Ray Stevens audio: "You Don't Know Me"...

It's me once more!! Here we are on the final day of June...you know what that means?? It means tomorrow is July...and you know what that means?? It means that the Ray Stevens box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, will be released by month's end. The release date is July 23rd. The box set will feature CD copies of the digital albums from earlier this year: Great Country Ballads, Melancholy Fescue, Slow Dance, and Nouveau Retro. One of the songs on the fourth digital album is his rendition of "You Don't Know Me", a song written by Cindy Walker. The song was a huge hit for Eddy Arnold and was later brought back by Ray Charles and then later on it became a big hit for Mickey Gilley and was covered later on by Willie Nelson. The song's been recorded by dozens of recording artists over the decades. Cindy Walker wrote the lyrics based upon a title and idea by Eddy Arnold...and he's given co-writer credit. The song, as mentioned, was first a hit for Eddy Arnold. Jerry Vale, a pop music crooner, had a hit with it among non-country music audiences. Lenny Welch, Ray Charles, Ray Pennington, and Mickey Gilley are the other performers to have a hit with the song. Ray Stevens recorded his version of "You Don't Know Me" for Nouveau Retro on Curb Records and here it is...

Ray Stevens: Brief Q and A with A1F...

It's me once again!! In this blog entry I'm going to be including a link to a very brief question and answer with Ray Stevens. How brief is it? Well, it's 4 questions long...but it's part of a series called NRA Country. In the article the publication points out that usually they select newer country music performers to highlight but every so often they select an established recording artist...and those that fit into the category of legend and classic. The brief question and answer was conducted by Vanessa Shahidi, an employee of NRA Country. The article appears on the webpage, America's 1st Freedom. The brief write-up includes a bio of Ray followed by the four questions he's asked. In case you don't know the NRA stands for National Rifle Association. Now, being a long time fan of Ray Stevens, I didn't know that he was a gun enthusiast. It's something I've never thought about...I rarely think about Ray's off-stage life or what he's doing. I always had a feeling he was a supporter of the Second Amendment but I wasn't aware if he actually knew much about guns since he's never asked about the subject...but once you read his answer you'll get the feeling that he's familiar with them. He's asked about what his favorite firearm happens to be and he's asked how he learned how to operate his firearms. Now, due to how the question was asked, we don't necessarily know if Ray actually owns any firearms...but his response, as I mentioned, shows that he has some knowledge about guns. You can read the question and answer with Ray Stevens by clicking HERE. Some of Ray's previous albums have included firearms on the cover. 1985's I Have Returned has Ray dressed up as General MacArthur with several people wading through the water holding their weapons. 1987's Greatest Hits has an unidentified model and Ray dressed as Bonnie and Clyde with their weapons on full display. 1991's Number One with a Bullet, as it's title indicates, features Ray on the cover holding a gigantic bullet...which some people in recent years have mistaken for a missile. I have a feeling you all will enjoy the article.

Ray Stevens: "Gas" passes 9,000 unique views...

Hello all Ray Stevens fans!! As you could probably guess it's often tricky when trying to come up with a blog entry title focusing on the current novelty song from Ray Stevens, "Gas". So, then, I came up with a title that ties into the main focus of the text. "Gas", the audio track over on YouTube, has reached the 9,000 unique view plateau...and all of it based largely on organic online discovery. Keep in mind that "Gas" is going to be on a comedy album that Ray releases this October...it isn't going to be on the box set he releases next month. The music on the box set next month, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, will be the songs he recorded on the four digital albums that were released earlier this year. The four digital albums will be in CD format for this box set next month. "Gas" will be part of a comedy album in October titled Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. 

Ray Stevens: Great Country Ballads promo...

Hello all...while I was away from the internet for several hours today I return and find that Ray Stevens uploaded a promo video on YouTube of Great Country Ballads. This digital album was released back in February and was the first in a series of four digital albums released by Ray on Curb Records. The promo features online streaming sites and online shopping stores being advertised on-screen as the album cover of Great Country Ballads appears next to Ray...he's seated at a piano inside his CabaRay showroom. As you watch the video you'll hear Ray's rendition of the Patsy Cline hit, "Crazy", playing in the background. Ray covers Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Tammy Wynette, Mickey Gilley, and others on Great Country Ballads. Although it's a video promo for the digital album, it's Ray Stevens, and he makes anything entertaining...take a look...

Ray Stevens sings "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon"...

Good Saturday afternoon to all the fans of Ray Stevens!! I'm patiently awaiting the release of the Ray Stevens box set next month, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. The official cover art hasn't been released to a general audience although several weeks ago those of us who are signed up for the Ray Stevens newsletter received within the newsletter an image of what the upcoming box set will look like. Once the official release date happens or if the image is posted on the internet ahead of release day I'll create a blog entry spotlighting the box set's cover art. In the meantime I thought it fun to bring back a video of Ray Stevens singing "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". 

The performance is from his locally syndicated PBS series, CabaRay Nashville. Ray recorded the song in 1960 for the NRC label...that was a label owned and operated by Bill Lowery. The acronym stood for National Recording Corporation. It opened up for business in 1958 and Ray recorded for the company through 1960 before signing with Mercury Records in 1961. Ray's performed the song in concert many times over the decades...sometimes in a medley with other early novelty songs he'd recorded which were built around a similar structure. 

The near hit status of "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" in 1960 inspired Ray to concentrate on novelty songs and so once he arrived at Mercury Records he released two more novelty singles... "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills", his first national Hot 100 hit, and then the non-charting "Scratch My Back"... and those two novelties paved the way for his 1962 breakthrough hit, "Ahab the Arab". Upon the release of that single it ultimately sold more than a million copies and it afforded Ray the opportunity to appear several times on national and regional television...usually weekend dance shows geared at teenagers. 

Now, then, after that brief history lesson let's watch Ray Stevens sing "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon"...

Ray Stevens: "Melancholy Fescue" returns to the Amazon Top-100...

Hello once again Ray Stevens fans!! I always make a point to take a look at the Amazon rankings on their various lists whenever something new is released on Ray Stevens. Ever since Ray released the first of his four digital albums this year back in February I've checked the Amazon rankings. I check the digital music rankings in both the country and comedy sections to see if something from Ray makes an appearance. I typically only do this in the days and weeks after Ray's released a new album or single. Ray's second digital album this year, from March, has made a return to the Top-100 list in Amazon. The digital albums he's released this year have all appeared at various positions on Amazon's digital music Top-100 New Releases list...and Melancholy Fescue made it's return to that list yesterday. When I was checking in I saw that the digital album was ranked in the Top-40 of Amazon's Top-100 and so I took a screen cap of it. It's still in the Top-100 at this hour. I don't know if people online are discovering some of the songs from that digital album or not as to why it made a return to Amazon's Top-100...but it's a remarkable album...and it features fabulous renditions by Ray Stevens of songs like "Twilight Time", "Goin' Out of My Head", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "At This Moment", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and "MacArthur Park". I'm embedding a medley from the album. The medley features two songs by the name "In the Still of the Night". Some may be familiar with one or the other while some may be familiar with both songs. One of the songs titled "In the Still of the Night" became a massive hit for one of Ray's music industry friends, Ronnie Milsap, and I'm sure most of you reading this will be more familiar with the song that Ronnie had a hit with. Uploaded onto YouTube by Curb Records here's the "In the Still of the Night/In the Still of the Night" medley...

Ray Stevens: The Online Music Outlets...

