits/best of collections are comical in nature. One of those being 1979's "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" and the other being his chicken-clucking version of "In the Mood" from late 1976.
The album kicks off with a sensational recording called "L'amour". This song has a very interesting origin in that it originated overseas and had been a major hit for it's writer, Gilbert Becaud. If you search for that artist and the song's name you're likely to come across video footage from overseas of him performing the song in his native language. I've watched his performance several times and even though I don't understand a word of it (he's singing in French) the melody is the same and I'm hearing Ray's English language lyrics in my head. In the early '90s Ray was a guest on Ralph Emery's early morning radio series, Take Five for Country Music. Ray remarked that while on tour in Europe in the mid '70s he had heard a song he didn't understand but he loved the melody so much he decided to write English lyrics to it. Years later I hear "L'amour" for the first time and see it's credited to both Ray and a writer named Gilbert Becaud. Eventually I discover that Gilbert was a leading pop singer of his day and putting two and two together I realized "L'amour" must be the song Ray had heard during a European tour and just had to adapt it for English language listeners. I don't care what your political or social leanings are if you do not find yourself smiling from ear to ear and eventually singing along as you listen to the song then consider yourself human personification of a stagnant pond...or at the very least a sourpuss.
After the rousing opening of "L'amour" you'll be treated to a couple of back to back love ballads well over four minutes in length. The bouncy "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right" clocks in at four minutes and twenty one seconds. In it Ray takes the familiar proverb to examine the stubborn nature often on display between couples, in general, and that if true love exists between a couple then the idea of revenge or getting even shouldn't enter the equation. Ray approaches the song from the point of view of the man learning his girlfriend or wife, it's not specified, has cheated on him and at first he wants to get even but self-control kicks in and he realizes that cheating on her just because she cheated on him solves nothing. This is followed by a re-recording of "You've Got the Music Inside", a song he had previously recorded on his 1973 album, Nashville. The 1978 recording has a much more polished, pop heavy arrangement and Ray has a much more softer vocal delivery...the 1973 recording features much more uncontrollable vocals and even some gravelly, throaty vocalization here and there. I love each recording equally. If you've had the opportunity to see a performance of Ray on Pop! Goes the Country in 1979 (hosted by Tom T. Hall) you were treated to a performance of "You've Got the Music Inside" with a much different arrangement...and to date a performance with this arrangement has never been recorded by Ray. "Hidin' Place" closes Side One of the vinyl album.
Side Two kicks off with the album's title track, "Be Your Own Best Friend". This ballad is self explanatory given it's title. It's a song about having confidence and self-worth no matter if there are people out in the world that may give you headache, grief, or animosity. An interesting tidbit I learned just today concerning the single release of this recording is that there's an edited copy and a full length copy. The A-side of the single, which you can see off to the right, clocks in at two minutes and fifty-two seconds...certainly not a very lengthy recording requiring any sort of edit but the B-side features an edited copy of the song which clocks in at two minutes and twenty seconds. I do not own this promotional copy of the single and so I have never heard the edit but being familiar with the song I'm curious as to what was edited out...thirty two seconds is a lot of time when we're talking about an audio recording. I wonder if bits and pieces of the instrumentation was edited out for a collective thirty two seconds of edits or if an entire section of the song was edited out. I'll post the B-side of the single in the next paragraph or two. Anyway...the title track was the only recording issued as a single. It hit the Top-40 of the country charts and the Top-20 on Canada's country chart.
If you're as much of a fan of Ray Stevens as I am then the next song on the album, it's title specifically, should be familiar to you. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" is a song Ray wrote with a writer named Chuck Martin. You can find Chuck on Facebook. The song is great...a devastating love ballad centering around a man that's forever coming close to finding satisfaction in a relationship but each time things just don't work out. The song's title should be familiar because it became the title of Ray's next album release...a 1979 compilation album built around the single "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The song that Ray and Chuck wrote led to the creation of an album cover spoofing Barry's 1975 album...his album was titled Trying to Get The Feeling. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" lent itself perfectly as the title of Ray's 1979 album. One of the few, if only, times that a compilation album was named for a non-hit album track.
