Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" pushes beyond 300,000 unique views...

Hello all! In a blog entry I posted yesterday, sometime around 1:30pm, "Quarantined", the current music video from Ray Stevens, had obtained 263,034 unique views. I just come over from YouTube and the unique views, as of this writing, sit at 339,885. This is an increase of 76,851!! I provide an increase number for those that don't want to do the math yourselves. There have been 552 comments posted. The YouTube statistics don't show the total number of people that have shared the video. I don't read each and every comment but I browse through them and for the time being the rational thinking people outnumber those who deliberately post inflammatory remarks. Typically a music video that features a topical subject matter will dissolve into societal or political bickering and flame wars...but, so far, six days after it's upload onto YouTube there's not been a barrage of inflammatory remarks which is always a good thing.



In a scenario that seems to follow a national trend, disaster, fad, etc. there usually are all kinds of songs about the same topic out on the market. Those that were around in 1974 that recall streaking when it was a top news item will certainly know that were all kinds of records being released surrounding the fad...and Ray Stevens had the biggest hit of all with "The Streak" (selling over five million records). There were a lot of songs about the Hula Hoop, surfing, C.B. radios...patriotic songs tend to pour out in abundance if ever there's a nationwide feeling of pride. Protest songs seemed everywhere in the late '60s and early '70s. After 9/11 there were patriotic songs and novelty songs about terrorists. In 2001 Ray contributed "Osama Yo' Mama", "Hello Mama", and recorded his version of "United We Stand".

This pandemic has caused a lot of writers to come up with songs about COVID-19 and the impact it's had on society. There are some artists that take the deep, emotional route while in Ray's case he took the humorous light-hearted route. Dolly Parton released a COVID-19 song not too long ago. Charlie Daniels will issue a COVID-19 song tomorrow (June 1st). Ray issued his COVID-19 song on May 25th. I'd seen a sneak preview of Charlie's music video and there's an appearance by Ray Stevens in the video clip. I don't know if that's Ray's only appearance and I don't know if Ray has any lines in the song. In the video clip I seen it shown Ray seated in the recording studio facing the camera singing along as Charlie sang. I'll look at the full video tomorrow and post about my findings in a blog entry.

Ray Stevens: A Golden Week in 1970...

Hello all the Ray Stevens fans!! I've been patiently awaiting for this day to roll around for several weeks. In late April I created an image centering around the upcoming golden anniversary of the Ray Stevens song, "Everything is Beautiful", hitting the top on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart. The single hit number one for the week ending May 30, 1970 and remained at the top for two weeks. A month later it became the theme song on the NBC television series that Ray hosted during the summer of 1970 for a vacationing Andy Williams. This image I came up with to celebrate Ray's song hitting number one on this date 50 years ago, some may find unbelievably amateurish, but I happen to think it fits the occasion.

50th Anniversary

I put this collage/image together of a gold colored 5 and an image of the "Everything is Beautiful" single to represent the number, 0, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of "Everything is Beautiful" hitting number one this week in 1970. You couldn't possibly imagine how much I fought the urge to post that image once I created it but I controlled myself...holding off until today...and so it's finally unveiled for all to see. The song would go on to win a Grammy for Ray at the 1971 gala in the category of Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. It became the most recorded song that Ray's written...countless gospel recording artists have done their version of it...including Jake Hess who also won a Grammy for Best Sacred Performance for "Everything is Beautiful" at the very same 1971 edition of the awards. The song was an international hit and the sales reportedly topped 3,000,000. In addition to it's two week stay at number one on the pop chart in America it also hit number for three weeks on the Adult-Contemporary chart and had similar success in most English-speaking countries although there were releases of the song in non-English speaking areas accompanied with foreign language picture sleeves. All in all it was a monster hit and for a lot of people it changed the perception of 'Ray Stevens'. Even though Ray had long established a serious side on records it wasn't until "Everything is Beautiful" that his serious side suddenly broken through, commercially, and a wider audience became more aware that he wasn't all comedy and that he had serious thoughts about a whole host of issues of the day. It's my opinion that the song enabled him to find his way onto the playlists of Adult-Contemporary radio stations with regularity. Several of his follow-up singles after "Everything is Beautiful" charted higher on the Adult-Contemporary format than they did on pop radio.

There are several video performances of Ray singing "Everything is Beautiful" on YouTube and there's an official music video that Ray released in 1992 and it, too, is on YouTube. Earlier today a 1983 performance of the song was uploaded. The performance came from March 1983 during the launch night of The Nashville Network, a former cable channel, which specialized in country music programming. Ray's portion of the show was taped on stage at the Opry House.



This is one of Ray's signature songs and it's fabulous. I've never understood why some people dislike this song. If you search the internet and read some of the websites that discuss this particular song...the amount of hate and contempt that spews out of some people...something must be missing in their lives to hate such an optimistic, uplifting song like "Everything is Beautiful".

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined", a mask of hysteria...

Hello again to the fans of Ray Stevens that come across this fan created blog entry! As you know I've been keeping track of Ray's current hit video, "Quarantined", ever since it made it's debut on May 25th. In my last blog entry centering around the video hit the unique views had crossed over the 200,000 level. The total at that time was 217,816. Today those numbers have risen to 263,034 for an increase of 45,218 unique views as of this writing. Is it possible that the video will surpass 300,000 over the course of the weekend?? It would be great if that happened!! The national news throughout most of Friday evening and into Saturday morning, at least on the cable channel I watch, was totally dominated by live coverage of the looting and rioting that was going on in Minneapolis and the stand-offs taking place between the police and the demonstrator vandalism going on in several cities (Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Jose, Brooklyn, Oakland, Portland, Los Angeles) as well as the violent demonstrations that were taking place between people and the secret service in front of the White House. All of this obliterated COVID-19 and everything related to it such as face masks, lock downs, partial lock downs, dictatorial mayors and Governors, it was wiped off the radar for I'd say 10 to 11 hours. I wish I could remember the name of the local mayor or it may have been a State Governor who actually thought the protesters would practice social distancing and wear face masks.



If there is not a gigantic, monumental spike in cases or deaths of the Coronavirus in Minnesota in the days or weeks after these protests, vandalism, rioting, and looting then wouldn't that be evidence enough to show local and State medical boards and State Governors that all of these precautions and guidelines foisted upon the less vulnerable was a total mistake? The social distance mandates of people being 6 feet apart, or more, has long been hammered into the public consciousness since early March. I didn't see the public in those cities too concerned about COVID-19 in those public demonstrations. What amount of evidence is it going to take for decision makers to see their self-inflicted economic collapse? I call it self-inflicted because there have been numerous factual research conducted showing the age range and likelihood of who's at risk and who's not at risk and yet there's not been much let-up from State Governors and or large city Mayors. The rioting overshadows the oppressive measures some of these public officials continue to implement when it comes to the pandemic. As eyes and attention is drawn to the demonstrators that means most eyes are turned away from what's going on in local and State Government when it comes to COVID-19.

Ray Stevens: "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?" 1990 performance...

This is one of my favorite Ray Stevens recordings! Ray recorded "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?" for his 1986 comedy album, Surely You Joust. It's appeared on several compilation albums since then and he's performed it in concerts and on television in the years following it's original premiere. It's a comical love song. He included the song on his 1993 VHS release, Ray Stevens Live!. The performance has since been uploaded onto YouTube. He produced a live action music video of the song in 1995 for his VHS movie, Get Serious!, which is also on YouTube. In the next decade an animated music video of the song emerged and it, too, can be found on his YouTube channel. In 1990 Ray appeared on an episode of the Charlie Chase prank show, Funny Business. In the video clip you'll see Ray perform "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?". If you're dedicated fans of Ray and more or less know the song then you'll know that he sings it a bit differently than what's on the recording. By that I mean you'll notice some of the lyrical omissions in the 1990 performance but it's nevertheless an entertaining performance all the same. Upon the conclusion of the performance Charlie mentions that Ray's on a new record label. Ray had been on MCA Records since 1984 but early in 1990 he signed with Curb Records.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" pushes beyond 200,000 unique views...

Hello once again!! "Quarantined", the COVID-19 video from Ray Stevens, has crossed the 200,000 unique view plateau. The view count as of this writing is 217,816. In an earlier blog entry I posted the view count nearing 200,000 with a total of 160,001 at that point in time. This is a pick-up of 57,815 additional unique views...again, bringing the total as of this writing to 217,816.



