Ray Stevens and his Many Talents...

Hello all once more!! As most of you long time fans of Ray Stevens are aware he's a recording artist of many talents. He was raised listening to country, pop, gospel, and the rhythm and blues sounds. In his career he's recorded all of those styles in addition to the comical/novelty style of which he's garnered the bulk of his success. One of his music influences was Ray Charles and while it may seem laughable to a general audience to say Ray Stevens in the same breath as Ray Charles the truth of the matter is Ray idolized Rhythm and Blues artists and groups of the '40s and '50s. 

The Coasters, given their novelty reputation, have long been credited as an influence of Ray Stevens but the list of influences doesn't stop there. Ray has often said that he grew up loving the music of Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter, The Clovers, The Drifters, and others. Ray recorded a song that was a huge hit for Ray Charles, "What'd I Say", for his 2015 CD, Here We Go Again!. In 1978 Ray Stevens recorded his tribute to the Rhythm and Blues artists and groups he loved listening to on an album titled There Is Something On Your Mind. It's for that 1978 album that Ray recorded his version of "One Mint Julep", which had been a lyrical hit for The Clovers (the rendition Ray Stevens heard first) but it later became an even bigger hit as a piano instrumental for Ray Charles. In this video clip from Ray's CabaRay Nashville television series he performs the Ray Charles classic, "I Got a Woman"...

Ray Stevens: The CabaRay October Concerts...

Hello once more!! The CabaRay has it's grand re-opening next Thursday October 1st. I don't know if other venues are re-opening with limited audience or not...but Ray Stevens will have the CabaRay opened starting next Thursday. I visited the webpage for the showroom and looked at the October calendar to see if it had been updated to reflect the entire month and it has. Ray Stevens concerts will take place throughout the months of October, November, and December. The bulk of the concerts will take place on Thursday and Saturday nights. When the calendar flips to November there won't be a concert on November 26th because of it being Thanksgiving. However, there will be a concert the next night and another Saturday night to wrap up the month of November. Those of you familiar with CabaRay concerts from 2018 and 2019 you'll know the month of December is Christmas season at the showroom. The season will more than likely kick off the Friday following Thanksgiving on November 27th. Although New Year's Eve is on a Thursday night this year (December 31st), as of this writing, there isn't a concert scheduled on New Year's Eve. 

As you can see, I copied and pasted the CabaRay concert schedule for the month of October. In blog's past I'd type the concert dates but I decided to just copy and paste the actual calendar. So, next Thursday, October 1st is the grand re-opening of the CabaRay. There's been a series of changes that have been implemented due to COVID-19 not only in audience seating (6 feet apart) but also in how fans and the general public can purchase tickets. As of this writing tickets can only be purchased over the phone. They're not taking or processing on-line ticket orders. That being said when you click this LINK you'll see more information about the CabaRay and you'll see their telephone number. I know some people don't like to click links and if you're one of them I'll provide the CabaRay phone number here: 1-615-327-4630. All of the Ray Stevens fans that are able to go I'd encourage you to attend and get the grand re-opening of the CabaRay off to a grand start. Now, it's important to point out, there's limited seating due to the pandemic. Health regulations mandate up to 125 people can attend an indoor concert. So, those of you who are wanting to get out and see the Ray Stevens show at the CabaRay, call that number and check on ticket availability.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Re-Opens October 1st...

Well, hello there once again!! I'd previously written several blog entries about the CabaRay showroom possibly re-opening on October 1st. It's now become even more official...Ray has uploaded a video clip promoting the October re-opening...and within the video clip he mentions that there will be a concert every Thursday and Saturday night beginning October 1st and running through the rest of the year. His Facebook page features a new banner promoting the CabaRay re-opening and this is the promo video uploaded earlier today...