This is the B-side of "Be Your Own Best Friend" showing the edited copy clocking in at two minutes, twenty seconds. Now, moving on to the song that followed "The Feeling's Not Right Again" on the 1978 album, we come to "Comeback". This is one of the legitimate uptempo songs on the entire album. There are a couple of mid-tempo ballads and of course the sing-a-long feel of the opening performance of "L'amour" but "Comeback" features a very lively vocalization from Ray and an urgent arrangement...it could have very easily been highlighted as a single release but it never happened. I say that because it has all the ingredients of a hit song...a lot of hooks, a catchy melody/arrangement, and the repetitious nature of the song's title heard in such a way could have proved irresistible for some. If you're familiar with the song then you know what I'm referring to when I describe the repetitious nature. A piece of it goes like "all you gotta do to make a comeback is just come, come, come, COME BACK!". It's one of those clever word play songs in that the spacing of the song's title transforms it's meaning within the context of the recording. This uptempo performance is followed by the mid-tempo "You're Magic". The shortest song on the entire album at two minutes and twenty one seconds but yet, for me, it's the most catchy. Ray sings this song in a very exaggerated soft spoken style...not necessarily Bill Anderson whispering but it's performed with a hushed overtone. You'd have to hear it for yourselves to understand my baffling description. The song comes from the pen of Layng Martine, Jr. and it's the only song on the album not written or co-written by Ray. The album's closing song is the very slow ballad, "With a Smile". It conveys a kind of motivational message much like the title track conveys so it shouldn't come as no surprise that it's the B-side of the commercial single release of "Be Your Own Best Friend". The promotional copy featured "Be Your Own Best Friend" on the A and B side...with the B side's recording edited as I mentioned at the start of this section.
If you figuratively devour Ray's albums as I do then you should also be familiar, to some degree, with the personnel credited on his albums. The musicians and harmony singers credited on this album have been with Ray for many decades. Chet Atkins, believe it or not, is credited as the electric guitar player on this album along with Steve Gibson. Acoustic guitar is credited to Mark Casstevens. The drummer is Jerry Kroon. The bass player is Jack Williams. Horns are credited to both Ray Stevens and Denis Solee. I'd say that Denis handled the lion's share of the horn section (saxophone) while Ray added trumpet contribution. Ray is also credited as the percussionist as well as his familiar role of playing the piano/keyboard/synthesizer. Ray also produced and arranged the album. The harmony singers credited are Lisa Silver, Sheri Kramer, and Diane Tidwell. The engineer is Stuart Keathley who would later double as the bass player on many of Ray's albums until his sudden death in the mid 1990s.
Now, that was only a partial list of credits found on the back of the Be Your Own Best Friend album. There's credit given to the photographer, designer, the string arrangement, etc. I singled out some of the musicians because they've been a part of Ray's albums for decades. If you watch any episode of his television show you'll see Denis Solee, for example, as the saxophone player and the guitarist on the show's been a fixture on Ray's albums for many years, Jerry Kimbrough.
Do yourself a favor and if you don't have this album in your collection seek it out on eBay and add it to your collection. Ray recorded a whole lot of interesting songs in his career and the material he recorded during his brief stay at Warner Brothers is among the most eclectic.
Ray recorded it during his years at Warner Brothers. Even though the material he recorded for the label has more or less been kept out of print you can find his studio albums on-line if you search auction sites...specifically eBay. Given his reputation for recording comedy/novelty songs it's no surprise that the few selections from his Warner Brothers years that have managed to remain in print on various greatest hits/best of collections are comical in nature. One of those being 1979's "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" and the other being his chicken-clucking version of "In the Mood" from late 1976.
