Yes, it's me once again...composing a fan created blog entry about Ray Stevens. This time around I'm going to post a couple of photos that surfaced on-line a couple of days ago on Ray's social media sites. Why haven't I posted these yet?? Well, they appeared on November 22nd...and with this being November 24th...it's only been a short two days but I know on the internet a span of two days may seem like an eternity for some. Anyway, in all seriousness, the post appeared on social media on Friday afternoon...typically when I'm away from the internet...and so I didn't actually see the photo's until I got home from work Saturday morning. Okay then...why didn't I post the photos Saturday morning?? Well, it was due to physically being tired. I work nights and some mornings I stay awake a bit longer but most mornings I go to sleep once I arrive home and that was the case yesterday morning but once I got onto the internet Saturday I seen another social media post from Ray Stevens and it sidetracked me...the video clips of his 1983 guest appearance on The Fall Guy were posted yesterday on his social media sites...but then earlier this morning I posted a blog entry focusing on the Christmas concerts at Ray's CabaRay showroom. So, now, at long last here is a blog entry focusing on Ray's appearance on the CMA Awards.
The awards had actually taken place earlier in the month...they aired November 13th on ABC television. The show doesn't have a segment where they honor each of the latest inductee's into the Country Music Hall of Fame...this kind of segment hadn't been part of the CMA Awards telecasts in more than a decade. However, the inductee's are asked to attend the ceremony and they're recognized from the stage. Yes, I understand that it's meant to be taken as recognition, but yet it isn't the same as it used to be when the artists were invited to the event and were presented their plaque on live national television which was often preceded by a brief video documentary of their career. The Country Music Hall of Fame eventually created a series of events centering around eventual enshrinement into the Country Music Hall of Fame culminating with the Medallion Ceremony in the fall of each year. Election to the Hall of Fame is announced in the spring of each year...giving the artists and their families, or, their descendants (should an artist get election posthumously) plenty of time to plan for the event. The formal inductions took place this year on October 20th...a little more than a month ago. The CMA Awards aired on November 13th...and here we are on November 24th and I'm just now posting some photos of Ray's appearance...
2019
There was a red carpet show that aired, locally, prior to the nationally televised awards show. Ray was interviewed during this segment but was battling a persistent cough...every few minutes he'd clear his throat...but it obviously didn't diminish the overall mood of the night.
2019
At left Ray Stevens is interviewed on the red carpet...his Golden Medallion on display...and standing in the background is his songwriting partner/music video co-star/business associate, Buddy Kalb. The career of Ray Stevens continues to move on and on...year after year...and the year 2019 will forever be remembered in the career of Ray Stevens as the year he was at long last elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. As I pointed out earlier in this blog entry it was a little over a month ago that the Class of 2019 were formally inducted into the Hall of Fame. Record producer Jerry Bradley as well as country music duo Brooks and Dunn were also part of this year's 2019 class. I came across a social media site several weeks ago where someone on a message board proclaimed that Brooks and Dunn were the stars of this year's Hall of Fame ceremony. When I seen that kind of comment I, naturally, got disgusted because it demonstrates a mind-set that the Hall of Fame has attempted to change for many decades in that the election process isn't based on popularity alone but other criteria also comes into play. The fact that Brooks and Dunn were singled out as the headliners of the ceremony, I feel, was offensive first of all and secondly it attempted to turn the Hall of Fame ceremony and it's election process into a popularity contest. I guess some people out there will always feel that everything is a popularity contest...and if a song or album doesn't shatter record sales or bring home any awards then it's a 'failure' and therefore the artist isn't 'popular'. The basic fundamentals of something being entertaining, interesting, or just plain good is overshadowed in this age of judging everything based on it's retail or viral 'popularity'. But then again I guess that mind-set has always been around. The photo below is from the same time frame as the above photo...the main difference being it doesn't show the medallion but Ray's looking just as intense and as alert as ever being interviewed on the red carpet.
I've seen a number of photo's on social media of fans attending recent concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom. The venue is located on River Road just west of downtown Nashville and during the course of this month and into next month the venue is presenting it's Christmas series of concerts. There are two more concerts scheduled for the month of November and those will take place next Friday and Saturday (November 29th and November 30th). The official Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving in the opinion of most and with concerts from Ray scheduled on the 29th and 30th of this month what better way to get into that Christmas spirit by taking in a concert? The ticket information can be found HERE. The CabaRay having had it's grand opening in early 2018 this marks the second season of Christmas themed concerts. It's my guess it'll be an annual series of concerts each November/December. This is the advertisement used for the concert series. It's identical to the one used in 2018 except the concert dates were different last year.