I came across a website for a radio station in Wyoming called KOWB while doing a Google news search for Ray Stevens and on their site they have a brief article about "Quarantined" and they included a video of it. The article wasn't particularly a hit piece against Ray but the commentary featured a remark that I feel blanketed everyone that knows of Ray Stevens of being well over 50. I'm including a link to their article so you all can read it for yourselves...you can view it by clicking HERE. I'm sure it's simply a flippant remark in their view but more importantly it's an unnecessary remark that borders, perhaps, on ageism if someone should interpret it as such. The remark comes at the very end of the article. I left a comment over on their page and I copied it. I refreshed my browser and revisited their site and seen that the comment wasn't posted there, yet, so I'm posting it here just in case it gets lost mysteriously in cyber-space:

"Well, actually, Ray's career goes farther back than 1974's "The Streak". It goes back to the late 1950s. He had a series of novelty and ballad releases throughout the '60s. One of those singles, 1969's "Gitarzan", received a Gold record for a million copies sold. A 1970 release, "Everything is Beautiful", was also a Gold record and a Grammy winner. Anyway, I appreciate the article giving some publicity to Ray's new song. I do think some of the personal commentary was a bit blunt, though, at least that's how it came across to me.".

The beginning of the article in the link I provided suggests that Ray's career began with "The Streak" in 1974 so that's why I began my comment with a line like that. If you've ever looked off to the right hand side of this blog page and underneath my photo you'll see my reasons for creating this fan created blog in 2008. It was to celebrate the career and music of Ray Stevens, certainly, but it was also to include information that was accurate. I was tired of the lack of accurate information about Ray Stevens that populated the internet in 2008 and it still persists 12 years later. So, if I come across any inaccuracies, I point it out.

Ray Stevens: Webstore Discount Sale...

It's still not too late to take advantage of the Ray Stevens discount sale going on at his official website's store. The discount sale ends on May 31st and so you still have three days to place an order on anything being sold. You can visit the official Ray Stevens website by clicking HERE. The first thing you'll see when the page loads is the advertisement for the discount sale. There will also be a succession of banners promoting other things of interest. You can either click on the banner advertising the discount sale or just click the link to the site's store in the upper right hand corner of the official website. I purchased Cartoon Carnival, Volume One and Cartoon Carnival, Volume Two not too long ago at a 20 percent off discount. The sale is store wide...meaning it includes DVDs, CDs, clothing, and his memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville.

Earlier today a brief video clip was uploaded onto Ray's social media sites. The clip, which runs 1 minute 14 seconds, features Ray and Charlie McCoy discussing the time they played on an Elvis recording session in 1966. The clip is from the episode of CabaRay Nashville guest starring Charlie McCoy from Season One.



Season One of CabaRay Nashville is available on DVD...and until May 31st you can purchase it at a 20 percent discount. Season Two is also available on DVD. Ray's television series consists of 13 episode seasons. The two DVD releases collectively feature 26 half hour episodes. There have been six 13 episode seasons so far for a total of 78 half hour episodes.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" nearing 200,000 unique views...

Ray Stevens; 2020

The "Quarantined" music video from Ray Stevens continues it's viral success even as I type. In my previous blog entry I noted that the music video had gotten 114,777 unique views so far. I published my previous blog entry yesterday evening at 6:24pm Eastern. As of this writing "Quarantined" has a unique view total of 160,001 for an increase of 45,224. The way the unique view amount keeps going up in such a rapid fashion, I'd say, by later this evening or possibly by tomorrow there's a good possibility that the video will surpass 200,000. If you can believe it there are 69 people who dislike this video...but this is countered by the more than 5,000 that have given the video a thumbs up. I've always found it interesting when it comes to the overall statistics of video content regardless of the video hosting site that it's on. Usually a video will receive a lot of views...followed by a strong amount of like/dislike reaction...and a lot of user comments. The funny thing is in each situation the number of participants decline. To explain it in more detail: "Quarantined" has 160,001 unique views. In my way of thinking shouldn't the video also have at least 160,000 reactions of whether it was liked or disliked? When I watch a video I always rate it and leave some kind of a comment. It's gotten around 5,800 like/dislike reactions. The comment section, as of this writing, sits at 299 comments rather than in the hundreds of thousands of comments to mirror the amount of unique views it's received. I've always been curious as to why there's usually a large gap between the amount of unique views, the like/dislike reactions, and the number of comments. It's a possibility that some people prefer not to write commentary about the video they've just watched...others prefer just to like or dislike a video and leave it at that...while others might not even be on YouTube at all but are accessing a YouTube clip on a social media site that's shared it and they leave their comment on whatever site's shared the video. It's really not that big of a deal, of course, it's just something I've always found interesting...the bottom line is the video's being seen by hundreds of thousands of people!!

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" pushes beyond 100,000...

Ray Stevens; 2020

It's me once again and as the title of this blog entry indicates "Quarantined" has indeed pushed beyond the 100,000 unique view plateau on YouTube. The total as of this writing is 114,771...a pick-up of 16,720 since earlier this morning. The viral video continues to appear in the Twitter search results. I've liked some of the tweets containing the video but I haven't liked every single one of them. There's so many tweets being posted from users that are sharing the video...there's so many available that I'm not going to go through and like every single one of them that I see. It doesn't mean I'm being selective. The point is "Quarantined" is being shared by hundreds of people and it's no telling what Ray is going to do next. His social media activity continues to be heavy...but he's not promoting "Quarantined" at the level I thought he would've been. The video hit on May 25th (Memorial Day) but the very next day his social media sites uploaded a 1982 clip of him singing "Where The Sun Don't Shine" and today they uploaded a 1968 audio clip of "Unwind". I don't know if Ray has something even bigger planned and he was just testing the waters with "Quarantined" to see the kind of reaction it would get, or, if he's following a schedule of activity that's been well thought out and more publicity surrounding the video will soon be forthcoming. It's hard to tell.

Ray Stevens: "Unwind" audio clip...

Hello all...in this Ray Stevens blog entry I'm embedding an audio of his 1968 single, "Unwind". The single was his fifth release on Monument Records. He joined the label in 1963 as a session musician and music arranger while Mercury Records continued having exclusive use of him as a recording artist. Ray's first Monument single as a recording artist arrived in the latter half of 1965 but during the next two years from November 1965 through December 1967 four single releases didn't make the Hot 100 pop chart. "Unwind" came along in January 1968 and it started making some noise and had some chart action...peaking at 52 on the Hot 100...the highest charting position of any of his singles since 1963...and his highest ranking for a non-comedic song to date. A previous Mercury Records single, "Furthermore", peaked at 91 late in 1962. When you hear "Unwind" and think it's a funny song then it's apparent that you can't differentiate between serious Ray and comical Ray. I don't have the vinyl single in my collection...but if you come across one for sale on-line the B-side is a song called "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". The two songs can be found on Ray's 1968 Monument album, Even Stevens.

Ray Stevens: "Qurantined" is nearing 100,000 unique views...

Well here we are again...and I'm here with news that the hit video from Ray Stevens, "Quarantined", is right on the verge of hitting 100,000 unique views on YouTube. Even as I type this it may have crossed the 100,000 plateau given that the view totals are constantly updating as if to play catch-up with so many people sharing the video on social media sites. As of this writing the unique views for "Quarantined" sit at 98,051...in my previous blog entry the view total was 72,530...so this is a pick-up of 25,521 additional unique views on YouTube.

Ray Stevens; 2020

A line in the song accompanying the video description is "two more weeks of quarantine will be the death of me". It's something of a hook but it also features the song's title. It goes to the heart of 'the cure shouldn't be worse than the disease' argument. The video's been shared by dozens of people but, as of this writing, it hasn't been picked up by any country music website or blog site or any national news website. If the video gets picked up and spread throughout those kind of on-line outlets there's a very good chance that the video could amass at least half a million unique views, or more, in a month's time. There's no way of knowing what will happen, obviously, but going by Ray's history most of his YouTube videos that have gotten a million or more unique views benefited either from exposure on high-profile websites or the subject matter he happened to be singing about was such a hot-button topic that the video became something of a magnet and drawn people to it...it looks like "Quarantined" is going to be the latter. The topic of social distance, hand washing, wearing a face mask, etc. are tackled in the song in case you hadn't heard it yet.