The album kicks off with a sensational recording called "L'amour". This song has a very interesting origin in that it originated overseas and had been a major hit for it's writer, Gilbert Becaud. If you search for that artist and the song's name you're likely to come across video footage from overseas of him performing the song in his native language. I've watched his performance several times and even though I don't understand a word of it (he's singing in French) the melody is the same and I'm hearing Ray's English language lyrics in my head. In the early '90s Ray was a guest on Ralph Emery's early morning radio series, Take Five for Country Music. Ray remarked that while on tour in Europe in the mid '70s he had heard a song he didn't understand but he loved the melody so much he decided to write English lyrics to it. Years later I hear "L'amour" for the first time and see it's credited to both Ray and a writer named Gilbert Becaud. Eventually I discover that Gilbert was a leading pop singer of his day and putting two and two together I realized "L'amour" must be the song Ray had heard during a European tour and just had to adapt it for English language listeners. I don't care what your political or social leanings are if you do not find yourself smiling from ear to ear and eventually singing along as you listen to the song then consider yourself human personification of a stagnant pond...or at the very least a sourpuss.
After the rousing opening of "L'amour" you'll be treated to a couple of back to back love ballads well over four minutes in length. The bouncy "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right" clocks in at four minutes and twenty one seconds. In it Ray takes the familiar proverb to examine the stubborn nature often on display between couples, in general, and that if true love exists between a couple then the idea of revenge or getting even shouldn't enter the equation. Ray approaches the song from the point of view of the man learning his girlfriend or wife, it's not specified, has cheated on him and at first he wants to get even but self-control kicks in and he realizes that cheating on her just because she cheated on him solves nothing. This is followed by a re-recording of "You've Got the Music Inside", a song he had previously recorded on his 1973 album, Nashville. The 1978 recording has a much more polished, pop heavy arrangement and Ray has a much more softer vocal delivery...the 1973 recording features much more uncontrollable vocals and even some gravelly, throaty vocalization here and there. I love each recording equally. If you've had the opportunity to see a performance of Ray on Pop! Goes the Country in 1979 (hosted by Tom T. Hall) you were treated to a performance of "You've Got the Music Inside" with a much different arrangement...and to date a performance with this arrangement has never been recorded by Ray. "Hidin' Place" closes Side One of the vinyl album.
If you're as much of a fan of Ray Stevens as I am then the next song on the album, it's title specifically, should be familiar to you. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" is a song Ray wrote with a writer named Chuck Martin. You can find Chuck on Facebook. The song is great...a devastating love ballad centering around a man that's forever coming close to finding satisfaction in a relationship but each time things just don't work out. The song's title should be familiar because it became the title of Ray's next album release...a 1979 compilation album built around the single "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The song that Ray and Chuck wrote led to the creation of an album cover spoofing Barry's 1975 album...his album was titled Trying to Get The Feeling. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" lent itself perfectly as the title of Ray's 1979 album. One of the few, if only, times that a compilation album was named for a non-hit album track.
If you figuratively devour Ray's albums as I do then you should also be familiar, to some degree, with the personnel credited on his albums. The musicians and harmony singers credited on this album have been with Ray for many decades. Chet Atkins, believe it or not, is credited as the electric guitar player on this album along with Steve Gibson. Acoustic guitar is credited to Mark Casstevens. The drummer is Jerry Kroon. The bass player is Jack Williams. Horns are credited to both Ray Stevens and Denis Solee. I'd say that Denis handled the lion's share of the horn section (saxophone) while Ray added trumpet contribution. Ray is also credited as the percussionist as well as his familiar role of playing the piano/keyboard/synthesizer. Ray also produced and arranged the album. The harmony singers credited are Lisa Silver, Sheri Kramer, and Diane Tidwell. The engineer is Stuart Keathley who would later double as the bass player on many of Ray's albums until his sudden death in the mid 1990s.
Now, that was only a partial list of credits found on the back of the Be Your Own Best Friend album. There's credit given to the photographer, designer, the string arrangement, etc. I singled out some of the musicians because they've been a part of Ray's albums for decades. If you watch any episode of his television show you'll see Denis Solee, for example, as the saxophone player and the guitarist on the show's been a fixture on Ray's albums for many years, Jerry Kimbrough.