Hello one and all!! Earlier today a couple of YouTube video clips from Ray Stevens appeared on-line. The video clips center around his guest appearance on an episode of The Fall Guy from November 1983. The Fall Guy, a classic action-adventure series, starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers...a stuntman in Hollywood...who earns a better living, just as dangerously, as a bounty hunter. Lee sings the theme song, "The Unknown Stuntman". The series ran five years (1981-1986) and was among the Top-20 during two (1982-1984) of it's five seasons. The episode that Ray Stevens guest starred in is titled Pirates of Nashville. I've spoke of this guest appearance before but, as far as I know, I've never embedded any video footage from that episode onto the blog. Ray's video clips gather his appearances from that episode.
Doesn't Ray seem like a natural in front of the camera?? Well, of course he does...which is why he's had such success with television appearances and video content throughout his career. How did you react when you seen the face slap? The first clip is the lengthiest at over 6 minutes. In the first scene,
which takes place inside a car, you'll hear Ray on the radio singing a piece
of "Country Boy, Country Club Girl"...a song from his 1982 Don't Laugh
Now album. You'll see a lot of scenic shots throughout the clip...including a shot of The Ryman Auditorium which, in 1983, had not been updated/upgraded/renovated yet. The Ryman revival wouldn't begin until the early 1990s. The scene with Ray and company wasn't actually inside the Ryman...the producers of the series simply used the facility as an exterior shot. The shot of Ray with the guitar features the closing notes of "Honky Tonk Waltz", a song Ray hit the Country Top-20 with in 1976 on Warner Brothers. You can hear pieces of the song in the bar scene.
1983
In the second video clip Ray's singing "Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee" from his Me album. This album was released in the latter half of 1983 on the Mercury label...it was the first time Ray had recorded for Mercury since the early '60s. The shirt that Ray is wearing is very similar to the one he wore on the 1983 Greatest Hits album for RCA. If you don't look carefully you'd think it was the same shirt...as I did for quite a number of years. In both video clips you'll see brief appearances by Dottie West and in the second clip you'll see Charlie Daniels, too.
Hello once again!! There's been video footage uploaded onto the social media sites of Ray Stevens for several days in a row and so, following their lead, I've been posting blog entries spotlighting whatever they happen to upload. Today it's a performance of Bobby Goldsboro singing his 1964 hit single, "Little Things", which featured harmony vocals from our Ray Stevens. The performance comes from Bobby's guest appearance on CabaRay Nashville...in fact, Bobby was the special guest on the first episode of Season Two. In the episode Bobby discussed his career and his music...the reputation he gained as a result of having hits with sentimental, emotionally charged songs with "Honey" being the most well known. Bobby also spoke of the children's show that had aired on PBS and in other markets, Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon. The show featured human size puppets as well as traditional hand held puppets with a lot of emphasis on music and learning. Video clips of this series can be seen on YouTube for those interested. Bobby created, produced, and wrote the series...52 episodes were taped.
I know I don't have to ask but wasn't that great?? The 1964 recording credits the producer as Jack Gold and the music arranger Bill Justis. Ray's involvement was as the harmony singer.
Speaking of CabaRay Nashville...wouldn't it be great if the entire series, to date, would see a DVD release!?! There have been 77 episodes produced...technically there are 78 individual episodes...this is due to one of those episodes being an edited version of Episode 1. The first 26 episodes have been issued on DVD already...but the remaining episodes haven't. Do you want to know the complete episode list of Ray's television show? The series has had broadcast runs on RFD-TV and in local PBS syndication...so it's possible that it can be a bit difficult to keep track of what's aired. If you're among those that still haven't seen any episode of this series, yet, you can use this as an Episode Guide to see what you have to look forward to in case it becomes available on a local PBS affiliate in your area. I'm listing the episodes in chronological order. Now, without further delay, here's the Episode List as of November 19, 2019:
1. Steve Warnier
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
14. Bobby Goldsboro
15. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale
16. Williams and Ree
17. LeRoy Van Dyke
18. The Bellamy Brothers
19. The Gatlin Brothers
20. Collin Raye
21. Darryl Worley and Lee Greenwood (Patriotic episode)
22. Bill Anderson
23. Sylvia
24. Con Hunley
25. Jimmy Wayne
26. Reed Robertson
27. Mandy Barnett and Harold Bradley
28. Shenandoah
29. Michael W. Smith
30. B.J. Thomas
31. Rhonda Vincent
32. Restless Heart
33. John Michael Montgomery
34. Baillie and the Boys
35. Tommy Roe
36. Mark Wills
37. Duane Eddy
38. Angaleena Presley
39. The Riders in the Sky
40. Rex Allen, Jr.
41. Lari White
42. Charley Pride
43. Janie Fricke (Halloween episode)
44. Gary Mule Deer
45. Garry Morris
46. John Berry
47. Jeannie Seely
48. Don McLean
49. Felix Cavaliere
50. Suzy Bogguss (Christmas episode)
51. Deborah Allen (Christmas episode)
52. New Year's Eve Show
53. Ray Hildebrand
54. Steve Wariner (edited version of Episode 1)
55. Paul Overstreet
56. Daily and Vincent
57. Jenny Gill
58. Tracy Lawrence
59. Sam Moore
60. Wilson Fairchild
61. Deana Carter
62. Gary Puckett
63. John Rich, Part One
64. John Rich, Part Two
65. Tony Orlando
66. Jamie O'Neal
67. Mark Chesnutt
68. Special Moments (clip-fest episode)
69. Hall of Fame**
70. Moe Bandy
71. Linda Davis
72. CeCe Winans
73. Micky Dolenz
74. Tribute Show (Ray sings the hits of the recently departed)
75. Ronnie McDowell
76. Shoji Tabuchi
77. John Schneider
78. Lee Roy Parnell
(**)- Episode 69 was produced and aired, obviously, before Ray Stevens became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The episode spotlights the famed record producers of Music Row...several of them have red leather booths dedicated to them inside the CabaRay. In addition to giving the viewers a tour of the CabaRay showroom Ray plays clips of past guest stars that are members of the Hall of Fame...and in most cases they're singing songs that were produced by Hall of Fame record producers. As you can see Bobby Goldsboro guest starred on Episode 14.
Hello once again! I was at the grocery store and came home to find that Ray Stevens had uploaded a 1984 performance of "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day". If you're a dedicated fan or a longtime fan of Ray Stevens...although I think dedicated/longtime are synonymous...but anyway, if you're knowledgeable about Ray's career and his music then you'll know this song originated in 1984 on his Platinum album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. I have that release on vinyl, cassette, and in CD. The latter pressing is under the alternate title, Mississippi Squirrel Revival, but the track list is as it appears on He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. As I touched upon earlier in the year that 1984 album turns 35 this year.
If you hadn't seen the performance before let me say it's wonderful. Would you expect anything other than that? Ray turns into a clown right before our eyes and doesn't miss a beat during the performance of the song. I kept thinking of Willie the Weeper, a clown/tramp character popularized by Emmett Kelly, as well as Red Skelton's Freddie the Freeloader, when I watched Ray, in clown make-up, sorrowfully sing "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day". Now, as most of you know, Ray dressed up as a clown in the music videos for "Shriner's Convention" and "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?" in 1995 and there have been several instances where Ray's wore a clown nose or had his face painted for performances of "Your Bozo's Back Again" but this 1984 performance is the first I'd seen where he's visually played the sorrowful clown...rather than just appearing in clown make-up. It's another example of Ray's multi-talents on display.
In some of the video uploads from Ray Stevens this year their origins go back to a particular project from the early 1990s called Amazing Rolling Revue. This project saw it's release on VHS in 1992 and at that point in time was only available for order through his fan club and at the gift shop at his former theater in Branson, Missouri. It wasn't one of the VHS tapes being sold over television and newspaper advertisements.
The concept behind the Amazing Rolling Revue, for those unfamiliar, is a nightclub on wheels...the joke being that the performances are held inside a tour bus whose interior is designed to look like a performance venue. Since the show is suppose to take place inside tour bus there are a lot of deliberately shaky camera effects...including a scene where the entire audience and Ray begin to nearly lose their balance as the bus takes curves at top speed. Why? The driver of the revue is none other than Darrel Waltrip...famed auto racer. As you can see on the front side of the VHS there are several people credited: Chet Atkins, Sylvia, and Darrel Waltrip. The sketches that include all three have since been uploaded onto YouTube. The overall structure of this show is much like his current series, Rayality TV, a hodgepodge mix of sketches and music performances interwoven seemingly at random. In the case of Amazing Rolling Revue there's a performance of "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O."...and there's a commercial for Chet's Hands, a product consisting of replica's of Chet Atkins' hands which are to be used by those wanting to play the guitar like Chet. Ray, in character as a huckster, demonstrates the manner in which the product is to be used. The commercial features a cameo from Chet who is none too thrilled that his hands are being exploited in such a disgraceful manner and he exacts his revenge. A group referred to as The Itty Bitty Squirt Band performs a sped-up rendition of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". I was a member of Ray's fan club from 1994 until it shut down in 2002. I didn't join the work force until 1996 and so most of what I had in my personal collection of Ray Stevens items at that point in time were things my grandfather had either previously bought for himself, or had bought for me, or what my parent's had gotten me for Christmas. I didn't get a copy of Amazing Rolling Revue until years later...it came up for sale on an on-line site at some point in the mid 2000s. You can still find copies of this VHS for sale on-line if you search for it.
