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.