Do yourself a favor and if you don't have this album in your collection seek it out on eBay and add it to your collection. Ray recorded a whole lot of interesting songs in his career and the material he recorded during his brief stay at Warner Brothers is among the most eclectic.
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...Jenny Gill
Hello once again!! The episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville that I'm re-capping originally aired on local PBS stations the weekend of February 3rd. It was uploaded onto Ray's premium video site over the weekend. The special guest on this episode happens to be Jenny Gill.
Ray opened the show performing "I Get a Kick out of You". This is a song originally made popular by Frank Sinatra. Ray recorded it for his Sinatra CD, Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What??. The performance was fun to see...it lacked some of the studio effects found on the recording...but it was a good opening number. He introduces Jenny Gill who speaks of her upbringing and the life of a child having parents in the music industry. Her mother, Janis, is one half of the 1980s duo The Sweethearts of the Rodeo and her father, Vince, is a legendary harmony singer/lead vocalist/Multi-Grammy winner/instrumentalist/songwriter and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame (class of 2007).
She spoke of her husband, how they met, and that playing drums was his main line of work when he entered the music industry but he eventually got into the business side of the industry with Sony/ATV. Her husband's name is Josh Van Valkenburg. She mentions her EP, The House Sessions, and that she wrote all but one song on the EP.
The first song Jenny sang was "Whenever You Come Around", one of her father's huge hit songs. Ray asks about her next song and she says that it was kind of inspired by her son, Wyatt, even though he wasn't even born or on the radar at the time of it's writing. She said that in hindsight it's a song that's come to define a mother and son dedication and the song's called "Lonely Lost Me". Her third performance was her version of "My Baby Just Wrote me a Letter". Ironically, Ray also performed this song on one of his summer 1970 television programs. The performance of the song from Jenny put me in the mind of Wynonna Judd. When you watch a snippet of the performance in the video clip you, too, may have the same opinion as I did.
Ray closes the show with his version of "April in Paris"...a song that goes way back to the early 1930s...but Ray mentions that people may recall it from the movie, Blazing Saddles, which arrived 42 years after the recording originally hit the pop charts in 1932. I'm hoping this is another of those songs that are to be on an upcoming CD release featuring pop standards that he spoke of several years ago. Only time will tell if and when a CD arrives!
The episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville airing over the weekend guest starred Tracy Lawrence. It'll be uploaded onto Ray's premium video site this coming weekend and once I watch it I'll write my re-cap/review.
Ray opened the show performing "I Get a Kick out of You". This is a song originally made popular by Frank Sinatra. Ray recorded it for his Sinatra CD, Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What??. The performance was fun to see...it lacked some of the studio effects found on the recording...but it was a good opening number. He introduces Jenny Gill who speaks of her upbringing and the life of a child having parents in the music industry. Her mother, Janis, is one half of the 1980s duo The Sweethearts of the Rodeo and her father, Vince, is a legendary harmony singer/lead vocalist/Multi-Grammy winner/instrumentalist/songwriter and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame (class of 2007).
She spoke of her husband, how they met, and that playing drums was his main line of work when he entered the music industry but he eventually got into the business side of the industry with Sony/ATV. Her husband's name is Josh Van Valkenburg. She mentions her EP, The House Sessions, and that she wrote all but one song on the EP.
The first song Jenny sang was "Whenever You Come Around", one of her father's huge hit songs. Ray asks about her next song and she says that it was kind of inspired by her son, Wyatt, even though he wasn't even born or on the radar at the time of it's writing. She said that in hindsight it's a song that's come to define a mother and son dedication and the song's called "Lonely Lost Me". Her third performance was her version of "My Baby Just Wrote me a Letter". Ironically, Ray also performed this song on one of his summer 1970 television programs. The performance of the song from Jenny put me in the mind of Wynonna Judd. When you watch a snippet of the performance in the video clip you, too, may have the same opinion as I did.