Anyway...a video clip from this VHS hit YouTube yesterday. It's the sketch referred to as "The National Supermarket Check-Out Examiner"...it's a partial music video for a 1991 recording from Ray titled "Tabloid News". It's anyone's guess as to why the song was officially titled "Tabloid News" on the 1991 album, a phrase not heard in the actual performance, but we hear "The National Supermarket Check-Out Examiner" several times throughout the full performance of the song. In the full version of the song Ray tells of three tabloid headlines...the one used for the partial music video centers around an anonymous Alabama woman who gives birth to an alien that she names Zoltar. The alien has an insatiable appetite for electricity as you'll see in the video clip. The song's writer, Buddy Kalb, can be seen as one of the reader's of the tabloid newspaper as well as Zoltar himself. Ray's brother, John, is the other guy in the video reading the tabloid newspaper.
Although the abrupt removal of CabaRay Nashville from the airwaves of RFD-TV is still fresh in my mind and something I'll continue to be upset over until some sort of official statement comes along regarding the future of the program on the network's airwaves...I'm hoping it'll make a comeback...but until then it's back to my doing what I'd rather do: blogging positive news surrounding our entertainment hero, Ray Stevens.
In this blog entry I'm embedding a video clip that appeared this past Thursday (November 14th) on Ray's social media sites. The clip comes from one of his appearances on Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters variety show of the early 1980s. Her television series ran on NBC for two seasons from November 18, 1980 until June 26, 1982. Unusual for a prime-time series, which often features 26 first-run episodes per season, the total number of episodes for this series happened to be 35. The season getting underway in November (rather than September) was due to a writer's strike that took place...which, as you can see, had a direct impact on the start of the 1980-1981 television season. It's arguable that there could have been at least 10 or 11 additional episodes had the 1980 television season gotten underway in September. Ray appeared two times on this series. This is from his second appearance and it features performances from Barbara and her sisters along side a performance by Donny Osmond and a performance by Ray. This performance comes from the episode that also features the jogging comedy sketch that I embedded in a previous blog entry.
Ray made some appearances during CMA week in Nashville...being one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame he was recognized by several media outlets covering the awards telecast last week. The clip below is kind of breezy...meant to serve mostly for quick publicity or photo opportunities...with the conversation often times being secondary. The two hosts from an FM country radio station captured some commentary from Ray and he spoke of how being on the road/traveling from place to place wore him out and that the CabaRay showroom is now the place for the people/fans to come see him in concert. He also spoke of his recent election/induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Hello all...admittedly I hadn't been paying too much to all things internet this past week due to an increase in unpredictable winter weather that passed through here. I keep my computer shut down during those times...don't like having the computer on and there's a power outage. Anyway, something that I've been doing each Saturday morning since January this year when I arrive home from work is check the program guide for the episode details of the Ray Stevens television series, CabaRay Nashville. The show had been airing Saturday nights at 8:30pm Eastern on RFD-TV since this past January. It also airs Saturday nights at 8pm Eastern on a local PBS affiliate in my area, KET2, and since this past January I've been able to see two different episodes of Ray's television show during the 8-9pm hour. However, tonight (November 16th), RFD-TV decided to remove Ray's show from their schedule and replace it with a series featuring footage of Grand Ole Opry performances from the 1950s. As mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry I hadn't been on-line much this week and so I did some research and discovered that Country Legends: Grand Ole Opry Stars of the '50s was announced as a new series back on November 13th, just this past Wednesday. In the show's description it made no mention of it replacing CabaRay Nashville nor has there been any information regarding future airings of CabaRay Nashville.