Ray Stevens: June 23, 2021

Hello all you Ray Stevens fans!! As we're entering the final days of June...yes, that's correct, the first of July is a week from today...but as we're entering the final days of June 2021 I'm spotlighting the promo video that appeared on Ray's social media yesterday. The promo pointed out various online sites where Ray's music can be found. Ray speaks of you being able to find his music on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, and other places. Here on this fan created blog page I give spotlight to where you can purchase or download his music, too. Ray's music is available everywhere...it isn't only available on CD or vinyl...and I think the reason for this promo was to emphasize that his music is just as readily available, online, as everybody else. 

Whenever he puts out a new song, for example, it never fails to elicit commentary from some asking: "when is the CD coming out?". It's as if some expect a CD copy of music each and every time...never thinking that practically everyone in the music industry releases music online and through streaming services. Do any of you listen to Ray's songs through a streaming service? Do you purchase digital downloads? Do you purchase Ray's music online as a digital download but also purchase a copy of it on CD if it's available? I'm part of the latter. I purchase his music on CD and I also purchase it online for my music library. I never transfer music from a CD onto my laptop. I know most of you listen to his music on YouTube. I embed a lot of audio of Ray Stevens from YouTube in my blog entries...just like I'm doing today...

Ray Stevens: The "Gas" Digital Single...

Good afternoon all you fans of Ray Stevens!! I rarely post a greeting like that because maybe you'll be reading this in the early morning several days or weeks from now or maybe in the evening or overnight...but regardless of when you're reading this fan created blog I hope you all continue to do so. It's been a week since I posted a blog entry spotlighting the current Ray Stevens novelty, "Gas". I'm sure many of you have heard the song by now so there's no need to hold in, or hold back, what the song is actually about. I wrote a review of the song several weeks ago when it was brand new...the song's only been available for a little more than 2 weeks...so why, for some out there, does it seem like it's been available for 2 months rather than 2 weeks? 

I've written about that kind of phenomena in the past...since we're living in the digital age and where immediacy is at one's command on a laptop or cell-phone it enables the newness of something to wear off at a much more rapid rate. If this were 20 or 30 years ago, for example, a song being available for 2 weeks it would still be considered brand new or "hot off the presses". Today, due to the internet, 2 weeks for some can seem like months ago...it's the downside to the fast paced nature of immediacy and a culture that wants things immediately...yet once they have something immediately they want more...and they want it immediately. "Gas" was issued as a digital single on June 4th...here we are on June 23rd...a few days shy of it being 3 weeks since "Gas" was, pardon the expression, released. 

** Week One: June 4th through June 11th

** Week Two: June 12th through June 19th

** Week Three: June 20th through June 27th

The audio track on YouTube has received 8,675 organic unique views as of this writing. The audio track isn't being promoted on Ray's social media and Curb Records isn't promoting it, either, so people are finding the song on their own. I've shared the audio track on social media but I don't claim to be responsible for the totality of it being discovered. Whatever publicity I'm able to generate for Ray Stevens through this fan created blog or through the social media sites I belong to is obviously going to be miniscule compared to the kind of publicity a major record label or a recording artist's publicity department can generate...but I'm happy to promote/publicize all things Ray Stevens for my own enjoyment and also for those who come by here for information about him. 

I've posted the audio track of "Gas" from YouTube a number of times...in the description it states that the audio was provided by Curb Records...and since the audio tracks of Ray's recordings are authorized by the record company I figure that sharing those audio tracks benefit the artist in some way. So many recording artists in Ray's generation have had zero support from radio...even what's called "mainstream" country music media rarely focus on legends...so the internet, specifically YouTube, is a way of getting their music to the masses when conventional/traditional methods of publicity and advertising isn't available. I wonder how many have purchased the "Gas" single or preferred to just listen to the audio track on YouTube? I purchased the single on Amazon the day it became available. It's in my Mp3 library over there...but I listen to the song primarily on YouTube. Some will call me stupid for purchasing a song that I can easily listen to for free on YouTube...well, I'm not stupid, I'm just old fashioned. I still like the quaint concept of purchasing music...it's still fun, for me, to buy the latest from my favorite recording artists. I still get excited buying new music when it becomes available. The "Gas" song is only available as a digital single...the photo that appears on the product page in the online music stores is only for publicity purposes. I don't know if that photo will appear on a CD copy of the single should one ever emerge or if it'll be used at some later date in a larger project from Ray.  

Have you visited the Curb Records store? They have a Ray Stevens page filled with albums that he either recorded for them or albums that he recorded for other labels but have since been purchased for distribution by Curb Records. Hum It, for example, was recorded by Ray for MCA Records in 1997 but Curb Records is now distributing that album. Ray's salute to Frank Sinatra is an album he recorded for his own label, Clyde Records, but Curb is distributing that album. Here We Go Again!, Ray's 2015 comedy album that was released on his own record label, is now being distributed by Curb Records. When you visit the Curb Records store you'll also find all of the digital albums he recorded for them this year and you'll see the digital single for "Gas". Those who want to purchase the single for your personal collections, directly from Curb Records, click HERE. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay concerts are Returning Soon...

Hello one and all...this is my monthly blog entry about the return of live music and concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom this coming September. I wrote a blog entry about this back in April and then I wrote one last month and here we are in late June and this will be my third reminder of the CabaRay re-opening this fall. As of this moment I don't know if I'll write a reminder in July or not...it depends on how many blog entries I write between now and the middle of next month. I looked over in the archives and seen that my previous blog entry about the CabaRay re-opening was buried beneath a lot of blog entries surrounding his audio uploads and more recent happenings and so I decided to just write a third blog entry about the September 4th re-opening of the CabaRay. Tickets are available for online purchase now...but the box office itself won't open until August.

The first concert, as mentioned, is scheduled for September 4th and every concert will take place on a Saturday night through the end of the year. The night begins several hours before showtime. The gift shop and piano bar are open prior to the main concert floor opening up...and there's an optional dinner prior to the concert. In the first two seasons of concerts those who purchased a dinner as part of the concert sat in tables and booths on the first floor near the stage. Those who didn't want a dinner before the concert sat in the balcony. This year they've dropped that policy and will now allow those who don't want a dinner to purchase floor level concert tickets. As it was in 2018 and 2019 the no dinner policy is still in effect for the balcony seats. When you purchase your tickets you indicate whether or not you want dinner.

All of the information is in this LINK. As mentioned, tickets are on sale now for online orders...and you can reserve tickets, too. When you visit the CabaRay webpage and see the calendar, click the arrows to the month of September. When you see each of the concert dates you can click whichever one you want and then a page will pop up with a buy tickets button for that particular concert. The site is not that hard to navigate through. To close the blog entry I wanted to post an update about the current novelty song from Ray Stevens, "Gas". The audio track on YouTube has 8,548 unique views...and pretty much all of those unique views are from people finding the song on their own since it hasn't had much publicity from Ray or the record company, Curb.

Ray Stevens and Chet Atkins sing "Frog Kissing"...

Hello all once again!! One of Ray's greatest friends and business associates, the late Chet Atkins, was born on this day in 1924. Chet was one of the people that saw the natural talents of Ray Stevens and the two became nearly inseparable friends. They went into real estate together as well. Chet, as everyone knew, was a master guitarist and he was also the head of RCA Records in Nashville for many, many years...and he was a top record producer for RCA. Ray played on numerous recording sessions for Chet in the early to mid '60s. Ray was also a consistent session musician on a wide range of recordings produced by Shelby Singleton (Mercury Records) and Fred Foster (Monument Records). If all of this wasn't impressive enough both Ray and Chet, when they found the time, were golfing buddies. 