As you'll be able to see when you watch the video clip Ray is way beyond excited that the CabaRay will be re-open. This was a long hiatus...half a year...and finally it's been given the green light to re-open. The showroom opened in January of 2018. This is the showroom's third season, interrupted for half a year due to COVID-19, and there were only one or two concerts performed at the CabaRay in the early spring this year before things shut down. The video clip will tell you all you need to know about tickets and what's been done to meet the health department standards in the COVID-19 era. 

I was looking through his social media pages and there's a lot of happy fans who've left comments on his Facebook page stating they can't wait to visit the CabaRay again or they can't wait for it to re-open and some have mentioned that they'll be attending concerts there some time in November. The showroom is a hit with his audience and in early spring it was like the rug was pulled out from underneath normalcy all over the country so you can certainly understand the excitement from the fans and from Ray himself that the CabaRay is re-opening.

Ray Stevens: The Boots Randolph Re-Issue...

Hello all once again! I may have made reference to this in a previous blog entry but Ray Stevens will be re-releasing the album he produced on Boots Randolph in 1990. That album was released on Ray's label, Clyde Records, and was sold through mail order. Television advertising as well as print advertisements were the sales method for Boots, which happened to be the name of the project originally released in 1990. The re-release coincides with the anniversary of it's original release: October 27, 1990. So, on October 27, 2020 you can purchase Boots in case you missed it the first time around. The original release contained 20 saxophone performances and the 30th anniversary re-release includes 3 additional recordings previously unreleased for a total of 23. In this updated on-line commercial they inserted clips from the 1990 commercial. Boots passed away at age 80 (June 3, 1927 - July 3, 2007). I'll more than likely purchase this because I don't have it in my collection...and it's a collection of saxophone instrumentals from the legendary Boots Randolph...of songs produced and arranged by Ray Stevens! All the information you need to know about the CD is in the video clip.

Ray Stevens: More CabaRay Information...

Hello all...in something of a follow-up to a previous blog entry about upcoming CabaRay concerts I decided to thoroughly examine one of the pages over at the CabaRay website. I clicked the calendar to the months of November and December and seen that there are concerts scheduled throughout both of those months...but for the month of October it still shows the only CabaRay concert being held October 1st. I make mention of this because on the CabaRay website it states that they plan on having a concert by Ray Stevens every Thursday and Saturday throughout the month of October but the calendar is only highlighting October 1st as of this writing. The reason I'm pointing it out? Well, once a concert date is circled on their calendar that means you can click the date and find out more information. Even though the website states that tickets can only be purchased over the phone I'd still like to see the CabaRay concert dates for the month of October circled nonetheless. 

The image off to the left is what you'll see at the CabaRay website. They used bold print to highlight that Ray intends to do concerts at the CabaRay every Thursday and Saturday for the month of October. All the information necessary is shown in the image. The COVID-19 restrictions and health department rules are dictating how the concerts are going to be performed. There won't be a dinner option and the only way to purchase tickets is over the phone. The tickets will be mailed to you. The box office at the CabaRay isn't going to be open so if you're a local you'll still have to call for tickets and have them mailed to you. The number listed at the end of the message is, of course, the number you call to reserve your tickets. If you don't want to click the image for a larger look the number is 615-327-4630. Now, based on the message, the reopening of the CabaRay will require special permits to be approved and the audience size will be cut off at 125. Considering this is September 15th and Ray's website is promoting the CabaRay re-opening on October 1st with tickets having gone on sale on September 10th, keep in mind, there hasn't been an announcement on Ray's social media sites that the permits to re-open have been approved. This is why, in the back of my mind, concerts for the rest of the month of October haven't been circled on the calendar...