To say I'm annoyed would be putting it mildly. It's extremely frustrating and a slap in the face to all of Ray's fans to have his program removed in favor of a new series. I hadn't come across any comment from the network regarding the removal of CabaRay Nashville but I can guess what they may say in their defense. The powers that be may declare that this new series fits in with Marty Stuart's program at 8pm and the Opry Encore program at 9pm and so it was natural to place the new series in the middle of those two programs. If that should be their explanation, fine, but where does that leave Ray's show and his viewers and his fans? See, it isn't just the fact of the series being removed (without advance warning), that's bad enough, but it's the fact that the network hasn't placed it in a different time-slot or made any kinds of statement of when it'll return. It
makes no sense. The show was
simply pulled from the network and not given another time-slot as if us,
the show's viewers, are unimportant. It's a slap in the face. Now, should the network make any kind of statement regarding the show's future I'll post about it, of course...but I highly doubt such a statement will be forthcoming considering there was no warning that the show was going to be removed.
Hello again...it's been almost a week since my previous blog entry. I'll post a reminder as we get more deeper into November of the upcoming appearance of Ray Stevens and Ralph Emery in Dickson, Tennessee on December 3rd. The blog entry I previously posted was meant as a breaking news kind of blog post...so as we get more closer to next month I'll obviously post about the event. In addition to the Christmas-themed concerts at the CabaRay showroom Ray has also been busy sharing video clips from his large collection of previously released and unreleased video clips. Now, in addition to the video clips posted on Ray's social media site, there's been the upload of another clip of Ray that isn't affiliated with Ray's social media group...but I'm going to embed it nonetheless.
I'll begin with the most recent video upload...a comical sketch from his Amazing Rolling Revue VHS. It's a parody of cereal commercials...specifically the athletic driven Wheaties brand. In Ray's video the name of the cereal is Beeties, from overseas, and it contains all the ingredients designed to help with a certain type of personal issue...you'll find yourself laughing, of course, but mixed in with the comical overtone is a shot of Ray in horror attempting to swallow the prune and high fiber cereal concoction. The voice-over is provided by Buddy Kalb. It was uploaded on November 8th...
A day earlier, November 7th, a video clip of the jogging sketch from Ray's guest appearance on Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters variety show appeared on YouTube. Barbara's show was on the air for two seasons, 1980-1982, and Ray appeared on it twice. In this appearance not only is Ray and the Mandrell's in the sketch but it also features the other guest, Donny Osmond.
Jogging was becoming something of a new fad, I guess, even though it had been popularized in the mid 1960s...for not only do we have the above sketch but in this same time period the concept of jogging had inspired a couple of songs: "The Jogger" by Bobby Bare and "Joggin'" by our music/entertainment hero, Ray Stevens, plus a comical story, "Joggers", from Jerry Clower. Bobby's novelty recording hit in 1983 whereas Ray's recording arrived in 1984 as did the story by Jerry Clower. If jogging hadn't been a fad in the early/mid '80s then it was purely coincidental that the subject matter took center stage on three separate recordings all within a year from each other.
On November 5th a very appreciated video clip surfaced onto YouTube. If you recall earlier in the year I made mention of RFD-TV airing a 1981 episode of That Nashville Music featuring Ray Stevens as a guest star. Video footage surfaced not too long afterward of performance clips from that episode but the footage of Ray wasn't included. I taped the episode not too long ago when it was reran...but thankfully the performances from Ray have now made it onto the internet so that an even bigger audience can enjoy them. The series was one of the longest running...airing in syndication from 1970 to 1985...and Ray appeared many times. The video clip captures only the Ray Stevens performances and he sings: "You've Got the Music Inside", "Marie", and "Everybody is a Clown Inside". Ray performs the re-arranged version of "You've Got the Music Inside"...the way he did on an episode of Pop! Goes the Country from this time period. Ray had originally recorded the song as a mid-tempo love ballad in 1973; he then re-recorded it in 1978 as a slower ballad...the re-arranged version, which he never officially recorded, blends the mid-tempo and slow ballad styles together...and on top of this he added a layer of up-tempo...so he covers all the bases in that performance. "Marie" is a slow love ballad that would've made a great addition to his 1981 album, One More Last Chance. The tempo and overall feel of that song fits in with the overall mood of that album.
I like all the performances but for me the stand-out is "Everybody is a Clown Inside"...it's a fabulous performance, first of all, and it's simply a feelgood, cheery puts a smile on your face kind of song...if you dislike the song then something must be wrong with you...or you have an intense dislike for fun songs and patter...but "Everybody is a Clown Inside"...