In 1976, according to Ray's recollections, Chet asked him if he'd produce a recording on him...singing! Chet Atkins singing was something of a rarity...and therefore it became a novelty item when the Buddy Kalb song, "Frog Kissing", was released on Chet Atkins. Ray produced, arranged, and published the song as well as sang soft harmony vocals...listen carefully and you'll hear the faint harmony vocals on the single release. The novelty became a hit in 1976. Ray and Chet appeared together on the syndicated Marty Robbins television show in 1977 and performed the song. In the television performance Ray is noticeably more present with his harmony vocals. The two performed the song a second time on television in 1980 during a Chet Atkins special. By this time Ray had a beard and was recording for the label, RCA, that Chet was once an executive of. 

Chet stepped down from his executive role at RCA by the early 1970s (Jerry Bradley took over most of the country music productions from that point forward) and in 1982 he left the RCA company after a 35 year run (joining the label as a guitarist in 1947) and he signed with Columbia. Chet was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. A life-size bronze statue of Chet was unveiled in January 2000. It became a tourist attraction...similar in the way the life-size statue of Chet's contemporary, Owen Bradley, seated at a piano, had become. Owen's statue was unveiled in 1999. 

Chet Atkins passed away of cancer on June 30, 2001 at the age of 77...ten days after his birthday. 

I'm going to embed the 1976 audio track and the 1977 television performance...you can watch both or pick which performance you'd prefer. The audio recording features more studio production, obviously, than the television performance. 

Now then...here's the 1977 television performance...and as far as I know this has to be one of Ray's final television appearances in which he's clean shaven...he'd grow a beard in 1978 and keep it on his face from that point forward...

Ray Stevens: June 20, 1970...

Hello all of you Ray Stevens fans!! On this date in 1970 NBC-TV debuted Andy Williams Presents the Ray Stevens Show???. The summer television show aired in place of a vacationing Andy Williams...although he appears on the first episode of the season. A running joke, as you can see with the three question marks, was built around the fact that someone who wasn't a television star was suddenly the host of a summer show for a television star like Andy Williams. A lot of the publicity from the time period pointed out that while Ray may not be a household name with television viewers he was one of the top recording artists of the day and his name was very much familiar to music consumers. Ray's 1970 summer show featured an extensive cast...among them were Mama Cass, Steve Martin, Billy Van, and Lulu.  

In the embed below you'll see a complete episode of the summer show. Ray Stevens back then, much like today, is a consummate entertainer...he'll do practically anything that comes to his mind. The show was taped in Toronto, Canada and aired from June 20, 1970 until August 8, 1970. The show's theme song, "Everything is Beautiful", was reaching it's peak when the summer show made it's debut. The song's weekly exposure on the national television show no doubt helped it reach even more people than it perhaps otherwise would have...more people watch television than listen to the radio...and the single of "Everything is Beautiful" sold more than 3,000,000 copies and the song won two Grammy awards. One award went to Ray in the category of Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and a second went to gospel artist Jake Hess in the category of Best Sacred Performance.  

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville performance: "My Dad"...

It's Father's Day 2021 and this means that it's time to re-visit the Ray Stevens ballad, "My Dad", from the pen of Dale Gonyea. I could easily post a link to any number of previous blog's I've written in the past on Father's Day...they all feature "My Dad" in some way. Sometimes I embed an audio track and sometimes I embed a performance of the song. The only performance of "My Dad" from Ray Stevens that's online is from his locally syndicated PBS series, CabaRay Nashville. I know he performed the song on a country music television special early in 1984. I have an issue of Music City News magazine that features a reader's letter to the editor column and one of the letters states that they loved Ray's "My Dad" and said how wonderful it is to hear a song that gives fathers credit and shows them in a positive light. As of this writing that 1984 performance hasn't made it's way to the internet. There's the performance on CabaRay Nashville and that's the performance I'm going to embed. Ray recorded the song for his 1983 album, Me. The album, released in the latter months of 1983, wasn't promoted much by Mercury Records...any publicity for the album arrived in the first couple of months in 1984...but by the time that focus began to settle on the Me album Ray had moved to the MCA record label and issued his first album for them in the late fall/early winter of 1984. Ray performed at Fan Fair in 1984 and was part of the Mercury/Polygram Records roster of recording artists...and so based on this he was still on Mercury Records in the summer of 1984...Fan Fair takes place each year (except this year and last year) in June. Ray, as most of you know, is the father of two daughters. He has several grandkids...a grandson of his often works on his social media sites and is part of the behind the scenes staff of his CabaRay Nashville television program. Here's "My Dad" as performed by Ray Stevens...    

Ray Stevens: The Cannonball at 40...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Today marks the 40th anniversary of the comedy movie, Cannonball Run. The all-star blockbuster comedy movie starred Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Jamie Farr, and many others...the movie spawned a sequel just as funny with an equally lengthy cast list. The movie is centered around a mad-dash, cross country auto race. The movie cost somewhere near 20 million dollars...and to date it's raked in over $70 million in the U.S. through VHS, DVD, and Blu Ray. The movie's opening weekend in 1981 reportedly made more than $11 million. Global profits of the movie, to date, are more than $160 million. 

Ray Stevens wrote and performed two songs for the Cannonball Run soundtrack in 1981. He wrote and performed the movie's theme song, "Cannonball", heard during the opening credits. Later on in the film he's heard singing the love ballad, "Just for the Hell of It". Ray didn't appear on-camera in the movie. His connection to the film is the writing and singing of those two songs. In correspondence with Ray's office staff more than 20 years ago I learned that Burt Reynolds personally asked Ray if he would write/perform the movie's theme song. Burt had a strong connection to country music and southern culture going back to the early to mid 1970s with his southern-based films Deliverance, White Lightning, Gator, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, and the Smoky and the Bandit franchise. It was primarily the Bandit films, co-starring Jerry Reed, that I think enabled Burt to attract the bulk of this country music attention...but I'm sure his string of southern-based movies, overall, generated a lot of appreciation and publicity within Rural America.  

The love ballad from Ray Stevens, "Just for the Hell of It", from Cannonball Run can be heard in the embed down below. Happy 40th, Cannonball...

Ray Stevens audio: "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow"...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! It's become something of an annual thing in the social media age for Ray to spotlight the birthday of Barry Manilow...specifically due to the fact that Ray recorded a novelty song about Barry in 1979 called "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", from the pen of Dale Gonyea. Some consider it a satiric recording...some call it a parody...no matter the description it's a funny song regardless. Ray recorded the song during his final months at Warner Brothers in 1979 and therefore it's the final single the record company released on him. The label did a lot more promotion for this particular release than the singles Ray recorded for them throughout all of 1978 and 1977. In fact, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" and the chicken clucking "In the Mood" from late 1976 appear on numerous Ray Stevens compilation albums and those two recordings always represent his Warner Brothers era. The single releases in between those two novelty recordings rarely, if ever, receive notice outside Ray's devoted fan base. The audio track of "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" can be heard below. The cover art of the single release spoofs the album cover of Barry Manilow's second album just in case you're wondering where the inspiration for the cover art came from. Contrary to what some may think...this novelty song peaked near the Top-10 on Billboard's Adult-Contemporary chart...indicating that the very radio format that Barry dominated since the mid '70s was tolerant enough to have a laugh at their format's biggest star. On Billboard's Hot 100 it peaked in the Top-50...marking the final time a Ray Stevens single appeared on the Hot 100 pop chart. 