As of this writing this is the calendar you'll see when you click this LINK. As you can see only October 1st is circled. Based on the message I posted in the image above the rest of the concert dates during October will take place every Thursday and Saturday. If I were you I'd call the number provided and ask if there will be concerts held throughout the month of October since only the one date is circled on the calendar on the CabaRay website. Now, of course, given that I'm a Ray Stevens nut I'm probably over complicating things by being too hyper, excited, and worked up. The point is the information stated that tickets to CabaRay concerts went on sale on September 10th but there hadn't been any kind of major publicity surrounding the re-opening of the CabaRay, yet, so I'm caught in the middle of being excited that Ray will once again return to the CabaRay stage with being concerned that the local health department down there in Nashville either won't grant the re-opening permits or will wait until the last minute to approve the re-opening permits...with little time for Ray to promote the re-opening in a big way. I'm doing what I can, as a long time Ray Stevens fan, to promote the CabaRay re-opening...but my promoting the re-opening is nothing like the kind of publicity that generates whenever official publicity from Ray comes along. So, I'm excited and nervous about the re-opening of the CabaRay.

Ray Stevens: John Berry CabaRay Nashville performance...

Hello to all the Ray Stevens fans!! In this blog entry I'm embedding a video clip from the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series in which John Berry is interviewed and performs one of his signature songs, "Your Love Amazes Me". It may be his only signature song for some but he had another song out which I feel rivaled that one's popularity called "She's Taking a Shine". Anyway, John Berry is one of several country music artists who possesses a distinctive voice...something that was impossible to find in the early and mid 1990s where most country singers were emulating the vocal stylings of George Jones, George Strait, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. 

I attempted to embed a video but just the embed code was visible. I liked the previous Blogger where one could insert a video by copying/pasting the code and have it appear within the blog text. Now, apparently, we have to use the new video insert feature and insert a video without having the ability to change it's size or choose if we want the embedded video to be in the center, off to the left, or off to the right. 

Ray Stevens: Looking Back 19 years...

Hello all Ray Stevens fans!! I've been experimenting with the new Blogger interface, on and off. I'm getting somewhat used to the new interface but I prefer the one being called 'legacy' nowadays. We still have the option of using the legacy interface, for now, and so that's what I'm doing. In my previous blog entry I was using the new Blogger interface and so the entry, when stacked up with my usual entries, was comparatively small. In this blog entry we take a look back on September 11, 2001...known as 9/11. The day terrorists hijacked several planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and one flight crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. This crash was a result of several people on board the flight overtaking the terrorists before the plane arrived at it's destination. George W. Bush became a war time President eight months into his presidency (he was inaugurated on January 20, 2001) and an informal War on Terror began.

Ray Stevens, several months following 9/11, issued "Osama Yo' Mama". This was just one of several dozen songs that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11. The one that captivated the most people, as far as country music is concerned, was Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?". There were two other recordings that surfaced following 9/11 that also defined the moment: "Riding With Private Malone" from David Ball and "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies" by Aaron Tippin. There were other patriotic songs that emerged... "This Aint' No Rag It's a Flag" by Charlie Daniels, "I-raq and Roll" by Clint Black, "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith who also had a massive hit with "An American Soldier", and when it seemed as if the country was becoming complacent and less guarded about terrorism Darryl Worley came along with "Have You Forgotten?".

Ray Stevens: 2001/2002

Ray's "Osama Yo' Mama" single is a novelty song...and the novelty song is something the general public has long since come to expect from Ray. Yes, at the time, some were criticizing his decision to use humor and off-beat lyrics at such a serious moment. Ray explained and justified his decision to remain upbeat and lighthearted in the face of terrorist attacks and if you have his CD then you'll know his explanation as to why he felt the need to offer a bit of comedy...he included a message to his fans and those purchasing the CD in the fold-out cover. The single was released by Curb Records in December 2001 and throughout much of 2002 it was ranked among the Top-5 best selling Country singles of the week. It was certified Gold for 500,000 copies sold. A lot of it's sales didn't come from physical CD copies but rather digital downloads in those early years of the Mp3. As far as radio airplay is concerned it received enough airplay to reach the Top-50 on the Country chart but it's sales as a single was where the action happened to be. The single's B-side, for those that purchased the physical copy of the CD single, is his rendition of "United We Stand".