In my Blogger Stats section, only available for viewing by authors of a blog, it shown that I had some visitors seeking lyrics to "Quarantined" and sheet music for the song...specifically sheet music for guitarists. My advice is to contact Ray's social media. On his official website there's a contact feature...you can also message his Facebook and Twitter pages when you click the contact or send message button. I don't print lyrics but I'm sure, if you ask them, someone at Ray's office will send a copy of the song's lyrics. I don't have any advice when it comes to how a person can obtain actual sheet music for the song...but contact them and ask.

Technical note: Those of you that read this fan created blog page and do not happen to be bloggers and are here just to read the blog entries or look at the photos, well, the look/layout of the page is going to get a massive make-over. Blogger is going to introduce a new interface and update a lot of things. I experimented earlier this morning with the new Blogger and it can be disorienting for those that are so used to this current platform, interface, design, layout. Fortunately everything remains intact (stats and blog entries) but it's disorienting until your eyes become used to the layout. I switched back to what they call the older version after taking a look at the new layout that's in store. It's been on an experimental trial run which lasts until mid or late July...then afterward everyone who uses Blogger will have the look and layout of their blog page automatically updated with the new look and you won't have the option to revert to the old version. Some of you may be reading this blog entry with the new version of Blogger already...but I'm still composing my blog entries with what soon will be described as the 'older' version.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" follow-up...

It's not exactly a follow-up because I've written several blog entries already about Ray Stevens current hit, "Quarantined". However, with a song title such as that, I'm trying to come up with different ways of placing it in the title of my entries. I'll probably figure out some kind of way to use that song's title more cleverly in future blog entry titles but until then the mundane will have to do. Now, then, the numbers for the video have dramatically risen since I last posted an update. Since Facebook counts multiple views from the same device and, as I found out, only requires 3 seconds of playtime to register as a 'view' it's no wonder that "Quarantined", as of now, sits at 1,128,377!! This is a whopping increase in views from where it was the last time I checked. The previous view count on Facebook was 590,259! However, over on YouTube, the criteria is a lot more controlled and uses only unique views and it doesn't count repeat views. As a result of that stricter criteria "Quarantined" has obtained 72,530 unique views since hitting YouTube yesterday. I'll be keeping up with the "Quarantined" numbers as the days go by.

Earlier I came across several news reports from WSMV and WTVF, two television stations in Nashville, Tennessee. The reports concerned the re-opening of much of Tennessee's shut down businesses that were considered 'non-essential' for the last couple of months. A lot of the so-called 'non-essential' businesses were entertainment facilities, bars, music venues, theaters, etc. The articles centered around the Governor of Tennessee and that State's health department easing restrictions with guidelines in place. As of this writing I have no idea if this means that Ray is allowed to re-open the CabaRay for concerts again. If he's given the all-clear sign that he can re-open there's something that may result as a consequence of the country being put through a lock down. One of the devastating side-effects to the lock downs, partial lock downs, and being "Quarantined" is it's impact on an individual's confidence and some say a person's mental state. The fear mongering is still on display from much of the Blue State Governors across the country, and, it's siphoned through a State's health department as a kind of back-up to whatever a Governor wishes to impose on their State. In other words a lot of the health departments give cover to a Governor.

In my opinion most Blue State Governors seek to spread pandemic fear throughout the rest of the calendar year...or at least until early November...add to that a person's natural fear of the unknown and you have a situation where when people are told they can get out and actively participate in society again chances are some will be afraid to do so...not knowing if it's 'safe'. This is why so many, whose opinions I agree with, said that the reaction to the outbreak did more harm than good and why "the cure should not be worse than the disease". Ray's song, in a lighthearted way, speaks to the aggravation of having to be "Quarantined" and all of the unintended, and in some case, intended, consequences that come along with it.

Once again here's the current hit music video from Country Music Hall of Fame member, Ray Stevens...the topical "Quarantined"...

Ray Stevens: Singling Out Where the Sun Don't Shine...

Me and Ray Stevens vinyl; 1982

Hello all once again...I'm adding a new installment to the Singling Out series of blog entries by focusing on a 1982 single from Ray Stevens titled "Where the Sun Don't Shine". This single comes from the album, Don't Laugh Now, on RCA. It's one of my favorites and the first time I heard it was on a 1985 compilation from RCA titled Collector's Series. The song, musically, recalls a swaying sing-a-long one might hear coming from a church but lyrically it's a humorous story about a divorce in which the husband tells the wife that she can take whatever she wants and he'll help her load everything in the car. However, there's a lyrical twist to his generosity...he ends up telling her that she take anything she wants and put it "Where the Sun Don't Shine". The chorus of the song carries a sing-a-long melody with an electric guitar solo...the entire arrangement sounding solemn. The writers of the song are credited as D. Gilmore, R. Sharp, and M. Leath. The B-side of the single is the love ballad "Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Love" from the pen of Kenny O'Dell and Larry Henley. Those of you that have heard Ray's rendition of the song know that there's a word left off in it's official title. Ray actually sings the phrase "Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Make Love"...but the word, make, isn't part of the official song's title. Whenever I discuss that particular recording I always insert the word, make, because that's how Ray sings it. Ray sings that particular record with a sound that reminds me of Kenny Rogers...a very soft vocal performance and the arrangement itself is Adult-Contemporary...and little did I know when I heard Ray's recording of it for the first time in the early 1990s that Kenny had actually recorded it, too...back in 1977...five years before Ray. I also found out that Charlie Rich had recorded that song in 1974.

As far as I know Ray is only one that's ever recorded "Where the Sun Don't Shine"...and here he is in 1982 singing it on an episode of the syndicated television show That Nashville Music!.

Ray Stevens; 1982

Those of you, like me, who have known of this song for years will notice that the performance of the song in this clip cuts off at what I call the false ending...the studio recording features a somewhat false ending where there's a couple seconds of silence before the song resumes. In the portion that follows the false ending Ray sings like a wild man...and even in the video clip there's a brief demonstration of this kind of wild vocal from Ray but there's even more of it in the section of the song that isn't on display in the video clip. I recall seeing this video clip in the early 1990s on a television show called Country Standard Time on The Nashville Network and if I recall correctly the entire performance was shown...it didn't end so abruptly. Then again it's possible I could've seen another performance of "Where the Sun Don't Shine" from Ray on That Nashville Music! and perhaps I'm confusing it with this performance. Whatever the case this performance is rare...and that makes it worth watching. Don't Laugh Now happened to be Ray's third and final studio album for RCA Records in 1982. He signed with the label in late 1979 and released his RCA debut early in 1980. In total RCA and one-time parent company, BMG, issued eight albums on Ray: Shriner's Convention (1980), One More Last Chance (1981), Don't Laugh Now (1982), Greatest Hits (1983), Collector's Series (1985; 1987 re-issue), Everything is Beautiful and Other Hits (1990), Lassos 'n Spurs (1992), and The Last Laugh (1999). Ironically, Ray recorded a song called "The Last Laugh" while with RCA in 1980 but it isn't featured on the 1999 CD...that CD's only RCA recording is "Shriner's Convention". The skimpy Collector's Series from 1985, re-issued in 1987, remains the only overview of his RCA material. I call it skimpy because it only features 8 songs. In fairness the Collector's Series line of albums by RCA all featured 8 songs by artists that currently or formerly belonged to the label...but in hindsight they should have featured the standard 10 songs per album or at least 11 or 12 rather than 8. I have that point of view because Ray's RCA period is his least accessible...second only to his Warner Brothers tenure...and it's a shame the only overview of his years with RCA are the 8 songs featured on the Collector's Series. It's better than nothing, of course...but you know what I mean.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" by the Numbers...