Ray closes the show with his version of "April in Paris"...a song that goes way back to the early 1930s...but Ray mentions that people may recall it from the movie, Blazing Saddles, which arrived 42 years after the recording originally hit the pop charts in 1932. I'm hoping this is another of those songs that are to be on an upcoming CD release featuring pop standards that he spoke of several years ago. Only time will tell if and when a CD arrives!
The episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville airing over the weekend guest starred Tracy Lawrence. It'll be uploaded onto Ray's premium video site this coming weekend and once I watch it I'll write my re-cap/review.
February 7, 2018
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...Season Six taping...
Hello all...and as you all notice the title of this blog entry I'm giving a brief update on the busy week taking place in the world of Ray Stevens. There are taping sessions taking place at the CabaRay for the upcoming Season Six of his television series. Some of the artists scheduled to appear are Moe Bandy, Linda Davis, Ronnie McDowell, and many others. The sessions began yesterday and they're the first wave of episodes to tape at the CabaRay showroom. At the moment Season Five is currently underway in local syndication on PBS. Jenny Gill guest starred on last weekend's episode and this weekend the special guest will be Tracy Lawrence. The local PBS station in my area is repeating Season Three and so I am only able to see episodes of Season Five by way of Ray's premium web-site, raystevens.tv.
Each episode is uploaded onto the site a week after it's aired. This means Jenny Gill's episode from last weekend will be uploaded onto the premium web-site this coming weekend. Even though I'll be seeing the episodes a week later it's not a problem...it's better than not being able to see them at all.
If you're a frequent visitor of social media sites in general then you should have seen the photographs that have emerged on-line from the CabaRay taping sessions. Ray's staff has posted photo's from taping sessions involving Linda Davis, for example. Tomorrow it's a taping session for Ronnie McDowell's episode according to his web-site. I came across a photo shared on-line featuring Ray and personality Terri Minton. In the photo she left a comment giving thanks for being at a taping of Ray's television show. The Season Six episodes are still in their production stage. Usually it takes anywhere from half a year to perhaps a full year before they make it to the airwaves following the intricate post-production/editing process and so I'll speak more about Season Six episodes the closer it gets to their actual airing.
The Season Five episodes currently airing were taped, for example, in the fall of 2017. You can do an on-line search for "Ray Stevens + Tony Orlando", for example, and come across a link to an Instagram photo from August 2017 in which Ray commented on the fun day taping another episode of the television show and the guest was Tony Orlando. His episode is scheduled as the 12th of Season Five and so there's still some time to go until that episode airs. After this taping session concludes he'll then be in concert at the CabaRay next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (February 14th, 15th, and 16th). The television show's announcer, Bill Cody, appears in a super brief video clip promoting the venue's group rates.
This video clip appeared on YouTube back on his birthday (January 24th) promoting the CabaRay and it being a perfect place to take your Valentine. It's been re-posted since then. I originally shared the clip on this blog back in late January and I, too, am re-posting it as a reminder...
Each episode is uploaded onto the site a week after it's aired. This means Jenny Gill's episode from last weekend will be uploaded onto the premium web-site this coming weekend. Even though I'll be seeing the episodes a week later it's not a problem...it's better than not being able to see them at all.
If you're a frequent visitor of social media sites in general then you should have seen the photographs that have emerged on-line from the CabaRay taping sessions. Ray's staff has posted photo's from taping sessions involving Linda Davis, for example. Tomorrow it's a taping session for Ronnie McDowell's episode according to his web-site. I came across a photo shared on-line featuring Ray and personality Terri Minton. In the photo she left a comment giving thanks for being at a taping of Ray's television show. The Season Six episodes are still in their production stage. Usually it takes anywhere from half a year to perhaps a full year before they make it to the airwaves following the intricate post-production/editing process and so I'll speak more about Season Six episodes the closer it gets to their actual airing.