These two recordings emerged a couple of months later on a full length CD called Osama Yo' Mama which, upon release in February 2002, it quickly hit the Country Album chart on it's way to a Top-30 ranking. In the image above there's the CD single of "Osama Yo' Mama" and next to it the album, Osama Yo' Mama. They used the same lettering and photo for both releases and to differentiate one from the other Curb Records inserted 'The Album' and had it placed underneath Ray's name.

Ray made the rounds on various local and national cable news shows in 2002...and still in a patriotic flair in 2003 Ray released his salute to the Armed Forces, the music video "Thank You", which became the title track of his 2004 album. The 2004 CD contained a song that Ray wrote which was directly inspired by 9/11, "Let's Roll". Also in this 2001-2004 time period Ray issued an obscure recording titled "Hello Mama". That recording is a sequel to "Osama Yo' Mama". A music video of both songs appears on the VHS/DVD release, Cartoon Video Collection. You can find those two music videos as well as dozens upon dozens of other music videos from Ray Stevens on his YouTube channel.

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Concerts...Information is Fluid...

It's me again!! In my previous blog entry I mentioned that concerts may be returning at the Ray Stevens CabaRay venue. I shared information that was posted on the CabaRay website. Some of the information mentioned that concerts might return in the month of October and go on sale September 10th. I just arrived from the CabaRay website and seen the calendar for October and so far they have a concert scheduled to take place October 1st. According to the re-opening the venue will have concerts each Thursday and Saturday at 7:30pm...but it will be for a concert-only...the dinner that preceded the concerts in 2019 and 2018 won't be taking place in 2020. Also, tickets will only be available for telephone orders...meaning that instead of entering your information on-line you'll need to call the venue and order tickets the pre-internet way. The box office number is 1-615-327-4630. You can also find all of that information by clicking HERE. The information surrounding a possible CabaRay re-opening is fluid but in my previous blog entries I've said that if I come across information pertaining to a possible re-opening I'd pass it along. Now, the only thing I'm being cautious about, is the month of October on the CabaRay website only has October 1st selected as a concert date. I don't know if they, too, are being cautious and don't want to fill the rest of the calendar with future concerts and have to close things down again or perhaps they'll wait and fill in the rest of October the more we go through the month of September. As usual I'll be on the lookout for any information and pass it along!!

Ray Stevens: Digital CabaRay Gift Shop and Me...

Me and Ray Stevens T-shirt; 2020

Hello once more!! In a previous blog entry I mentioned that I'd been shopping at the digital CabaRay gift shop. One of the items I purchased is this t-shirt that reads: "Nashville - Everything is Still Beautiful- Ray Stevens: 1970 - Today". This happens to be the back of the t-shirt...the front side has "Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville" written on the left side of the shirt. I used the timer on my laptop camera to capture this photo. If any should ask themselves why wasn't I wearing the shirt, well, I could've put it on, set the camera timer, and then turn my back to the camera but I decided I'd just hold the t-shirt rather than go through that kind of a process. I'll be ordering additional items from the CabaRay gift shop in the future. The CabaRay was forced to shut down in March...right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic frenzy. Now, speaking of the CabaRay, over on the CabaRay Facebook page a message is posted stating that there's a possibility concerts will once again take place starting October 1st. Here's part of the announcement: "Nashville has issued another modification to the current Phase 2 reopening guidance, and is allowing some events with up to 125 guests to be held. Special permits are required from the Health Department; therefore, pending approval of those permits, we are planning on a limited reopening for the Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom on Thursday, October 1, 2020."

Me and CabaRay hat; 2020

The announcement further goes on to say that should a re-opening take place on October 1st then tickets for the concerts will go on sale this Thursday (September 10th). If there's an announcement for upcoming CabaRay concerts I'll be writing a blog about it and providing links to where tickets can be purchased. I'm experimenting with the font style on my blog entries in case you're wondering why the lettering looks different in this paragraph. Now, off to the right, that's the new CabaRay hat being sold at the digital CabaRay gift shop. There are other types of hats available but that's the one I chose. Those of you that have, in the past, wondered why there's rarely any clothing or trinkets available for sale in Ray's on-line store this is your chance to make up for lost time. There's a wide variety of hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other items currently available. There's squirrel stuffed animals, mouse pads, key chains, coasters. As mentioned in a previous blog entry the CabaRay and it's gift shop is like a Ray Stevens wonderland.