Ray Stevens; 2020

Here I am once more!! After a sort of hectic Memorial Day filled with the premiere of "Quarantined", the COVID-19 song from Ray Stevens, and later on the airing of his episode of the Keith Bilbrey hosted Reflections, I went to sleep sometime after 8pm last night...I think. When I left the internet last night the numbers for "Quarantined" were 8,910 unique views on YouTube and 337,508 views on Facebook. When I checked a couple of minutes ago the numbers were 29,438 unique views on YouTube and 590,259 on Facebook! That is more than half a million...closer to 600,000. I don't know the policy when it comes to video views on Facebook. I don't know if the the video only counts one view per device as YouTube happens to do (what they refer to as unique views) so I don't know if Facebook counts multiple views from the same device. There are benefits either way. On the YouTube side of things the statistics show 29,438 unique views for "Quarantined"...based on their policy that means the video was accessed on 29,438 separate internet devices (desktop computer, laptop, smart phone, etc.). It means that once I watched the video on YouTube yesterday morning any of my repeat viewings of the video won't be counted as a 'view'. Facebook, I think, may count repeated views as well as other data metrics including unique views. I think they break down the statistics by unique views, repeated views, auto-play views, etc. etc. but combine it all into an overall view count. However way they monitor and track video content the point is the "Quarantined" video has gotten close to 600,000 views on Facebook in less than 24 hours. I'll check the numbers later on today and see if it's gotten more than 30,000 unique views on YouTube. I hope the song is available on some future album.

Ray Stevens: Reflections with Keith Bilbrey...

I'd been wanting to see a television series called Reflections for a number of years. Ray Stevens appeared as a guest on one of the episodes...it's a series hosted by Keith Bilbrey. I'd known of the Ray Stevens appearance for a number of years but was never able to watch it. It had never become available as a podcast and it had never been posted on YouTube. The episode was recorded in 2016 (!) and it's only now that I finally seen it. I caught notice of the airing of the episode through a Tweet on social media...the Tweet mentioned that the show would be streaming for free on The Heartland Network website at 4:30pm Eastern. So, then, I at long last watched the episode.

When the interview began I could tell right away it had been recorded several years earlier because Keith mentioned that Ray was building a venue...and Ray mentioned that it is to be a showroom called the CabaRay and at that time the plan was to have the showroom opened by summer/fall 2017. Keith mentioned that Ray's recording career began as a teenager and his first single was on Capitol...from there Keith asked how Ray got in touch with Ken Nelson. Ray explained that it was through Bill Lowery...and upon Bill's recommendation Ken Nelson signed Ray to Capitol in 1957. Keith asked Ray about Lowery's influence and this led into a conversation where Ray spoke of the Atlanta music scene in the late '50s and how a wide variety of songs were recorded...pop, country, rhythm and blues. Ray makes mention of "Young Love" and how it was one of Lowery's biggest songs as far as music publishing goes.

The topic of memorable characters in Ray's comedy songs come up and Keith asked Ray the story behind "Shriner's Convention" and how the name, Coy, stuck with him after hearing Norro Wilson tell a story about someone named Coy. Afterward Ray tells the origin of "The Streak" and then "Gitarzan"...mentioning that he happened to have been staying in Gene Autry's hotel when Bill Justis approached him with the word, 'gitarzan'. Ray tells all about the rhyming dictionary he used when writing the song. Bill was given co-writer credit for coming up with the song's title. The credit is under Bill's birth name, William Everette. When Ray spoke about the production that goes into his recordings Keith asked if he considers himself something of a perfectionist. Ray remarked that he always tries to make records that sound the best as he can make them...at the time. I'm assuming he said that because of the advance of technology and how something that he felt sounded great in 1980 may not sound great in 2016. It also could simply mean that he's forever on a mission to have his records sound as great as possible with what's available at the time.

Ray speaks of the CabaRay once again and mentions that he feels it will be unlike anything in and around Nashville. Keith asked if he's going to bring in other people to perform there and he said definitely. He spoke about he'd need to have other performers come in as guests as he insists on not doing a grueling 6 day a week, 2 show a day schedule like he did in the early 1990s in Branson. Ray spoke about having attempted retirement but he couldn't stand it and had to return...saying that he's always recording or working on something. Keith brings up the box set...the 2012 Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. They speak about the power of music and how a song needs meaningful lyrics and music. This leads into Keith telling of his mother who came down with Alzheimer's Disease but to everyone's amazement she was able to recall lyrics to gospel songs. Ray talks about "Everything is Beautiful" and the history behind the song's creation. Keith remarks that "Turn Your Radio On" was his father's favorite gospel recording...and he praises the music arrangement heard in Ray's recording of it.

Ray speaks of "Misty" and he brings up some of the musicians that played on the recording. Keith brings up "In the Mood"...something that is rarely mentioned in Ray's interviews. Ray told the story behind his rendition...clucking the entire thing like a choir of chickens...with a goat and a cow added in to create the fictional group, Henhouse Five Plus Too. Ray does a chicken cluck when Keith asked if he did all of those animal noises. Keith mentions that the studio band on the local Ralph Emery Show used to pantomime to Ray's rendition of "In the Mood". Ray recalled a story Ralph told him about a listener in Louisiana who called Ralph's radio show one night and asked if Ralph would quit playing the song. Ralph asked why and the caller remarked that every time Ralph plays that chicken record it causes his dogs to attack the hen house.

After a few more exchanges between Keith and Ray the episode came to an end. I liked the episode and it was fun seeing Ray speak about his songs and about his future plans. The CabaRay would eventually open to the public in January 2018. I don't know if this episode will now become available on-line for all to see or not. If it never becomes available on any video hosting site then this will be the only detailed review of the Ray Stevens episode.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" has explosive debut...

Ray Stevens; 2020

Hello one and all...if you detect a hint of excitement in these printed words then you'd be correct. Time flies but nearly four hours ago Ray Stevens unleashed his newest video, "Quarantined", and it's currently being discovered all over the internet on this Memorial Day. The COVID-19 song takes a look at the mandates, stay-at-home orders, and everything else that comes with the pandemic. Ray also references face masks and gloves...products that are part of the P.P.E., an acronym for Personal Protective Equipment. I did a screen cap of the music video where Ray points out several things that he's doing ever since being "Quarantined" such as binge watching programs on a variety of video hosting sites...and on display are his face mask and gloves. There's a reference in the beginning of the song describing that he's unable to work and people aren't allowed to attend church. The song arguably takes up the point of view that there was so much Government mandated over-reach in such a short period of time (in the name of safety) but nevertheless it was an altruistic notion to contain a contagion...but it unknowingly had already infected the country...but the country was none the wiser due to the misinformation we were given from foreign Governments. So, in the weeks and months that followed, all State and local Governments set up guidelines and restrictions in an effort to "flatten the curve". A lot of those mirrored the Federal Government guidelines. Along the way, however, as statistics shown that the virus fatality rate was among people well over 70 and that hundreds of thousands of infected people were recovering from the virus it caused a lot of the support for keeping the country in lock-down to evaporate. "Quarantined" poses the ironic statement: "two more weeks of quarantine will be the death of me". This echos the argument that you shouldn't want to have the cure for the virus be worse than the disease.

Taking a look at the social media results so far...the video has gotten more than 6,000 unique views on YouTube. Over on Facebook the video's gotten 149,561 views!! In the earliest years of YouTube whenever you'd share a YouTube hosted video elsewhere the unique views that the video obtained on other websites would factor into the official unique view count on YouTube. I don't know the rules of video hosting sites anymore...but apparently the YouTube methodology as I understood it has been replaced considering YouTube isn't reflecting the amount of views the video's received on Facebook. If YouTube factored in the views "Quarantined" has obtained from Facebook it would show well over 150,000 already and so in my mind the more than 150,000 views it's obtained on Facebook and over 6,000 being reported, so far, on YouTube "Quarantined" definitely qualifies as an explosive debut. I'll also look in later on at the numbers and dissect them in a future blog entry.

Ray Stevens sings "Quarantined"...

Extra...extra!!! The premiere of the Ray Stevens music video has happened!! I've been sharing it on social media sites and I'm embedding it in this blog entry. The "Quarantined" music video premiered at 11:30am Eastern today. I was initially wondering if that meant Central or Eastern time. On my YouTube page I had a reminder put in place to alert me of the video going live. I should have known that the video would premiere at 11:30am Eastern...I have my YouTube settings programmed to the Eastern time zone...but in my excitement I forgot all about that. All of that means I unexpectedly caught the premiere of "Quarantined" an hour ahead of when I initially thought I'd get to see it. Earlier this month Ray appeared on Larry's Country Diner and I wrote a blog entry about it. In that blog entry I noted that his appearance wasn't promoted on any of his social media sites and I couldn't understand why. Well, happily now I know...it's because of an effort to minimize publicity so that there would be substantial impact once this video clip premiered today...