As far as I know Ray performed "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" on television only once...on a 1979 country music television special hosted by Jerry Reed. He may have performed it on Pop! Goes the Country as well as That Nashville Music...but I don't have any detailed episode lists to confirm my assumptions. I wish there were a database listing all of the television appearances of Ray Stevens from his first to his most recent. If such a database existed we could visit it, look up a television show in a search bar, and instantly get results detailing the date, year, and what songs Ray performed during his guest appearance. Way back in 2008 when I was in the beginning stages of this blog I actually had a zeal and began a quest to notate all of Ray's television appearances but it got to be such a daunting, unfulfilling task that I abandoned the project and never posted a blog featuring a truly detailed list of television guest appearances. It was daunting in that there were too many, first of all, and unfulfilling because the television appearances I came across in my research didn't have any information as to what he sang. I know Ray headlined a Showtime television special...he shared the special with Crystal Gayle in 1979...and yet to this day I have not found out any detailed information about it. 

😲 I got a little bit sidetracked, yes? Anytime the conversation is about Ray's years at Warner Brothers it automatically causes me to express my feelings surrounding the lack of attention that those great records receive and the lack of archival media footage online from that time period in Ray's career. One day I hope his studio albums for Warner Brothers get proper reissue. Yes, I've been saying that since 2008 when this blog was created...and I've been saying it for more than 10 years before I created this blog and I'll always say it. In the meantime the 1979 television performance of "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" is featured below...

Ray Stevens: Let's take a look at "Gas"...

Well, hello once again!! Let's take a look at "Gas"...it isn't every blog entry I begin with inserting the title in the conversation but I'm not bound to any kind of self-imposed rules or restrictions when it comes to writing these blog posts...aside from the fact all blog entries I write here focus on the music, career, and happenings of Ray Stevens. I used to refer to him as the one and only Ray Stevens...then I'd say things like the incredible Ray Stevens...or the multi-talented Ray Stevens. All of those descriptions remain true. Since 2019 I've often inserted Country Music Hall of Fame member, Ray Stevens, as a descriptive. Anyway, Ray's audio of "Gas" over on YouTube has quietly obtained over 8,000 unique views. I was tempted to say that "Gas" quietly passed the 8,000 unique view plateau but I held it in...and yet I find myself writing what I originally passed on...proving no matter how hard you try you can't hold back what comes natural. The novelty song sort of touches on a special kind of natural gas, by the way.   

When I previously posted the unique views on June 14th it was 7,396 and as of this blog entry the total number of unique views is 8,003. A pick-up of 607 additional discoveries of the audio over the past couple of days...also keep in mind that Ray, nor the record label, Curb, are aggressively promoting this song and yet it continues to garner unique views every single day. Are fuel prices still high in your area? I drove by a couple of fuel stations nearby and the cheapest is above $3.00 a gallon and the most expensive is near $4.00 and I don't even live near any sort of sprawling city...so I can just imagine what the fuel prices in a major city must be. 

These higher fuel prices aren't necessarily a result of more expensive oil...it's part of what I fear is a calculated plot to artificially drive up the price of fuel and aggravate the consumer so much that they'll psychologically be more inclined to give radical concepts such as electric cars a try. Now, of course, that's my opinion...there's no basis of that opinion rooted in any tangible fact or evidence...it's simply an opinion based on my personal instincts of what might happen in the not too distant future as the fossil fuel sector becomes more and more vilified by those who push green energy non-stop. 

Ray Stevens: The Think Country Music Write-Up...

Hello Ray Stevens fans...while looking online for news and new photos of Ray Stevens to add to my personal collection I came across a write-up of the current digital album from Ray Stevens, Nouveau Retro (What's Old is New Again). The article promotes the current digital album and includes a link to a recent online article written about Ray Stevens which appears on the webpage of The Tennessean. The promo article is on a webpage called Think Country Music and it was written by Denise Zylow. You can read the article by clicking HERE. 

When you read the article you notice the headline, obviously. When I read the headline I immediately thought that the article would make it sound as if this digital album had just been released but when I begin reading I was happy to see that the author informed the readers that Ray had issued four digital albums in the past four months and that in July he'll issue a box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, which will be filled with CD copies of the four digital download albums from earlier in the year: Great Country Ballads, Melancholy Fescue, Slow Dance, and Nouveau Retro. Those digital albums were released during the months of February, March, April, and May. On the current digital album some of the songs are "April in Paris", "Earth Angel", "Mountain of Love", and "Cry Me a River". The delight of each of the four digital albums is hearing Ray interpret them and on top of this we're also hearing his music arrangements for each and every performance.    

Ray Stevens: Branson...June 15th 1991...

It's a really hot 80 degree day on this June 15th...it was exactly 30 years ago in 1991 that Ray Stevens had the grand opening of his Branson, Missouri theater. Ray's theater had a tremendous impact on the town's economy and, if truth be told, inspired other performers to open up theaters and make Branson, Missouri a tourist destination. Branson's theater district, if I recall correctly, originally began with just a couple of venues popping up. The Baldknobbers, Boxcar Willie (the first nationally known performer to open a theater in Branson), and later on Roy Clark...from there music venues began to sprout...Ray Stevens became interested in the town in 1990. Soon after Mickey Gilley, Jim Stafford, Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, Andy Williams, Tony Orlando, Shoji Tabuchi, and local performers set up performance venues. A two lane highway filled with theaters and other types of entertainment prompted chronic traffic jams according to local reports. 

Ray Stevens began building his theater in the latter half of 1990 and it was ready for business on June 15, 1991. Ray had been performing a series of concerts at Roy Clark's Celebrity Theater in Branson and it inspired him to think about opening up his own theater. Ray, having a secondary passion for architecture, designed the theater. Two VHS tapes were released in 1993 of a concert taped at Ray's theater. Ray Stevens Live! was sold over television and became a Platinum selling VHS. It was released to retail outlets by Curb Records in 1994. The second half of the concert was sold as More Ray Stevens Live! and was only available through Ray's fan club (fan club members received catalog pamphlets in the mail with an attached order form). The More Ray Stevens Live! VHS was also sold at the theater's gift shop. The following television commercial aired in 1992...

Ray performed two shows a day, 6 days a week at his Branson theater. The theater would close down each year just prior to Christmas and then re-open in the late spring the following year. Ray kept this schedule during the 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons...and he closed down his theater following the 1993 season and put it up for sale. The property wasn't immediately purchased and so Ray became a landlord and rented out the venue to an organization that presented a series called Country Tonite. 

Ray was no stranger at being a landlord...he owned and rented out property in and around the Music Row area in Nashville for several decades. He was often co-owner of property with Chet Atkins. Anyway, the Country Tonite program occupied the Ray Stevens theater in Branson from 1994 until 2004. Shortly after the Country Tonite program vacated the theater in 2004 Ray decided to do some interior redecoration and and he began performing concerts at his theater once again by the summer of 2005. Ray didn't do the 2 shows a day, 6 days a week schedule he once did...this time the schedule was way more relaxed. 

He ended up doing two seasons worth of concerts (2005 and 2006) before ultimately selling the theater. Since then Ray has returned to Branson several times for limited performances at other artist's theaters but this and all other touring came to an end in 2018 when his CabaRay showroom opened in Nashville. Those wanting to see Ray Stevens in concert will have to visit his CabaRay showroom when it re-opens this September. 