Ray Stevens: The On-line CabaRay Giftshop...

Hello all you Ray Stevens fans!! In case you hadn't heard by now there's a new section at the Ray Stevens on-line webstore. This new area is an on-line gift shop filled with CabaRay items. The items in the gift shop were exclusive to those who attended concerts but now the gift shop is being opened up to a wider on-line audience. Ray's calling it the Digital CabaRay Gift Shop. Here is a YouTube video clip promoting it's debut...



I purchased some items from this CabaRay on-line gift shop a couple of days ago. If you happen to be a frequent visitor of his official website, as I am, and had visited the webstore you would've seen the new addition of the CabaRay section a couple of days ago just prior to the grand launch yesterday. If you had clicked on the CabaRay section a couple of days ago you would've seen a page with only a couple of items available. I had already put in an order for the few items being offered...not knowing the CabaRay section would expand to include 46 items!! So, yes, I'll definitely be heading back there to grab a lot of trinkets and shirts and mugs, etc. etc.

Here's a LINK to the Digital CabaRay Gift Shop! Isn't that black T-shirt that reads 'Nashville, Tennessee...Everything is STILL Beautiful: Ray Stevens 1970 - Today' wonderful?? There's also a coaster and mouse pad that has the same expression and design. Some other marvelous items are all the CabaRay hats to choose from...T-shirts with catchphrases from Ray's novelty songs and images of Ray from music videos...there's even magnets with images of Ray on it. I'd been to the CabaRay in person only once and was in the gift shop. In person the CabaRay and it's gift shop is a Ray Stevens wonderland, you'll be like a kid in a candy store, but being able to purchase CabaRay items from the on-line gift shop is like an early Christmas gift.

Yes, being a somewhat obnoxious fan of Ray Stevens as I am, I'll be taking photos of myself in my Ray Stevens attire once it arrives in the mail and posting it in this fan created blog page. Now, I don't want to reveal everything that's inside the CabaRay on-line gift shop, so watch the video clip and then click the link at the top of the previous paragraph for more information!!!

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

It's me once again!! I came across a website, Broadway World, promoting Ray's current video hit surpassing 1,000,000 unique views. The video's name has slightly been altered from "Quarantined" to "The Quarantine Song". Ray sings about the COVID-19 pandemic and makes reference to the phrase 'social distancing' which must have came into existence at the start of the pandemic because prior to March 2020 I'd never heard of that phrase before.

In a previous blog entry I reported that the video had gotten 1,000,945 unique views. As of this writing the video's risen even more to 1,011,248...an increase of 10,303!! The write-up can be found by clicking HERE. There's not been any kind of super spread or outbreak of COVID-19 in any deadly fashion...keep in mind that the media is playing up the number of cases and they've been doing so in such a way that it's paralyzed a lot of the economy. Scientists and researchers, along with the media and certain public officials, have irrationally caused panic and fear that COVID-19 is an automatic death sentence and if there's a spike in cases then everyone should retreat to their houses and stay in self isolation for 14 days or wear face masks in their own house or when outside in their yard. Those with common sense reject all of that...but since the pandemic is intertwined with the Government, as far as a response is concerned, it's become a political issue.

Those who prefer less Government in their lives balk at the growing expansion of Government during the pandemic and the arbitrary decisions being made in the name of a pandemic by a lot of Governors. Those who, for whatever reason, think the Government is the answer to everyone's problem, want the Government to do more and more and more and more. No, we want limited Government at every level: local, State, and Federal.

Ray Stevens: Don Schlitz CabaRay Nashville performance...