The Season Five episodes currently airing were taped, for example, in the fall of 2017. You can do an on-line search for "Ray Stevens + Tony Orlando", for example, and come across a link to an Instagram photo from August 2017 in which Ray commented on the fun day taping another episode of the television show and the guest was Tony Orlando. His episode is scheduled as the 12th of Season Five and so there's still some time to go until that episode airs. After this taping session concludes he'll then be in concert at the CabaRay next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (February 14th, 15th, and 16th). The television show's announcer, Bill Cody, appears in a super brief video clip promoting the venue's group rates.
This video clip appeared on YouTube back on his birthday (January 24th) promoting the CabaRay and it being a perfect place to take your Valentine. It's been re-posted since then. I originally shared the clip on this blog back in late January and I, too, am re-posting it as a reminder...
February 3, 2018
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...Dailey and Vincent
Hello once more!! I just finished watching episode four, Season Five of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. This originally aired on some PBS stations last weekend but I was able to see it this morning once it became available on Ray's video site, Ray Stevens TV. As I've pointed out in some of my previous blog entries my re-caps of Season Five episodes will be a week late due to my not being able to see them until the following weekend after they've been uploaded onto Ray's premium website. You can visit the site by clicking HERE.
The guests on this particular episode happen to be contemporary Bluegrass superstars Dailey and Vincent. The duo is made up of Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent but the extended members of the group were also on hand.
Ray opened the show singing "Goody Goody". I had not been aware of this song before seeing this episode and so I did some research. The song dates back to the mid 1930s...the first hit version credited to Bob Crosby. A couple of decades later, in 1957, it resurfaces as a pop hit by Frankie Lymon. Upon the conclusion of Ray's performance he introduces the guests as Thelma and Louise...but quickly corrects himself and introduces them properly as Dailey and Vincent.
Jamie Dailey tells of the group's history and how he used to be with the Bluegrass group, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. Ray asks them about their association with Don Light and Dailey remarks that Don become their manager. During the conversation he says that all Don ever talked about was Ray Stevens, Chet Atkins, or The Statler Brothers which brings large laughs and applause from the audience. Ray tells of his history with Don Light and asks if it was Don that was responsible for their becoming involved in the Cracker Barrel franchise. Jamie says Don was instrumental in the deal and having been fans of The Statler Brothers they shown interest in wanting to record a tribute album to the group.
This kind of news was greeted with skepticism and flat out refusal from their management until a fateful day when executives from Cracker Barrel heard the group's performances and the wild reaction from audiences...and when representatives of Cracker Barrel asked what kind of CD they wanted to record they immediately said a tribute to the Statler Brothers. The green light/approval from Cracker Barrel over-rode any initial skepticism and concern from the group's management and so their debut CD for the Cracker Barrel company was indeed a tribute CD to The Statler Brothers. It arrived back in 2010. They had previously recorded for Rounder Records.
Ray brings up their joining the Opry in 2016 and Jamie tells of being invited to join the Opry, by surprise, during a segment hosted by Marty Stuart. Ray then asks about their CD, Patriots and Poets. They mention one of the songs on the CD, "California", being co-written by comedian Steve Martin whose become recognized as a legitimate, serious performer of Bluegrass music. The group performs an alternate version of "Last Date", the Floyd Cramer classic. Ray, of course, plays the role of Floyd Cramer...embellishing the slip-note style for all it's worth. From their CD they perform "America, We Love You". They follow this with "All I Can Do Now is Cry" which Jamie says is kind of a song Roy Orbison may have recorded. It has that Orbison sound...once you hear it you'll catch it immediately.
Ray closes the show with his version of "Oh, Lonesome Me". Tonight's episode airing on some PBS stations around the country guest stars Jenny Gill. I'll re-cap this episode next Saturday.