The video premiered more than an hour ago and it's already been viewed more than a thousand times. As I type this the unique view count is 2,851 on YouTube. His Facebook post has the video with over 3,000 likes, over 4,000 shares, and over 200 comments so far. Later on today I'll be looking in at the numbers to see where they stand. This being Memorial Day there's a chance a lot of people are away from the internet doing whatever...so they'll see the video clip later. The hyper-serious mood that's taken over much of the national conversation due to the Coronavirus has meant that light moments and comedy, for some, seems inappropriate and unwelcome. However, "Quarantined", in my opinion, goes right along with a large segment of the public as it points out the annoyances and aggravations in coping with COVID-19...more specifically people coping with the policies enacted in local, State, and Federal Government as a result of the pandemic. The song briefly touches on the hoarding habit that caused the shopping stores to ration certain products (limiting the purchase of specific items). The song doesn't single out any political party...it simply states a sentiment that a lot of people can relate to.

Ray Stevens; 2020

As of now I don't know if "Quarantined" will be part of any future Ray Stevens project. It was on Larry's Country Diner where Ray revealed the name of a box set he'll be releasing...but I don't know if this song will be part of that collection. This song may only exist, for now, in video format on the internet. The song comes from the pen of Buddy Kalb. As I've mentioned in other blog entries this year the COVID-19 pandemic upended life as we know it...disrupted the entertainment industry entirely...the economic loss is massive. If there wasn't a pandemic there wouldn't be this new song from Ray Stevens...but yet if there wasn't a pandemic his CabaRay showroom would've been in it's third month of concerts and there's no telling what would be going on in his career as far as music releases are concerned if not for the pandemic. If you recall he was to have taken part in a fundraiser for WCTE television which was canceled/postponed. Tennessee was ravaged by a tornado just prior to the COVID-19 policies taking over the country and one of Ray's efforts at raising money for relief was going to be the concert proceeds at the CabaRay...but the pandemic changed those plans. This pandemic has created loss of life, loss of jobs, economic devastation, and all kinds of turmoil we'll probably never know about...but it's okay to laugh and smile...exactly the sort of thing "Quarantined" from Ray Stevens will make you do.

Ray Stevens: Celebrating the Legend...

In a bit of irony this is my 25th fan created Ray Stevens blog entry this month...and here we are on May 25th...and more ironic is the fact that March and April contained a total of 25 blog entries that I'd written. This month, though, I'm definitely going to have more than 25 blog entries as a result of an event that's going to take place in a couple of hours from now on the video hosting site, YouTube. However, in the meantime, let's celebrate the legendary Ray Stevens.

Ray Stevens; 2019

In blog's past I've often made mention of detractors (trolls) prevalent on social media and they existed in print media prior to the creation of the internet as we know it today. I sometimes refer to them as snobs and elitists interchangeably but they can also be described as detractors. There has long been positive and negative criticism of anything and anyone attaining a level of notoriety or fame...but when it comes to Ray Stevens it's ratcheted up to another level. It's obvious that Ray's music and career is an enigma to many music critics both past and present. A music insider or, more specifically, a music critic that doesn't understand an artist, the artist's fan base, or can't relate to the artist in any way will have very little enthusiasm or excitement when 'reviewing' that artist's latest song or album. The chances are the less excited/enthused a reviewer is the more opportunity exists for critical detraction and disparaging commentary. If you have the time you can search archived content for examples of music reviews published in magazines and newspapers all over the country and pinpoint which critics were favorable and which ones weren't or you can see which publication tended to feature overly critical reviewers compared to less critical.  Ray's career in the music industry began in 1957 with the release of his first single, "Silver Bracelet". His first appearance on the national music charts happened in 1960 on Billboard's list of regional singles that were destined for their Hot 100. That chart was titled Bubbling Under the Hot 100 and the single was the novelty, "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". The fact that it was a novelty song led Ray to decide that his next single release should also be a novelty...one that could perhaps provide him with a national breakthrough once and for all. That next release came on the much larger Mercury Records. Ray had recorded for Prep (1957), Capitol (1958), and Bill Lowery's NRC label (1959-1960) before joining Mercury Records in 1961. His debut Mercury single, "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills", was unquestionably a novelty and it did provide a breakthrough...landing in the Top-40 of the Hot 100...but then in 1962 he landed in the Top-10 with the million selling novelty, "Ahab the Arab", and that particular recording is considered his breakthrough.

1969

In this section of the blog entry I'm referring to it as 'well, pardon me, but can you sing like Tarzan and do a pitch perfect vocal impression of a woman?'. Some may wonder why I write that and it's because of my feelings that Ray's mimicry talents are greatly underappreciated and more or less they're overlooked. The talents of Ray Stevens emerge in all of his recordings and this is no exception. 1969's "Gitarzan" enables Ray to demonstrate his impression of Tarzan in addition to Jane and their pet. It, too, is a million selling Gold record but it has it's share of detractors. I came across a social media post just this morning where someone posted a Top-10 chart from this week in 1969. "Gitarzan" was ranked at number nine. A follow-up reply contained a remark that belittled the presence of Ray Stevens among a list of 'iconic' records. Now, of course, remarks that disparage Ray or his music is also an insult to his fans. I never replied to the smug comment but it was a typical reaction from those who consider themselves 'music experts', 'music historians', or 'music journalists'. The detraction and lack of respect in some circles when it comes to the talent of Ray Stevens is on-going...meaning that it's something that has long been part of his career...so it's not a major revelation on my part but from time to time, if the mood hits, I point out the detraction and hit pieces that populate social media. One of the more egregious examples of detraction arrived last year within some circles of the country music community when stories emerged, on what I'd call prominent country music news websites, showing contempt and anger when Ray Stevens was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In a headline alluding to Ray's reputation as a comedian, without mentioning Ray's name specifically, one of those on-line stories called the Hall of Fame Class of 2019 'a joke'. In case anyone feels I'm jumping to conclusions how would anyone else interpret a headline like that?

The election into the Country Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor of anyone in country music...and Ray's been part of country music for decades...as a singer/songwriter/musician/producer/arranger/publisher/comedian. His reputation for comedy and his comedic music videos have etched into the mind's of most people a specific image...and for some people that comedic, zany clown-like image has no place within the Country Music Hall of Fame. Now, of course, their argument falls apart when you bring up other country music performers in the Country Music Hall of Fame whose primary avenue in entertainment was comedy...including three members who performed stand-up conversational humor with no music in their act whatsoever: Minnie Pearl, Whitey Ford, and Rod Brasfield. In addition the Hall also includes musical acts with a comical flair: Grandpa Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens, and the duo of Homer and Jethro. I made mention of this negative sentiment circulating on social media last year when Ray was revealed as one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. That sentiment, however, was drowned out by the congratulations that came Ray's way from those that appreciate and know of his talents and know how much of a presence he truly was in the recording studios while producers like Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley were helping to define The Nashville Sound. Ray often refers to himself as a musician who happens to sing, write, produce, and publish. He's a music arranger as well. His entire focus is almost always centered around the music (it's creation and the production). It shouldn't be a case of Ray Stevens being enigmatic...it's not hard to see that he's an all-around entertainer...there's no mystery in that.

Reminder: Be on the lookout for some more blog entries today...a Ray Stevens YouTube event is scheduled to take place today at 11:30am. I don't know if that's Central or Eastern time. Whenever the event happens I'll write about it later.

Ray Stevens: Singling Out Funny Man...

1963 "Funny Man" single

Hello all and welcome to another installment in this Singling Out series of blog entries. In the first installment of the series I spotlighted a 1963 single from Ray Stevens titled "Speed Ball" backed with "It's Party Time" and I've singled out several other recordings from my Ray Stevens collection since then. This "Funny Man" single was purchased at a local flea market and finding it among the singles was something of a surprise considering most, if not all, dealers that sell vinyl albums and singles at flea markets concentrate on rock and roll records. The dealer's cubicle, as I call it, had a lot of vinyl singles randomly lined up in plastic bins on half a dozen tables. There were boxes of vinyl albums placed on other tables. Anyway, I purchased "Funny Man" there. If you notice there's some graffiti on the label. Whoever previously owned the single felt the need to circle, in blue ink, the single's running time. It's a promo copy re-release...which is rare in and of itself. This promo copy, according to on-line sources, was released by Mercury Records in 1968. The catalog number is 72816. The promo single of "Funny Man" issued by Mercury in 1963 has a green colored label and it's catalog number is 72098. The song is a love ballad...and it would probably have fit the description of angst and heartbreak. Ray sings of a man with a reputation of being a comic and playing it so well in public that it hides underlying feelings of sorrow. He would tackle this theme in a different kind of presentation with "It's Party Time". "Funny Man" reached the Hot 100 in the U.S. and was a regional hit in Canada. Pop radio stations used to conduct their own countdowns based on listener requests in case you're wondering what 'regional hit' means.