Ray Stevens audio clip: "Tingle"...

Hello all...earlier today on Ray Stevens social media one of his early recordings was uploaded. If you keep a list of single releases from Ray Stevens or are familiar with the official singles discography then you'll probably be familiar with the song, "Tingle". This teenage love ballad, or some may simply refer to it as teen pop, was typical for the time period...most love ballads carried the sound you'll be hearing when you listen to the embed of "Tingle". Ray wrote the song and it appeared originally as the B-side of "Five More Steps". The songs were released by Prep Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, in 1957. In fact, this release was the follow-up single to Ray's debut on vinyl, "Rang Tang Ding Dong" / "Silver Bracelet". If you visit the YouTube page for the official upload of "Tingle" found on Ray's YouTube channel you'll see some commentary over there including one from somebody who isn't too sure it's Ray Stevens. I don't think the person making the comment realized the song was being shared from Ray's official YouTube channel...had they realized it I don't think he would've said such a comment. I left some comments over there...including a link to this fan created Ray Stevens blog page. If you're a long time fan of Ray's as I am you're no doubt familiar with "Tingle" but I've embedded it anyway...

Ray Stevens: Album Time-Line Rewind...2

Hello fans of Ray Stevens...and to those that stop by here out of curiosity. In the second installment of my Album Time-Line Rewind series I'm spotlighting a project that Ray Stevens issued on May 16, 2005 titled Box Set. The project, initially, was released on Ray's own label, Clyde Records. Box Set contains 3-CD's with 17 songs per disc for a total of 51 recordings. The recordings are all post 1990. The renditions of "The Streak", "Gitarzan", "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Everything is Beautiful", "Misty", and numerous other signature songs are re-recordings by Ray...more specifically they're the audio tracks from his live-action and limited animation music videos. The name of the album is visually emphasized on the album cover as we see Ray Stevens sitting at a table with several boxes in front of him. The original recordings he did for Curb Records in 1990, 1991, and 1993 and the recordings he did for his own Clyde Records label in the early to mid 2000s are part of the Box Set. 

Curb Records took over distribution of the Box Set beginning on February 28, 2006. Clyde Records handled the direct marketing/mail-order side of Ray's career and had no in-store distribution. The 3-CD collection, upon wider release, did gather some criticism for the absence of original recordings of songs he'd recorded prior to 1990...but other online reviewers weren't as upset. Sprinkled throughout the collection were 5 exclusives, 1 recording that was previously only available as a single-release, and 1 recording that was previously only available on a music video. The 5 all new songs were: "The Cat Song", "Driver's Education", "Family Funeral Fight", "Kitty Cat's Revenge", and "When The Kids Are Gone". The song that was previously released as a single-only: 2003's "We're Havin' a Baby The Natural Way"; and previously available as a music video-only, 2002's "Hello Mama", the audio track appeared on Box Set. Here's a bit of trivia: "The Cat Song" would later be recorded by radio talk show host, Mark Steyn. 

I'm going to embed several of the songs from the Box Set that were exclusive at the time. The first one is "Family Funeral Fight". There's a nice piece of banjo accompaniment with a lot of sound effects as Ray tells a comical tale of a divided family and their brawl at a funeral in Ducktown, Tennessee when it was revealed the recently deceased was having affairs. The fight, as Ray sings: "...started in the afternoon and lasted half the night...".

Wasn't that hilarious? It's anyone's guess why Ray didn't or hasn't, to date, turned any of these songs into comedy music videos. In "Kitty Cat's Revenge", another song with banjo accompaniment, Ray tells about attempting to rescue an Ocelot from a drainage pipe and getting attacked not only by the wildcat but a swarm of bees. Ray and the wildcat end up floating through the pipe and out into a pond of waste. Box Set, as mentioned, was released initially in May 2005...then Curb Records released it in February 2006...and the audio tracks were uploaded onto YouTube by Curb Records in March 2018.  

The third audio track I'm embedding is "We're Havin' a Baby The Natural Way". The song begins softly and Ray tells us about the optimism and desires of having a baby the natural way...with no hospital help, drugs, or anything else. In the song Ray plays the role of the husband and future father who's very supportive of the idea of having their baby born at home...going through training classes on delivering, etc. However, the soon-to-be parents are talked into enlisting the help of the hospital...and while there the wife goes into labor. The rest of the song is filled with descriptions of the wife giving birth and all the pain...at one point in the song the wife demands more drugs in a exorcist-like voice.

Ray Stevens: "Gas"...a week later...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens...it's been a little over a week since "Gas" was released so let's clear the air and by doing so I see that as of this writing the audio clip of "Gas" that Curb Records uploaded onto YouTube has received 7,201 unique views. The unique views for the audio track are being obtained organically. I search a lot of places on the internet and haven't come across a lot of online publicity for the single which leaves me to believe that the unique views that the song is generating comes from people finding the song on their own...given that there hasn't been any big push by Ray's marketing team or the publicity department at Curb Records. 

In a previous blog entry I wondered whether or not a music video might show up and so far there hasn't been any indication that there will be a music video release. I'll continue to promote the song through this fan created blog, obviously, and continue to keep track of whatever becomes of "Gas". 

The comedy album that Ray's releasing this year won't be until October...but this is June...four months is a rather lengthy gap between first single release and the subsequent album release. There will be a 4-CD box set released next month...so in the back of my mind I'm thinking that Ray/Curb Records will promote the box set beginning late in July and continue to promote it through the months of August and into September and then after the CabaRay re-opens perhaps he'll shift his focus to the upcoming October comedy album. At least that's my assumption as to how the next several months are going to play out...but it's anyone's guess...and I'll be here to blog about whatever ultimately takes place in Ray's career over the course of the next several months. Don't forget to listen to the audio clip of "Gas"...

Ray Stevens: The Prolific Recording Artist

Prolific Ray Stevens

I've been a fan of Ray Stevens since the mid-to-late 1980s. I was still a kid at that time...discovering his music on a jukebox in a pizza place. The selection being "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". As I'm sure many of you are well aware by now Ray Stevens is a prolific recording artist. In this fan created blog entry I examine and discuss all aspects of his recording career from it's beginning to the present day...some blog entries are promotional in nature. I like to embed his latest audio and I like sharing images of his album covers. I've never written a blog entry, as far I know, where I compare and contrast the differences between recording artist and recording star. I mentioned this a couple of blog entries ago...where I'd seen a write-up of Ray Stevens and the author pointed out that Ray is more of a recording artist than a recording star. Some may take that description the wrong way but it's actually a compliment. It points out that Ray has more often than not always been more interested in having his records sound the greatest, with emphasis placed on production and arrangement, instead of recording songs that are designed strictly for potential commercial appeal. He was once quoted as saying that he not only wants the lyrics to tell a story but he also wants the music and the production to be complimentary to the lyrics. His records, going back to the mid '60s, have credited him as producer and arranger...sometimes he's worked with co-producers but those were few and far between. The last Ray Stevens album to feature a co-producer was 1983's Me, co-produced by Jerry Kennedy. A year earlier Bob Montgomery co-produced the Don't Laugh Now album with Ray. Prior to those back-to-back albums with a co-producer the previous Ray Stevens album to feature a co-producer was 1969's Have a Little Talk With Myself. That 1969 album was co-produced with Jim Malloy. So, as you can see, it's a rarity for a Ray Stevens album to feature a co-producer. In addition to producing and arranging his recordings he also publishes nearly everything he records. Ray Stevens is indeed quite prolific and he can also be wacky/zany but never foul mouthed or a term that's over-rated, "edgy". In fact, his family friendly/clean humor sets him apart from those who largely perform comedy today. If you take a look at the Amazon digital lists for comedy releases, for example, you're going to find a huge amount of product with R-ratings and explicit disclaimers. Ray Stevens, in my opinion, is typically on the cutting edge when it comes to music production but being on the cutting edge doesn't mean you automatically need to be edgy and so he isn't. 