Ray Stevens 1981
A member of YouTube named Randall Hamm uploaded the above video. If you do a YouTube search for Ray Stevens and select "video" as well as "release date" in the filter area, so that the video clips will be arranged from most recent to oldest, you won't find this clip among the search results. Ray's name isn't featured in the video tags...which could explain it...but if you do a YouTube search for Ray Stevens and you include the name of the TV show or one of the songs he sang on the TV show then the video clip will show up in the search results. I have a brief conversation with the video's uploader...if you read the comments over on the video's main page you'll be able to see it. Those curious can click this LINK to watch the above video on it's main YouTube page with the comment section. In the brief conversation the clown's identity is revealed to be a man named Bayron Binkley, Sr. who went by the character's name, Happy A Clown, and the character was well-known by locals watching WSM-TV. I didn't know this information before hand, though. This information was supplied by the video's uploader during the brief conversation I had with him in the YouTube comments section. Also in the comments section I was asked if I had been to the CabaRay showroom, I replied I had been there, and I directed them to this fan-created blog where I wrote about my visit to the CabaRay last year (you can find it in the Archives on the right hand side of this page located in the month of March in 2018).
Once again I'm putting together another fan-created blog entry centering on the goings-on in the career of Ray Stevens. This is more or less hot off the presses...a little more than half an hour ago (as I write this it's 10:34am Eastern)...but a little more than half an hour ago an announcement was made that Ray Stevens and Ralph Emery are to make an appearance together at the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum in Dickson, Tennessee on December 3rd at 5pm. The event is being promoted as Legacy Reception 2019 and the two of them are the Guests of Honor.
Ray's social media sites give information that the event will last 2 hours from 5pm to 7pm and that both Ray and Ralph will be meeting fans, taking photo's, and signing autographs. The two have known one another for more than 50 years. In several of my blog posts centering around the Country Music Hall of Fame induction of Ray Stevens I made reference to their long friendship...it was Ralph performing the official induction of Ray into the Hall of Fame on October 20th at the Medallion Ceremony. All of the information surrounding the December 3rd event can be found HERE. Once you visit the site scroll down the page, just a little bit, to the Upcoming Events. You'll find a promo for Ray and Ralph's December 3rd appearance in that section. The bottom of that webpage has the telephone number as well as an e-mail address for those with questions. There's a very small admission price into the museum.
Those of you thinking about making the trip to Dickson, Tennessee for the Ray Stevens and Ralph Emery meet and greet on December 3rd have a great time but don't forget that it's a fundraising event, too...don't let that slip your mind. If you want to show your appreciation to the museum for their decision to have the two legends as Guests of Honor then do so with a donation.
In the event description it states autographs will be signed. I don't know if they'll have photo's of themselves on hand that they'll personally autograph or if people are allowed to bring in items and have the two sign them. If you have Ray's memoir, for example, or any of the books that Ralph's written during his career, I'd suggest you look through your collections and archives, and bring those things to the event just in case the museum allows people to bring items in to be autographed. The books Ralph has written: Memories, More Memories, The View from Nashville, and 50 Years Down a Country Road. Ray's memoir is titled Ray Stevens' Nashville.
Arriving on the internet yesterday and having reacted to it on YouTube and on other social media sites I'm now embedding the video clip on my fan created Ray Stevens blog...
The above performance comes from the early 1990s special, The Country Comedy Hour. If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, Ray uploaded several comical sketches of himself and Ruth Buzzi pulled from that same special. If you look closely you'll see Ruth Buzzi in the performance...as well as comedy duo Williams and Ree. In fact, Ruth is the pirate standing between the comedy duo. The three of them are the pirates with the most camera time (aside from the two character's that Ray is playing). I love the finale of the song...it comes across as the kind of song and dance routine you'd see on the Broadway stage complete with an arms spread wide finish. In an example of video trickery Ray appears side by side as both pirates standing in front of the crew during the finale. The only difference in the performance of the song and the recording is that in the recording the two pirates have a back and fourth conversation during the fade out of the song...with the feminine pirate suggesting a series of fine dining cuisine that the gruff pirate should try...all the suggestions naturally being met with disdain and disgust.
"The Pirate Song" is a popular recording from Ray Stevens although it was never officially released as a single in the traditional sense. It is one of those examples of a Ray Stevens recording that became popular mostly through word of mouth, unsolicited airplay, and consumer discovery. The song dates back to 1985...it originally appeared on Ray's album, I Have Returned. That particular release being a Gold album and one that hit the top spot on Billboard's Country Album chart early in 1986...the song benefited from exposure generated from that album...however, the fact that a song originates on a Gold album doesn't necessarily mean it will generate a strong following of fans but "The Pirate Song" did. The song is a take off on the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, The Pirates of Penzance. The opera is mentioned within the lyrics of the song when a clearly feminine pirate rejects the lifestyle and formalities of the traditional pirate (complaining "I don't like it...") and insists upon singing and dancing instead. The song's subtitle, "I Want to Sing and Dance", is a phrase heard during the chorus.