1963 B-side of "Funny Man"

The B-side has some graffiti on it as well. The Mercury Records logo at the top is filled in with a red marker by a previous owner. Now, if I were to see this single listed on-line and it had markings on it, I wouldn't even bother purchasing it...but since it was at a flea market and chances are on-line sellers may ask a high price for this single, whether there's markings on it or not, I decided to buy it. The B-side is another love ballad and it's titled "Just One of Life's Little Tragedies". In this particular ballad, which is heavier on strings and production than "Funny Man", Ray sings of a relationship that's fallen apart. The song is a character study of a man who tries to convince himself that he no longer cares about a woman and he minimizes her leaving him as "Just One of Life's Little Tragedies". The songs on this single come from Ray's second studio album, This is Ray Stevens. In the previous paragraph I mentioned that this is a re-release of the 1963 promo single of "Funny Man" and "Just One of Life's Little Tragedies". The irony of Mercury Records deciding to re-issue the 1963 recordings on a vinyl single in 1968 could have been in response to the fact that Ray re-recorded "Funny Man" for his 1968 Monument album, Even Stevens, but with a completely different arrangement. It's hard to tell why Mercury re-issued a promo and regular copy of "Funny Man" in 1968 but re-issue it they did...and the promo re-issue is in my collection.

Ray Stevens: Voter Fraud music video...

Hello all! The subject of mail-in ballots and voter fraud continue to periodically make headlines. There is an effort to play up the advantages of mail-in voting and downplay the pitfalls of mail-in voting...and it's all based on each politician's point of view regardless of party. Ray Stevens addressed the topic of voter fraud in his recording, "Grandpa Voted Democrat", which hit YouTube several days before the 2012 election. Those that downplay voter fraud often argue that cases of it are minuscule and rarely effect the outcome of elections while those that bring up voter fraud argue that you shouldn't have complacency when it comes to votes being counted from unregistered voters and showing indifference when it comes to mail-in ballots that are lost in the postal system. Those who favor mail-in voting for all do not want to hear about what they consider isolated, non-consequential issues of fraud and abuse.

There has long been absentee voting...often for members of the military and for those with over-whelming physical incapability that they're unable to show up in person at the polling place...but what this pandemic has created is an avenue to install mail-in voting on a permanent basis. Do you really think in next election cycle will be 'normal'? It'll more or less be mandated that voters mail-in their ballots...regardless of there not being any pandemic by that time. This is why it's dangerous when Government takes advantage of a crisis. In the aftermath they'll call it a 'new normal' rather than go back to the real normal.

Now, since the workforce is being asked to keep 6 feet apart from co-workers and when you're in line at a store you're to remain 6 feet apart...why in the world can't local polling places have a policy about remaining 6 feet away from the next voter or maybe have a sign on their window saying so many voters are allowed in at a time?? The idea of pushing mail-in voting for the entire country is ridiculous and, yes, a recipe for potential fraud and abuse. The people at the board of elections are, in effect, lazy if they don't want to try and figure out ways to have the polling places open on Election Day...less than 6 months from now. It shows me and it should show everyone that they just don't care...mail-in ballots and mail-in voting is going to be the 'new normal'. In the meantime...here's the Ray Stevens voter fraud music video from 2012...



I hadn't been keeping up with the unique view statistics of this video because it hit nearly 8 years ago but I know that it's gotten a whole new resurgence within the last several weeks based on how many times it's being posted on social media and being re-discovered. The total number of unique views as of this writing is 2,330,401.

Ray Stevens: A Mama and a Papa audio clip...

A couple of hours ago on some of the social media sites of Ray Stevens an audio clip of "A Mama and a Papa" emerged. This inspirational song dates back to 1971 in Ray's career and it's from his 1972 gospel album, Turn Your Radio On. It was on this day in 1971 that "A Mama and a Papa" was released...the B-side, "Melt", has never appeared on any of Ray's studio albums. The B-side is a love song rather than a gospel/inspirational song. A writer named Tom Autry penned "A Mama and a Papa" whereas "Melt" was written by Ray. The single's B-side can also be found on YouTube but it isn't an official audio upload from Ray's YouTube channel. This is the official audio...the single was released this week back in 1971...

Ray Stevens: Singling Out I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O.

Me with 1989 Ray Stevens vinyl single

In this edition of the Singling Out series I take a look at one of the last vinyl singles released on Ray Stevens. Throughout much of the 1980s the vinyl format continued to have wide distribution and it continued to have a presence in retail stores along side their smaller counterpart, the cassette tape. The presence of vinyl albums and singles began to rapidly disappear in the late 1980s even though manufacturing of them remained for turntable equipped jukeboxes and for mail-order record clubs but vinyl was becoming less and less visible in retail stores. The cassette, along with the emergence of the compact disc (CD), became the dominant format of music consumption and so vinyl releases became scarce and often were only found in privately owned, local record shops specializing in the sale of vinyl records and if you happen to be fans of country music the Ernest Tubb Record Shop continued to offer vinyl and in some cases that store had exclusive vinyl records. Jukeboxes began to vanish, too...those that remained in use had been converted from being equipped with a turntable for vinyl singles to being manufactured for CD's. The operation of the jukebox remained the same...you put in the money and make the song selection and instead of a vinyl single being pulled out and played on a jukebox turntable the song would automatically begin playing due to the memory of the computerized programming. You select B-6, for example, and the jukebox's computer memory will know what song to play. This vinyl single from Ray Stevens is "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O.". The song was found on his 1989 album, Beside Myself, and he performed it on several television shows that year. It was not a 'radio hit' but it became popular. Ray and Buddy Kalb wrote the song. The main concept of the song centers around the various Elvis sightings that frequently appeared in tabloid newspapers since the late '70s. I have no idea why those tabloid stories became so frequent...Elvis didn't vanish or disappear in 1977...he passed away; so it's always puzzled me why Elvis sightings became something of a fad and had such a presence.

The song tells the story of a couple that are camping in the woods. The performance begins with a narration/recitation. An anchorman telling us that we're tuned into the 'evening news' and he hands the story off to their literal field reporter, Renaldo Rivera (a pun on Geraldo Rivera). Renaldo interviews a witness who goes into his story of having seen a U.F.O. land just beyond their Winnebago and when he went over for a closer look pink aliens emerged and then he says he looked inside the U.F.O. and "there he was!!", the reporter asks "there who was??", and after a brief music interlude the witness emphatically declares: "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O." and the singing portion of the song commences. When Ray performed the song in concert he used props and visuals...a large U.F.O. would hover over top of the stage...he'd have people dressed in pink alien suits 'emerge' and then run around the stage and out into the audience. In the song's conclusion, amid all the smoke of the U.F.O., he gets beamed aboard the U.F.O. which lifts upward and out of sight. If the performance includes post-production Ray literally vanishes on-screen but in his Branson, Missouri performances in the early 1990s a life size dummy of Ray in Elvis attire on wires is hoisted upward toward the U.F.O..