In a banner collage I made several weeks ago we see Ray Stevens from three different time periods giving us a good dose of his familiar grin. An early 1960's publicity photo is in panel one; a reaction to a joke told in an episode of his 1970 summer television show is in panel two; and in panel three we have another reaction shot from a television appearance in 1975. 

The Wacky Ray Stevens

I know a lot of you that come across this blog will take notice of the pictorial time-line that runs along the right side of the page. I've added the image of his current digital novelty single and next month I'll be adding the image of his upcoming box set collection. The prolific Ray Stevens has recorded a lot of albums over the many decades...and record companies have issued an incredible amount of compilation albums on Ray over the many decades, too. Ray's official discography on his website does a great job of listing both the studio and select compilation albums that have been released over the decades. I've also posted a discography of Ray's studio albums and notable compilations in previous blog entries. Since we've been in the middle of a flurry of Ray Stevens output in the first half of 2021 it's easy for some people to be overwhelmed or for some releases to get overlooked. I've decided to list another discography. I think they're highly informative and for new fans of Ray Stevens you'll be able to learn about studio albums that go back to the 1960s...and it may inspire you to seek them out for your personal collection. This is a list of his studio albums only! There have been too many compilation albums released on Ray Stevens over the decades that if I even list a few it means I'd be omitting more than a dozen. So, then, here's the list of Ray's studio albums... 

1962: 1,837 Seconds of Humor  (Mercury Records)

1963: This Is Ray Stevens  (Mercury Records)

1968: Even Stevens  (Monument Records)

1969: Gitarzan  (Monument Records)

1969: Have a Little Talk With Myself  (Monument Records)

1970: Everything is Beautiful  (Barnaby Records)

1970: Unreal  (Barnaby Records)

1972: Turn Your Radio On  (Barnaby Records)

1973: Nashville  (Barnaby Records)

1973: Losin' Streak  (Barnaby Records)

1974: Boogity Boogity  (Barnaby Records)

1975: Misty  (Barnaby Records)

1976: Just For the Record  (Warner Brothers)

1977: Feel the Music  (Warner Brothers)

1978: There is Something On Your Mind  (Warner Brothers)

1978: Be Your Own Best Friend  (Warner Brothers)

1979: The Feeling's Not Right Again  (Warner Brothers)***

1980: Shriner's Convention  (RCA Records)

1981: One More Last Chance  (RCA Records)

1982: Don't Laugh Now  (RCA Records)

1983: Me  (Mercury Records)

1984: He Thinks He's Ray Stevens  (MCA Records)*

1985: I Have Returned  (MCA Records)*

1986: Surely You Joust  (MCA Records)

1987: Crackin' Up  (MCA Records)

1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like  (MCA Records)

1989: Beside Myself  (MCA Records)

1990: Lend Me Your Ears  (Curb/Capitol Records)

1991: Number One With a Bullet  (Curb/Capitol Records)

1993: Classic Ray Stevens  (Curb Records)

1997: Hum It  (MCA Records)

1997: Christmas Through a Different Window  (MCA Records)

2000: Ear Candy  (Clyde Records)

2002: Osama Yo' Mama: The Album  (Curb Records)**

2004: Thank You  (Clyde Records)

2007: New Orleans Moon  (Clyde Records)

2008: Hurricane  (Clyde Records)

2008: Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What??  (Clyde Records)

2009: One For the Road  (Clyde Records)

2010: We The People  (Clyde Records)

2011: Spirit of '76  (Clyde Records)

2012: The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music  (9-CD collection; Clyde Records)

2014: The Gospel Collection  (Gaither Music Group)

2015: Here We Go Again!  (Player Records/Clyde Records)

2016: Just a Closer Walk With Thee - Gospel Favorites  (Gaither Music Group)

2016: Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me  (CabaRay Entertainment)

2021: Great Country Ballads  (Curb Records)

2021: Melancholy Fescue - High Class Bluegrass  (Curb Records)

2021: Slow Dance  (Curb Records)

2021: Nouveau Retro - What's Old is New Again  (Curb Records)

***- 1979's release, The Feeling's Not Right Again, is largely a compilation album. I included it on the list because it includes what was then a brand new song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The song inspired the compilation album's release and the song also inspired the album's artwork and graphics.

**- 2002's release, Osama Yo' Mama: The Album, is a partial re-issue of 2000's Ear Candy. After "Osama Yo' Mama" became a Gold selling single Curb Records released an album in 2002 containing "Osama Yo' Mama", it's B-side "United We Stand", and the previously unreleased "Freudian Slip" and Curb filled out the rest of the album with songs taken from Ear Candy.

*- These two releases are Ray's biggest selling studio albums. He Thinks He's Ray Stevens is certified Platinum and I Have Returned is certified Gold. In the 1980s three Ray Stevens compilation albums released on MCA Records were recognized for their sales: Greatest Hits (1987; Platinum); Greatest Hits, Volume Two (Gold); Get The Best of Ray Stevens (1987; television double album; Gold). A 1990 compilation, His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits, is certified Gold. In the 1970s his single releases of "Everything is Beautiful" and "The Streak" were certified million sellers. Triple-Platinum (3,000,000) international sales for the 1970 "Everything is Beautiful" single and 5 million international sales for 1974's "The Streak". His 1969 single, "Gitarzan", was certified a million selling Gold single.  

Since the above is a list of studio albums (except for the year 1979) I didn't list any initial single-only or music video-only releases from Ray Stevens such as 1971's "Melt"; 1975's "Piece of Paradise"; 2005's "The New Battle of New Orleans"; 2013's "Red Hot Chili Cook Off"; 2016's "Dear America"; the 50th Anniversary rendition of "Everything is Beautiful" from 2020; "The Quarantine Song" from 2020; or his current single-only novelty, "Gas". In addition to Ray's album discography he also, of course, has a singles discography. He also has a VHS/DVD discography of the various music video and performance video collections that he's released since 1992.     

Ray Stevens: Fixing the Reverse Images...

Hello to all the fans of Ray Stevens!! If you regularly search for online images of Ray I'm sure you've come across reverse images a number of times. A reverse image, for those who don't know, is an image that is photographed and placed online in a reverse fashion. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the playing cards with pictures of country singers...a 1975 bearded image of Ray Stevens appeared in a pack of those playing cards and every time it comes up for sale on some online store they always show a reverse image. In the collage below the reverse image appears in panel one and the correct image of Ray Stevens appears in panel two. Ray has always parted his hair on the left side, as you see in the photo off to the left, and so whenever you see a photo of Ray with his hair parted from the right then you'll know it's a reverse image. The image with the solid blue background is from 1991. Someone posted a photo of the 1991 Music City News issue where Ray, Jimmy Dean, and Kathy Ballie were on the cover promoting an upcoming Songwriters Awards telecast. Yes, as you could guess, the seller uploaded a reverse image of the cover and so I decided to correct it. I don't know too much about the intricacies of computers to understand how images can get posted reverse...all I know is sometimes it happens and if you're not paying enough attention you won't notice right away.     