Ray resurrected the song in 1991 for inclusion on his comedy album that year, Number One with a Bullet. The video clip embedded above, in my opinion, was taped at some point during this time period. As is the case with the comedy sketches Ray uploaded several weeks ago, in addition to this performance of "The Pirate Song", it's credited to a special called The Country Comedy Hour...something I've still not been able to find any information on. I don't know if it was a televised special or if it was a pilot that Ray did for a proposed television series...and so I'm careful not to refer to it as a televised special because, as of this writing, I have no idea if the show ever aired on TV or not. The fact that Ray takes center stage in these performances leads me to think it was a pilot for a television series...much like Amazing Rolling Revue happened to be. The only difference being that pilot seen a VHS release in 1992 and yet if The Country Comedy Hour turns out to have also been a pilot then, for a lot us, it'll perhaps remain a mystery as to why it had never gotten a release on VHS back then as well. In the photo seen below it's Ray in character as Long John Blackbeard Peg Leg Patch-eye Hook delivering one of his demands. Also in the photo is Bruce Williams (of the comedy duo, Williams and Ree).
Ray Stevens and Bruce Williams
The performance of the song, choreographically, is almost step for step how it was performed in the official music video. The official music video arrived in 2000 on a VHS from Ray titled Funniest Video Characters. It's the VHS that featured the much anticipated music video of "The Blue Cyclone"...that music video was anticipated by his fans so much that the cover of the VHS features Ray in a headlock from The Blue Cyclone to alert the fans that a music video for that song was included in the collection.
In the official video for "The Pirate Song" the quartet of pirates seen in the background are performed by shirtless John Ragsdale (Ray's brother), Buddy Kalb, Ralph Emery, and if I remember correctly a man named Randy Cullers. If it's him he's also the illustrator/animator of the Ray Stevens group. In the early '90s performance embedded at the top of this blog entry the trio of pirates are Bruce Williams, Ruth Buzzi, and Terry Ree. There are a few visual differences in the costumes worn by the pirates in the early '90s performance and the 2000 music video but, as said, the choreography literally remains the same. It's an early example of Ray's mastery of video production...and that mastery is one of the things highlighted on his Country Music Hall of Fame plaque.
A couple of days ago Ray Stevens uploaded a video clip from his CabaRay Nashville television series. The clip featured an interview and performance from Bill Anderson...one of country music's legendary songwriters/performers and an early participant in syndicated television. It happened to be Bill's birthday (November 1st) and so to celebrate this footage of Bill's appearance on Ray's television series was uploaded.
Ray and Bill have some things in common: they're both well established songwriters, they each have a history of television and video endeavors, they embrace the power of on-line marketing, they're businessmen and each have had successful careers in the music business world, they're both in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Country Music Hall of Fame, and both are tied to the state of Georgia...Ray was born there whereas Bill was raised there (officially he was born in Columbia, South Carolina). The two also have membership in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame as well as the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame. Also, the two share experiences in the hospitality business. One of Bill's hit songs, "Po' Folks", became the name of a restaurant chain throughout the South...and from 1975 until 1988 Bill was it's spokesman. The television series Bill hosted on The Nashville Network during the 1980s, Fandango, featured commercials for Po' Folks. Ray, on the other hand, owned, operated, and performed at a theater in Branson, Missouri (1991-1993, 2005-2006) and since January 2018 he's owned, operated, and performed in Nashville, Tennessee at the CabaRay.
Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame: Bill Anderson (1974 induction), Ray Stevens (1980 induction).
Georgia Music Hall of Fame: Ray Stevens (1980 induction), Bill Anderson (1985 induction).
Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame: Bill Anderson (1987 induction), Ray Stevens (2001 induction).
Country Music Hall of Fame: Bill Anderson (2001 induction), Ray Stevens (2019 induction).
When Ray's CabaRay showroom had it's grand opening in January of 2018 there were several media outlets there and one of the television stations captured an interview of Bill Anderson during his visit to the CabaRay and it serves as a testimonial in a lot of ways to Ray's creative genius and work ethic...