I got a reply about the guest list for Season Five of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. I had written about the upcoming line-up of guests not being available and I mentioned in a previous blog entry that once I found out the line-up for this current season of episodes I'll make them available on this, my fan-created blog. I'm passing that information along to all of you...keep in mind that four of the Season Five episodes have already aired...
1. Ray Hildebrand
2. Steve Wariner (edited version of episode one, Season One)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Dailey and Vincent
5. Jenny Gill (airing this weekend on PBS stations)
6. Tracy Lawrence
7. Sam Moore
8. Wilson Fairchild
9. Deana Carter
10. Gary Puckett
11. John Rich
12. Tony Orlando
13. Mark Chesnutt
14. Jamie O'Neal
See anything different? There's 14 episodes in this season instead of 13.
The guests on this particular episode happen to be contemporary Bluegrass superstars Dailey and Vincent. The duo is made up of Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent but the extended members of the group were also on hand.
Ray opened the show singing "Goody Goody". I had not been aware of this song before seeing this episode and so I did some research. The song dates back to the mid 1930s...the first hit version credited to Bob Crosby. A couple of decades later, in 1957, it resurfaces as a pop hit by Frankie Lymon. Upon the conclusion of Ray's performance he introduces the guests as Thelma and Louise...but quickly corrects himself and introduces them properly as Dailey and Vincent.
Jamie Dailey tells of the group's history and how he used to be with the Bluegrass group, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. Ray asks them about their association with Don Light and Dailey remarks that Don become their manager. During the conversation he says that all Don ever talked about was Ray Stevens, Chet Atkins, or The Statler Brothers which brings large laughs and applause from the audience. Ray tells of his history with Don Light and asks if it was Don that was responsible for their becoming involved in the Cracker Barrel franchise. Jamie says Don was instrumental in the deal and having been fans of The Statler Brothers they shown interest in wanting to record a tribute album to the group.
This kind of news was greeted with skepticism and flat out refusal from their management until a fateful day when executives from Cracker Barrel heard the group's performances and the wild reaction from audiences...and when representatives of Cracker Barrel asked what kind of CD they wanted to record they immediately said a tribute to the Statler Brothers. The green light/approval from Cracker Barrel over-rode any initial skepticism and concern from the group's management and so their debut CD for the Cracker Barrel company was indeed a tribute CD to The Statler Brothers. It arrived back in 2010. They had previously recorded for Rounder Records.
Ray brings up their joining the Opry in 2016 and Jamie tells of being invited to join the Opry, by surprise, during a segment hosted by Marty Stuart. Ray then asks about their CD, Patriots and Poets. They mention one of the songs on the CD, "California", being co-written by comedian Steve Martin whose become recognized as a legitimate, serious performer of Bluegrass music. The group performs an alternate version of "Last Date", the Floyd Cramer classic. Ray, of course, plays the role of Floyd Cramer...embellishing the slip-note style for all it's worth. From their CD they perform "America, We Love You". They follow this with "All I Can Do Now is Cry" which Jamie says is kind of a song Roy Orbison may have recorded. It has that Orbison sound...once you hear it you'll catch it immediately.
Ray closes the show with his version of "Oh, Lonesome Me". Tonight's episode airing on some PBS stations around the country guest stars Jenny Gill. I'll re-cap this episode next Saturday.
I got a reply about the guest list for Season Five of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. I had written about the upcoming line-up of guests not being available and I mentioned in a previous blog entry that once I found out the line-up for this current season of episodes I'll make them available on this, my fan-created blog. I'm passing that information along to all of you...keep in mind that four of the Season Five episodes have already aired...
1. Ray Hildebrand
2. Steve Wariner (edited version of episode one, Season One)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Dailey and Vincent
5. Jenny Gill (airing this weekend on PBS stations)
6. Tracy Lawrence
7. Sam Moore
8. Wilson Fairchild
9. Deana Carter
10. Gary Puckett
11. John Rich
12. Tony Orlando
13. Mark Chesnutt
14. Jamie O'Neal
See anything different? There's 14 episodes in this season instead of 13.
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