I've posted an image of the 1982 re-issue of the Turn Your Radio On album before. A reverse photo of Ray appears on that album. On the album it has Ray's hair parted on the wrong side and so I not only corrected the image but I enhanced it and did a close-up. I'm thinking the actual photo originated in 1979 or 1980. 

CBS Records re-issued the Turn Your Radio On album in 1982...a full ten years after Barnaby Records had released it. Barnaby's recordings were distributed by CBS in 1972 and so they re-issued the album with a different photo in 1982. I had always been drawn to the album cover because something about Ray, to me, looked different and it wasn't until it hit me that the photo of Ray is reversed and so when I corrected the image he looked correct. However, because the album title was also photographed in reverse it caused it to show up reversed when I corrected the image...which is why I did a close-up. If I didn't do a close-up you'd be seeing the name of the album written in reverse above the photo. Some may argue and say if I'm seeing the album title in reverse when I go and correct the image then the photo wasn't actually photographed in reverse...but the truth is it was. The explanation is that the lettering was photographed correctly while the photo of Ray shows up reversed. I've included a collage featuring the reverse image, correct lettering of the 1982 album side by side with the correct image, reverse lettering to visually explain what I'm trying to put into words. The reverse photo of Ray is seen in the first panel of the collage while the correct photo of Ray is seen in the second panel. As you can also see...once you correct the reverse photo the name and album title appear in reverse. Anyway...that reverse photo of Ray is what we see whenever the 1982 re-issue album shows up in online stores and auction sites. I don't know if the actual album features a reverse photo of Ray on the cover or if the image on the 1982 album is just something that appeared online in reverse years ago and it's never been corrected. Whatever the case, I fixed the reverse image of Ray and it's on display in the second photo in the collage below.  

Ray Stevens: Album Time-Line Rewind...

Hello all Ray Stevens fans! This blog entry isn't the start of a new series or anything...I title the blog entry as such because it just so happened that on June 11, 2008 Ray Stevens released his salute to the music of Frank Sinatra. Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?? was released on Clyde Records 13 years ago on this date. It's another great album from Ray Stevens and in it he performs his renditions of numerous Sinatra standards: "High Hopes", "Strangers in the Night", "Night and Day", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "Witchcraft", and several more. One of the unique aspects of the album is in an effort to convey the ambience of a small, intimate setting Ray added sounds of light applause from time to time. I wrote a review of this album back when it was fairly recent and it's over on Amazon. Ray, as mentioned, released the album on June 11, 2008 on his Clyde Records label. Curb Records would soon take over distribution and Curb released it on March 9, 2009. Curb would also take over distribution of Ray's 1997 comedy album, Hum It, originally released on MCA Records. Curb's release of Hum It happened in April 2009. 

From 2008's Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?? here's the audio track of "High Hopes", uploaded by Curb Records. If this album is something brand new to you I'd suggest once you listen to "High Hopes" go over to YouTube and search for the album title. You'll be able to listen to all of the songs from that album.   

Ray Stevens: Vintage 1970s Photo...

It's me once again!! This vintage photo of Ray Stevens emerged on his social media about half an hour ago and I decided to share it on this blog. There wasn't any information about it...I made the assumption that it might be from the late 1970s. You can clearly see that Military design on the sleeve of the jacket...and from my eyes it appears there's a carnation or some sort of flower on the left side of the jacket. The floor shot angle of the photo gives the appearance of a thin beard...as if he's it's in the process of growing out fuller...so I assume it's from some point in 1978 or 1979...it could even be from some point in the latter half of 1977. There's a period in Ray's career where he stopped appearing clean shaven and I've often pin-pointed this to the year 1978. The earliest photo that I seen Ray with a beard was in the 1960s but it was a photo that wasn't meant for publicity but was more of a personal photo that Ray decided one day to share on his social media. You'd think I'd have that photo in my online collection but I don't. I can't find it on Ray's social media anymore and I saved it on a former computer I was on. I may look in more detail and see if I come across that 1960's photo of Ray with a beard. Anyway...the hairstyle had me thinking 1977/1978/1979 but the thin beard has me thinking late 1977/early 1978. However...Ray also had a beard for a number of years in the early '70s. On his guest appearances on Hee Haw in 1972 and in 1975 he had a beard. The beard was gone when he next appeared on the show in 1976. If that doesn't complicate matters there are photos of Ray from the early 1980s with a thinner beard than usual...but I'll go with my original assumption that the photo originated sometime in the late 1970s. There are a couple of photos from this performance in the Photo section of Ray's Facebook page. Take a look at this one...

As you can see in that awesome photo Ray Stevens is belting out one of his songs...it could be "Everything is Beautiful" or it could be any number of the love ballads he recorded during his years at Warner Brothers in the late 1970s. You can clearly see the flower in that photo which was partially hidden in the photo above. When looking through the various photo's over on Ray's Facebook page I'm reminded of several photos of Ray from this performance that have previously been shared...one photo shared in 2019 shows Ray looking very intense with his head tilted downward looking at the piano. I've posted that photo below to close out the blog entry. When Ray performed his 1979 novelty single, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" he remained seated at the piano for the entire performance. The photo off to the right also had me thinking he may have been singing the chorus of that song when this photo was taken but he's probably in the middle of singing "Everything is Beautiful" as I previously mentioned. If you follow Ray's social media pages then you've seen these photos before...but, like myself, you may forget from time to time if you've seen a photo if it's not a constant presence. Do you have any guesses as to what he might be singing in the photo above? Here's that intense photo of Ray looking at the piano...completely captured by the music.

Ray Stevens: Nearly a week's worth of "Gas"...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! It's been nearly a week since the current novelty single from Ray Stevens, "Gas", became available on June 4, 2021. As of this writing the audio clip on YouTube has gathered almost 6,000 unique views. The total number of unique views is 5,919 which, in my opinion, is pretty good for an audio clip.  As we all know YouTube is a visual site...where music videos and performance videos reign...and so an audio clip nearing 6,000 unique views is pretty good. On Ray's social media they're promoting a brief audio clip of the song rather than the full length audio clip that Curb Records uploaded onto YouTube. The brief audio snippet that they've been sharing is also attached to various online music sites. I've provided links to Amazon on a couple of previous blog entries and I also made the remark that the digital single, "Gas", is $1.29 and at that price it's the cheapest "Gas" in America right now!! You can tell I'm proud of that quip which is why I decided to include it once again. In a nearby town the price of fuel is $2.95 but in another town not too far from here the cheapest is $3.25 and so I'm glad I decided to top off the tank at the fuel station with the $2.95 price although even that's way too high. 

The cover art for the digital single is a tie-in with the fuel prices and the recent fuel shortage caused by the East Coast attack from overseas but the lyrics tell an entirely different story...that of a doddering, bumbling President who'd rather talk about the complexities of another type of "Gas" than address what's really important. The novelty song marks a subtle return to political comedy for Ray Stevens...the last time one of his songs had a political overtone was "You Didn't Build That" in May 2015. I was mentioning this in a previous blog entry but Ray hasn't issued what's known as a green screen comedy music video in a number of years...not since "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me" in 2016. In May 2020 he put out a performance video of "The Quarantine Song" which was taped in his recording studio. In November 2020 he released the 50th anniversary rendition of "Everything is Beautiful" and the "Everything is Beautiful / United We Stand" medley. Those two music videos had some green screen technology but they're not comedy songs. "Gas" would be a fun song to attempt to turn into a music video. Will he turn it into a music video or will it remain an audio clip? The comedy album that this song will appear won't be released until October...so it's hard to tell if he'll be releasing further songs from the upcoming album or not. That album is going to be titled Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. The Iconic Songs of the 20th Century 4-CD box set is to be released next month. Ray is currently working on a sequel to the box set. Meanwhile...listen to "Gas"...