The two obviously have their professional/career differences, as well...Bill is a member of the National Songwriter's Hall of Fame whereas, as of this writing, Ray Stevens isn't. Bill has also been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1961 whereas Ray is not a member but sporadically makes guest appearances. The two looked back, comically, on their early years in the music business; Bill brings up Ray's "Silver Bracelet" single in 1957 and remarks on the impact it had in the Atlanta, Georgia area in the interview. Bill brings up Ray's memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville, and said he spent three weeks reading it...to which Ray comically asked why it took him that long...and the two of them discuss music publisher Bill Lowery...anyway, here's the clip of the two legends...
Hello once again...and the title of this blog entry is more or less centered on a video clip of Ray Stevens that emerged on YouTube back on November 2nd, well, yesterday of course. At the moment it's a little past three in the morning as I write this. I make note of that because we had a time change take effect earlier this morning where we fell back one hour at 2am and so we gained an hour. The video clip is from a television performance by Ray Stevens from 1975 and I have no idea what program he was appearing on. I first thought it might have come from an episode of Dinah Shore's television show but the only appearance from Ray on her show, that I've been able to research, has him clean shaven. In this video clip not only does he have his familiar beard but his hair is a tad bit longer than I've seen it. I've seen photo's of him from the very early '70s with a kind of shaggy, lengthy style but this is by far the only time I'd seen video footage of him with noticeable lengthy hair...but then again he very well could have had this lengthy style on his 1975 appearance on Hee Haw but I never took notice given that I was watching it on television rather than the internet and there weren't a lot of those close-up shots that on-line video clips feature...but here's the video embed of Ray performing "Misty". I hesitate to embed the video because I don't know if it'll remain on-line by those that uploaded it but here it is...
I saved me some screen-caps from the clip which is something I typically do with any video that shows up on YouTube featuring Ray Stevens...and I'm referring to video not uploaded through Ray's own YouTube channel. I do this so I'll have imagery saved from those video performances just in case they vanish from the internet for whatever reason. When you watch the video it'll be difficult not to notice how lengthy his hair happens to be...am I over obsessing on this subject matter? Obnoxiously over obsessing?? Let it not be said that I'm not a detailed fan of Ray Stevens. A couple of things you also might notice about the performance...there is no audience and I'm guessing that he's singing to the music track because the musicians aren't shown (they could be off-stage); Ray also chases a fly away...it's always risky to have plants sitting on the stage during a performance...those pesky flies...but the biggest difference is that Ray isn't at the piano which he typically is when performing "Misty". The mystery question, though, is what television program is Ray performing on?
Ray Stevens, in 1975, sings "Misty".
The graphic on the clip states Augustus 1975 but, as I found out, that's Dutch/Netherlands language for August 1975. The symbol on the upper right, 192 TV, I discovered through research is a music-video/music-clip television channel in The Netherlands. They specialize in airing music clips of recording acts of the '50s, '60s, and '70s...this doesn't necessarily mean that the footage was recorded on television programs originating in The Netherlands, at least I don't think...but yes, I'd love to know what television program the above performance originated from. I left a comment over on the YouTube page for that video clip asking if anyone has any information as to the origin of the performance.
We had some terrible storms that passed through on Halloween and I had my computer off practically the entire day...it was storming all day and most of the night...heavy downpours of rain and then the temperature dropped to below freezing overnight. So, as a result, I wasn't on-line to see the latest Halloween-themed upload from Ray Stevens. It arrived yesterday (October 31st) and I'm embedding it below even though we're now in November...
In my previous blog entry I uploaded the audio upload of this song but as you can see it's a performance from Ray on his CabaRay Nashville television show. It's a great performance but all of you should know this already...you're fans of Ray Stevens or else you wouldn't be visiting this fan-created blog reading about his career...and as fans of Ray Stevens we know there isn't such a thing as less than great when it comes to his music.
Tonight is the night Christmas at the CabaRay gets underway. Each concert held at Ray's CabaRay showroom from November 1st until December 28th will have a Christmas overtone. To get tickets you'll need to click this LINK. Since this is the day of a show you will probably not be able to purchase them on-line...but click the link for details. The month of November concert dates are on display at the webpage. All the concerts scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday star Ray Stevens. The one exception, November 13th, is for a taping of Larry's Country Diner. There is no concert on Thursday November 28th for obvious reasons: it's Thanksgiving. Below is a banner advertising the Christmas concerts. It's only an image. It isn't a link to the CabaRay site. You must click the link provided above to find information about tickets.