Me with Ray Stevens B-side vinyl

The B-side of "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O." is the equally funny "I Used To Be Crazy". As so many Ray Stevens comedy songs have done it's taken on a life of it's own. Although it originally emerged on 1989's Beside Myself as the closing track and is found as a B-side in single format, "I Used To Be Crazy" has gotten a lot more exposure in the years since. He made a music video of the song in 1995...part of his direct-to-VHS movie, Get Serious!. That music video was recently uploaded on Ray's YouTube channel where it gained a whole lot more exposure than it otherwise had. Ray and Buddy Kalb wrote the song and it allows Ray to demonstrate his skill of mimicry. The subject matter enables Ray to deliver his impressions of chickens, dogs, mad English Kings from the 1700s, Walter Brennan, John Wayne. Along the way he lets out with a loud, shrieking scream...it happens in a section of the song where he mentions that on some days doesn't everybody from time to time enjoy a 'little' primal scream?? In the 1995 music video he performs the song in an Americanized Austrian accent but in the 1989 original recording he performs the song in his natural voice...except when he demonstrates his mimicry. The concept of the song is a case study in irony. He proclaims he used to be crazy but yet he's a whole lot better now...yeah, right!! This vinyl single was the last one released on Ray Stevens by MCA Records. There would be two vinyl singles released on Ray by Curb/Capitol Records in 1990 in limited availability but then that was it as far as vinyl releases go. The very first vinyl single released on Ray was "Silver Bracelet" in 1957 on Capitol Records subsidiary, Prep Records.

Ray Stevens: Me and the Cartoon Carnival...

As a kind of follow-up to a Ray Stevens blog entry I wrote 7 or 8 blog entries ago I'm here to spotlight a couple of DVD releases from 2008.

This is titled Cartoon Carnival, Volume One. The material is a retrospective of music videos from Ray Stevens that had animated elements in their production. Each volume contains 10 music videos. Ray had experimented with the production of live-action mixed with animation music videos in the early 2000s. The first experiment happened to be "Osama Yo' Mama" and then it's sequel, "Hello Mama". There were other music videos produced in that time frame and issued on a VHS called Cartoon Video Collection. A fully animated music video of "Power Tools" emerged and was placed on some editions of a DVD release titled Complete Comedy Video Collection along with the previously available "Hello Mama". Later on a pair of DVDs were released titled Gourmet Restaurant and Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens. There were five animated music videos contained on each release. The ten animated music videos from those two DVDs combined with five music videos from Cartoon Video Collection, "Power Tools" from Complete Comedy Video Collection, plus four previously unreleased animated music videos add up to the 20 music videos spread out through each volume of Cartoon Carnival. If you break it down even further it means that each volume features 8 previously released music videos and 2 previously unreleased music videos for a total of 10 per volume (20 total). In Volume One, shown above, it contains the following music videos: "The Moonlight Special" (2008), "Gone For Good" (2003), "Along Came Jones" (2005), "Barbeque" (2005), "Smokey Mountain Rattlesnake Retreat" (2008), "The Ballad of Cactus Pete and Lefty" (2005), "Power Tools" (2004), "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?" (2005), "Deerslayer" (2003), and "Gourmet Restaurant" (2005).

In Cartoon Carnival, Volume Two we have 10 music videos and just like in volume one there's eight previously released and two previously unreleased. This particular volume consists of several music videos of some of his more widely known recordings. Also, keep in mind, that the year I'm supplying after the title of each music video is the year it was released as a music video...not the year it was originally produced and recorded in the studio. "Hugo the Human Cannonball" (2008), "Hang Up and Drive" (2003), "This Ain't Exactly What I Had In Mind" (2005), "Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens" (2005), "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues" (2003), "The Camping Trip" (2008), "Harry the Hairy Ape" (2005), "Erik the Awful" (2003), "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills" (2005), and "Misty" (2005). The Cartoon Carnival releases came along in 2008 and I purchased these just a couple of weeks ago. The Ray Stevens official on-line STORE is having a 20 percent off discount sale until May 31st and since these two DVD releases were the only things I didn't have in my personal collection (as far as DVD releases are concerned) I decided to buy them...even though the videos can be seen on YouTube. It's the collector in me that drove me to add them to my collection. The only items I still don't have are the T-shirts that you'll see advertised when you open the link I provided. Some people purchase T-shirts as souvenirs or purchase them just to have them. I can be an example of this kind of person given my collector instincts. The shirt size cuts off at XXL and, in my case, attempting to wear something in that size would provide a perfect visual in demonstrating what it means to 'cut off your circulation'. I've often debated whether to just buy an XXL just to have it, though. The shirt colors are blue and red...the imagery is identical. They both feature the photo of Ray from 1992's Comedy Video Classics with "Don't look, Ethel" written below his image in all caps. I have a couple of his T-shirts from several years ago...so it isn't like I don't have any Ray Stevens apparel in my collection.

Ray Stevens: 1970 comedy sketch...

Hello all...uploaded onto the Ray Stevens social media sites this afternoon happened to be a comedy sketch from the 1970 summer television show that Ray hosted for Andy Williams. The sketch is part of a running joke surrounding Ray's anonymity when it came to television...specifically as a host of a nationally aired program. The 1970 summer television show was officially titled Andy Williams Presents: The Ray Stevens Show??? and the running joke was referred to in the show as 'Who is Ray Stevens?'. In this upload you'll see Ray seated at the piano and several seconds after he begins singing the tape stops as it launches into the question that's on everyone's minds: 'Who is Ray Stevens?'. Well-known celebrities appear in cameo form playing fictional characters and attempt to answer the question. Among the celebrities are Jonathan Winters, Bill Dana, Jo Anne Worley...and there's a brief appearance near the end of the sketch from cast regular, Lulu, who gets in a joke at Ray's expense, too. The upload is called Who Is Ray Stevens, Part One...



I've been hoping that DVD releases of the 1970 summer show would become available. A couple of years ago there used to be a subscription based service, RayStevens.TV, and it contained all the episodes of the 1970 series in their entirety...among other exclusive content. I do not know if Ray was given access to those full length episodes for exclusive use for that on-line site or if he happens to own those episodes. All of the uploaded footage on YouTube from the 1970 summer show carries something of a watermark in the upper left, the initials AW, which I assume mean Andy Williams. To make a long story short the company providing Ray's subscription site abruptly broke off the arrangement and so, naturally, that caused the site to go offline. I was given a refund because I was in the middle of a subscription. Anyway, if Ray actually owns the rights to the 1970 summer show, I hope he one day issues those full length episodes onto DVD. My reasoning is if they're on DVD there's not going to be an uncertainty that one day they'll become unavailable to watch...which is what happened when RayStevens.TV abruptly went offline. Only time will tell if the summer 1970 series ever gets released on DVD...but it's something I'll continue to hope for in the back of my mind.

Ray Stevens: COVID-19 song premiers May 25th...

Hello all! I was searching the internet and came across an alert posted on the Ray Stevens YouTube channel.

*** The alert is for a live video event taking place this coming Monday May 25th at 11:30am on YouTube. Ray will unveil his new COVID-19 recording, "Quarantined", from the pen of Buddy Kalb. You can access the page where the live video event will take place by clicking HERE. In the upper right hand side of the page is the chat area. I've already left a comment stating that I want May 25th to hurry up and get here!! When the video goes live this coming Monday you'll be able to add commentary as the video's playing and say how much you love the song, etc. Also, don't forget about sharing the song all over social media sites. The virus has caused so much heated division since becoming weaponized politically that it's time for a lighter side to calm things down a little bit. ***

1962, 1985, 1987, 2018

When it comes to Ray Stevens there's usually always a lighter side. In this collage of photos I depict the years of 1962, 1985, 1987, and 2018. As you could guess I chose the photos at random. I originally had a couple of other photos inserted before I decided to switch out images. I think it's an overall representation of Ray Stevens being a consummate entertainer/performer. Specific photos showing him performing in 1962 as well as 2018...a time span of 56 years....even though we know that Ray's professional career dates back to 1957 and he's still active with his career as indicated by the fact that he'll be doing a live premiere of his upcoming "Quarantined" song on May 25th. In addition to the news breaking that he'll be premiering a new song next Monday his social media sites feature an upload of an audio clip of a song he recorded in 1974 on his Boogity Boogity album. The song is titled "Heart Transplant" and the writers credited are Ray Stevens and someone with the unique name of Elkin Rippy. I did some looking around on the internet and apparently he is/was a medical doctor who dabbled in songwriting. There's not much to find when doing an on-line search for that name...one of the regular features in Billboard magazine called 'Nashville Scene', in an installment from September 1971, makes mention of Elkin Rippy being a doctor-songwriter who recently needed to perform surgery on Ronnie Dove.



Wasn't that great?? It plays on the theme of older people receiving donated organs from younger people and, for comical purposes, how it could cause the older recipient's mind to suddenly have the energy of someone half their age...in spite of the older body they're trapped inside.