Ray Stevens: Look at this comical Illustration...

A couple days ago Ray Stevens shared a caricature illustration that was drawn by one of his friends, Randy Cullers. The illustration shows Ray seated in front of many suitcases and behind him are people who look similar to Ray and then, off to the right, is a caricature of Ray's dummy, Julio. There's an airplane off to the left and I see windsocks and so the scene takes place just outside the airplane at an airport...coming home from a lengthy tour. The caption of the illustration reads Ray Stevens' Never Ending Purgatory Tour '89. I take that to be an exaggeration. I've never seen Ray's tour itinerary for 1989 to know if it was jam-packed with concert dates but it was probably incredibly lengthy. Are you familiar with Ray's dummy named Julio? Ray, in 1987, recorded a novelty song titled "Sex Symbols". The song was a spoof of the unlikely duo of Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias several years prior. Ray, throughout "Sex Symbols", mispronounces Julio by calling him Julie-o and Ray refers to Don Juan as Don Joo-Ahn. When Ray performed the song in concert and on TV he'd have a dummy of Julio sitting beside him. Ray was still performing this song in his concerts when he was in Branson, Missouri headlining his own theater. A performance of the song is on his 1993 VHS tape, Ray Stevens Live!. I wrote a blog entry awhile back with the video of Ray and the Julio dummy embedded and I've decided to share it again in this blog entry. The song made it's debut on Ray's 1987 comedy album, Crackin' Up. He performed it on Hee Haw and it was released as a single. The B-side of "Sex Symbols" happened to be "The Ballad of Cactus Pete and Lefty". A limited animation music video was produced for the B-side of the single nearly 20 years later. Ray and Buddy Kalb wrote the B-side whereas Buddy himself wrote "Sex Symbols". Ray doesn't perform the song in his concerts anymore. I think the last time he performed the song in concert happened to be while he was in Branson, Missouri. The times I'd seen him in concert it wasn't performed. 

Ray Stevens and Jamie O'Neal sing: "Hey, Good Lookin"...

Here I am again with another fan-created blog entry about Ray Stevens! This time around I'm embedding a video clip of Ray singing a duet with Jamie O'Neal. The two sing a duet of "Hey, Good Lookin", a country music classic from the pen of Hank Williams. Prior to the performance Ray interviews Jamie and she talks about being born in Sydney, Australia but the family moved to America when she was 5. This explains why she has an American accent rather than Australian. Ray brings up how he once worked for Mercury Records in their Artists and Repertoire department...seeking out potential recording artists for the label. The video clip was uploaded back on June 3rd which is her birthday. She was born June 3, 1968. I didn't upload the video then due to the anticipation of the June 4th release of Ray's current novelty song and my subsequent blog entries focusing on it. Now, however, I'm getting around to embedding the video clip. 

Ray Stevens: Where Have you purchased your "Gas"...

Hello all fans of Ray Stevens!! I hadn't placed "Gas" in the pictorial timeline...I more than likely will wait until the fall and post an image of the comedy album he said it would be on, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. There are numerous online stores and streaming sites where you can hear or purchase the "Gas" novelty song. Statistically speaking the latest novelty song from Ray was released yesterday and the audio clip on YouTube is nearing 1,000 unique views and this is without much publicity from Ray or his record label. There were a couple of audio snippets featured on Ray's social media but the full length audio is on YouTube. I shared the audio clip in my last blog entry. Curb Records also has the song available for streaming and purchase on their webpage and the "Gas" product page can be accessed HERE. Where have you streamed or purchased your copy of "Gas"? Was it on Amazon? The Curb Records store? Pandora? Spotify? Itunes? YouTube? Any of those online music platforms are carrying Ray's new novelty song just in case you hadn't heard the song yet and were wondering how you can listen to it. 

In case you're wondering...no, at the moment, there's not been any announcement of a CD copy being manufactured so it's only going to be available as a digital release. Also, there hasn't been any kind of indication that there will be a music video of the song...maybe there will be a future music video but at the moment there's not been any kind of hint that a music video is in the works. The production of the television show and the construction of the CabaRay showroom (2015-2017) put almost everything on the backburner in Ray's career during the last 5 years. We know that Ray's working on new green screen music videos...he's previously shared images from music video's he's working on...could those music videos be in support of songs from this upcoming comedy album in the fall? We know "Gas" is going be on that upcoming comedy album.   

Ray Stevens audio clip: "Gas"...

Well, it's me once again...several minutes after having written my review of the brand new Ray Stevens novelty song, "Gas". I posted it over on Amazon as well...once it gets posted over there I'll probably make a note of it in a future blog entry. I've listened to the song at least 6 times and after the first couple of listens I'd catch things I didn't hear the first time around. I think that's typical with a lot of people who hear a song for the first time. They listen...and in their excitement they're taking in just the fact that you're hearing something brand new and then on repeated listens you pick up things because you're now listening more intently, more closely. I thought about embedding the audio clip of "Gas" in my previous blog entry but I decided I'd keep it focused only on my review. The single is on Curb Records and it'll be on an upcoming comedy album from Ray titled Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I take it the title of the album was selected due to it's irony...if anybody can find humor and comedy in nearly any situation it's Ray Stevens. I'm guessing that a couple of song's from Ray that I've only heard about will be on this upcoming comedy album. Last year on his social media he posted images from a music video he was said to be in the process of making but nothing's been released so far. I don't think the screen caps shared online last year was for a music video of "Gas"...if a music video were available of this song it would've been put online hours ago...at least one would think!? The audio clip from Curb Records is featured below, however...  

Ray Stevens: My Review of "Gas"...

Oh this is such a funny, quirky novelty song..."Gas" is a 100 percent novelty in the classic sense of the word as only the incredible Ray Stevens can do. The digital single was released by Curb Records and it's the first single from an upcoming comedy album due out sometime this fall. Ray opens up the song with an announcement and it sets the mood of the entire performance right away. Samples of "Hail to the Chief" are then heard and we're told about a President making his way to the rose garden to give a rare press conference and he's asked about gas. A reporter asks the President what's his biggest problem. The promo photo of the digital single shows a fictional station with cars lined up waiting to get filled up. The song isn't entirely about the fuel prices or the recent fuel shortage several weeks ago. The song lyrically weaves itself around a President that literally has a gas problem and he speaks of various ways of trying to stop it. 'We need to clear the air', the President says... 'it is a stinky situation/it'll leave a stain on my whole Administration'. Those are just a couple of the lyrics from the song...cleverly mixing the real world problem of high fuel prices and recent fuel shortages with the absurdly funny concept of a President with a flatulence problem. Some people, who may be way too analytical, might wonder why the subject matter of "Gas" is the President and not a certain member of Congress who infamously let out some anatomical breeze while live on television. I think it's way more funnier with the song's setting in the rose garden and the President not knowing that he's being asked about fuel and he goes into a long winded remark about another kind of "Gas". I purchased the digital single a little past Midnight for $1.29 and would you believe that's the cheapest "Gas" in the entire country right now?