Hello once again!! Some Ray Stevens items I ordered from his web store arrived in the mail this morning so I'm thrilled about that. One of the items is a CabaRay ball cap. It's black with red lettering.

In this blog entry I'm going to embed a video clip that appeared on YouTube several days ago (August 31st) but I hadn't featured it in a blog yet. It's a performance of "The Gambler" by it's songwriter, Don Schlitz, a song that became an international hit for Kenny Rogers and inspired a movie series. In the video clip you'll discover something about the song that you probably didn't know.

The writer has written or co-written hundreds of songs...his name became linked closely to Randy Travis in the 1980s and 1990s and for a period of years Don wrote in collaboration with Paul Overstreet. In the early '90s he co-wrote numerous songs with Mary Chapin Carpenter.



In 1993 Don Schlitz was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2017 he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Some of the songs he's written or co-written have become iconic country music hits: "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers; "40 Hour Week" by Alabama; "I Won't Take Less Than Your Love" by Paul Overstreet, Tanya Tucker, and Paul Davis; "Deeper than the Holler" by Randy Travis; "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis; "On the Other Hand" by Randy Travis; "Strong Enough to Bend" by Tanya Tucker; "Rockin' With the Rhythm" by The Judds; "My Arms Stay Open All Night" by Tanya Tucker.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" hits 1,000,000 unique views...

Well, now, we're starting off the month of September with the announcement that the Ray Stevens COVID-19 music video, "Quarantined", has reached the 1,000,000 plateau. The specific numbers as of this writing are 1,000,945 unique views!! This accomplishment enables the video to move into the elite group of Ray Stevens YouTube uploads that have also obtained 1,000,000 or more unique views. In blog's past I've often remarked that his YouTube videos should receive achievement plaques based on unique views. 500,000 would be a Gold Upload; 1,000,000 would be a Platinum Upload; etc. A screen cap from each video would appear on the plaque much like an album cover appears on Gold and Platinum awards issued by the RIAA.



"Quarantined" is only available as a YouTube video...it hasn't appeared on any CD or Mp3. Although I don't have the hardware to create a fancy looking plaque or a unique view award I did however create my own homemade certificate to commemorate Ray's latest million unique view video...and here it is...

I used a generic certificate design from an internet site and filled in the blanks with what I wanted to say. If I were to print it off I'd sign my username in the blank space and leave the other one empty.

Ray Stevens audio clip: "Punk Country Love"...

Oh hello once again!! As we step into September I start off the month by announcing that it looks as if I'm on pace to match or go past my all-time blog entry total in a given year. I've been actively writing this fan created Ray Stevens blog page since 2008 and it was 2010 that seen me write 212 individual blog entries. I hadn't cracked the 200 number since. I looked over at the statistics and seen that this blog entry is my 195th of the year!! This being September it means I'll more than likely match 212 and go beyond that this year. If you do the math it means that 17 additional blog entries after this one puts me at a tie with 212...the 18th blog entry will give me 213 for the year and enable 2020 to surpass 2010 as having the most fan created blog entries.

Now...on we go with the focus of this blog entry: a 1985 recording by Ray Stevens titled "Punk Country Love". It comes from the pen of Ray Stevens, Buddy Kalb, and Carlene Kalb and originally appeared on the 1985 album, I Have Returned. The song was issued as the B-side of his single, "The Haircut Song". The B-side may perhaps be one of the most lyrically nutty novelty songs Ray has ever recorded as he sings about a rural couple who discover the wild punk life in San Francisco while looking through a magazine the husband found along the side of the road.

The husband (later revealed to be named Eugene) tells his wife, Junie May, that he's become inspired by all of this punk rock stuff and they, too, need to embrace the punk lifestyle so he goes through a list of things they'll need to do in order to accomplish the task. One of the things he suggests is getting his teeth chrome plated and for fun they should staple the chickens together, stick safety pins in the sow, snort boiled okra...and all kinds of other hysterical things in an attempt to go punk.