Reminder: May 25th 11:30am YouTube! Ray Stevens premiers "Quarantined", his new COVID-19 song!!

Ray Stevens: May 18th 1974...

Ray Stevens streaks to the Top; 1974

Here I come... boogity boogity... with my latest fan created Ray Stevens blog entry. Some may wonder why I'm not discussing this particular recording in the Singling Out series. I was tempted to...but I want to keep that series focused on the vinyl singles I have in my personal collection. Now, if you've seen a blog entry I wrote a couple of days ago, you'll know that vinyl singles do not make up a big part of my Ray Stevens collection and so the Singling Out series of blog entries I'll be writing will be short lived. On this date in 1974 "The Streak" hit number one on the pop chart...and it remained number one for three weeks. The song, written Ray, hit at a time when public nudity, specifically running around naked in a brisk fashion, had become a fad. College campuses seemed to be the origin of the fad but it spread. One streaker, in particular, shown up at the Oscar ceremony which had a televised audience in the tens of millions. The streaker ran behind host/presenter, David Niven, on live television. The awards were telecast on April 2, 1974. "The Streak" had been released in the latter half of March 1974 so the fad hadn't necessarily become a nationally talked-about phenomenon yet; based on a lot of evidence the April 2nd streaker at the Oscar ceremony pushed streaking to an even larger audience...and not long afterward, April 13th, "The Streak" made it's debut on the Hot 100 pop chart.

Ray Stevens Boogity Boogity; 1974

As you could probably tell, "The Streak" streaked it's way to the number one position. The debut of the single on the Hot 100 on April 13th means that it hit number one on it's 6th chart week. Now, some may consider that not too impressive at this point in time considering today there's the presence of on-line digital sales enabling a single to actually debut at number one, much like albums have been able to do for several decades. However, we're discussing 1974, where physical sales of actual vinyl singles were tabulated and reported to the national chart publications of Billboard, Record World, and Cashbox...later on joined by Radio and Records. So, in 1974, you couldn't purchase an audio file of a song with the click of a mouse. Also, retail availability was always an issue. Some smaller markets may not be in stock of the current single releases whereas larger markets might. Also, with physical purchases of singles it required commitment on the part of the consumer to actually look for and then purchase the single...in the on-line world a consumer can click a sample option and hear a piece of a song (assuming they haven't yet heard the song before) or they can visit any number of on-line sites that provide audio files free of charge and they listen to a song without ever having to either physically visit a retail store or even purchase the music since it's being offered for free. Also, digital purchasing has enabled consumers the option to listen to samples of songs on an album that aren't even being pushed as the 'single' release and a consumer can purchase whatever song they want from the digital album...no longer do customers have to purchase an entire album's worth of songs. This practice has been going on for more than a decade or two so it's commonplace for those that purchase/download music digitally rather than purchasing a disc of music. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day. On May 18, 1974 "The Streak" took over the number one spot from "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk.

The Streak... Ray Stevens; 1974

As noted "The Streak" streaked up to the top in six weeks. The album that featured the single, Boogity Boogity, is often referred to incorrectly as Woosh!!. If you look on the side of the album cover and on the vinyl album paper sleeve you'll see that the official name of the album is Boogity Boogity...named for the phrase heard throughout the song to describe the briskness with which the streaker is running. If you look at the three LP's of Boogity Boogity that I've included you'll notice that there's a slight, subtle difference with each of them. The second photo contains a thought cloud with an advertisement that the LP includes "The Streak". In both photo's there's a word balloon with the catchphrase "don't look, Ethel!" written in it. In the photo off to the left, however, it's a copy released in Germany on the Bellaphon label. On the top right corner of the LP there's mention of Bellaphon. In the word balloon it mentions that "The Streak" is included on the LP. Aside from those technical differences all three albums feature the same 9 recordings: "The Streak", "Smith and Jones", "Freddie Feelgood", "Bagpipes, That's My Bag", "Don't Boogie Woogie", "The Moonlight Special", "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues", "Heart Transplant", and "Just So Proud To Be Here". The album was released in the United Kingdom and Australia as well. Those releases tack on three additional recordings: "Alley Oop", "Mr. Custer", and "Little Egypt" to give the album 12 instead of 9 tracks.

Five Million Selling Single...

"The Streak" tells the story of a streaker being spotted and the Action News reporter who interviews a by-stander. The fact that it's the same witness each time is part of the humor along with the exaggerated southern accent is more or less, in my opinion, used to specify that the streaking incident took place somewhere in the deep south. The reporter encounters the witness at a supermarket, a fuel station, and at a basketball game. The by-stander's immediate reply of "yeah, I did!" when asked if he saw what took place and his warning "don't look, Ethel!" became the hooks/catchphrases of the song. Now, along with the verbal hooks, there's also the presence of a shrilling whistle to indicate the speed with which the streaker was running. Some internet sources identify it as a slide whistle and some have said it's a kazoo. When Ray performs the song he uses a small elongated metal whistle...most slide whistles that I've seen are long like a flute. The thing that Ray uses is about the size of a kazoo. It's definitely an integral part of the song...if it isn't heard during a performance the song doesn't sound complete. When "The Streak" hit number one it had already been certified a million seller by the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America). The sales of the single, domestically and internationally combined, were in the five million range. There wasn't such a thing in 1974 as a Platinum selling album or Platinum selling single and so any single or album that sold a million copies or more was certified as a Gold Record regardless of how many additional millions it sold. Eventually, however, the RIAA created the Platinum certification for sales of 2,000,000 while Gold remained 1,000,000. Years later the certifications changed once again to where Gold was 500,000 and Platinum was 1,000,000. Those certification levels remain to this day.

"The Streak" in Europe...

In today's music world "The Streak" would be referred to as selling 5 x Platinum, globally. Since the creation of on-line digital downloads the RIAA has created sales certification thresholds for music purchased on the internet through approved music sites as well as audio files accessed through YouTube. A lot of record labels, I assume by way of licensing fees, have figured out ways to turn a profit in the era of digital downloading and on-line streaming. Whenever you click a video on YouTube click the arrow for more information. There's a chance you'll see that a music label, music company, or song publishing company is credited and it's my guess that those companies are compensated for each unique view of a YouTube music video.  In the photo off to the left we have the United Kingdom release of "The Streak". This streaking fad wasn't just confined to America...it was a worldwide fad. The success of the single on an international level, of course, greatly depended on just how big a fad streaking happened to be in the country that the single appeared in. The United Kingdom, for example, had accepted very little novelty songs. If a novelty happened to become a hit it was generally referred to in the music press as 'an accident' or 'a mistake by some record company'. This was a general consensus among radio programmers...not exclusive to Europe...but the single was simply too big of a hit to ignore and so "The Streak" hit number one in the United Kingdom. It also went on hit number one in Canada and New Zealand. It finished in the runner-up spot in Australia and Ireland. The single crossed over and hit the Country format...peaking at number three in America while hitting number one on Canada's Country music chart. The Adult-Contemporary chart was even impacted by the fad...in America "The Streak" managed to reach the Top-20 in the Adult-Contemporary chart while it hit number one on Canada's Adult-Contemporary chart. The single didn't go over too well in Germany or in the Danish region based on the chart statistics I came across. Those countries may have found the song to be obscene and it only appeared on the music charts over there on the strength of sales rather than airplay. I haven't done any in-depth research as to why such a world-wide hit would stymie in that region but I'm pretty sure my suspicions are accurate.

The B-side of "The Streak" is a song called "You've Got the Music Inside". That particular song was part of his 1973 album, Nashville. Ray re-recorded "You've Got the Music Inside" in 1978 with a different delivery and musical arrangement.

I used to own a vinyl copy of "The Streak" / "You've Got the Music Inside" but the vinyl became warped...some may think the song had already been warped...but no, the vinyl was warped. Anytime I went to play the single the arm of the record player would glide back and fourth throughout. The song would, amazingly, never skip but the visual of seeing the arm of the record player sliding back and fourth as the vinyl was spinning caused me to make the painful decision to remove it from my collection. I could've kept it in my collection, just to have it, but never play it again, but I thought to myself 'why should I? If I'm not able to effectively play it on a record player then the joy of having the single is gone'. Someday I'll more than likely purchase another vinyl copy of "The Streak" from an on-line site.