Ray Stevens: Music arranger, music publisher...just some of his awesome talents..

If you're a regular visitor to this fan created blog or if you're very knowledgeable about the career of Ray Stevens then you should know that in addition to being a recording artist Ray is also a songwriter, a record producer, a musician, a music arranger, and a music publisher. Ray has produced and arranged practically everything he's recorded since the mid 1960s. A co-producer is something rare on a Ray Stevens album although he's enlisted a couple over the decades. In addition to being the producer and arranger of his own recordings what many people don't even know is that Ray spent many years as a session musician, music arranger, and for a little while was also in the Artist and Repertoire department at Mercury Records and later, Monument Records. Ray had a lot of first hand experience...a/k/a on the job training...in the early to mid '60s as a music arranger/session musician in addition to being tasked with finding songs for other artists on the label. In April 2010 Ray Stevens was honored with a certificate officially recognizing him as a Nashville Cat. This title/honor is bestowed on session musicians...and even though Ray's recognition came almost 40 years after he began limiting his appearances on other artist's songs it was still fun seeing Ray interviewed about his session work and listening to him speak about the artists he'd worked with along the way at Mercury and Monument...as well as the work he did on recordings with developing/unknown acts. 

His association with Dolly Parton during her years at Monument Records gets a lot of publicity but he was also involved, at some point or another, in the careers of Brook Benton, Margie Singleton, Leroy Van Dyke, Ronnie Dove, Pete Fountain, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Bare, Joe Dowell...as well as working with a group of artists who emerged, as he did, from the Georgia music scene in the late '50s and early '60s: Jerry Reed, Billy Joe Royal, Tommy Roe, and Joe South. The common link among the Georgia acts happened to be music publisher, Bill Lowery. Ray also played on several recordings by Elvis Presley in the mid '60s time period. An often told story is how Ray and Charlie McCoy were hired to play trumpets on an Elvis session. The irony being that Ray's main instrument was a piano while Charlie's main instrument was harmonica...but they were selected to play twin trumpets on an Elvis session. Ray is a multi-instrumentalist as is Charlie McCoy.

All of us know that Ray produces and arranges almost everything he's recorded...but here are just a few of the songs recorded by other performers featuring music arrangement by Ray Stevens...

In September 1964 Dusty Springfield recorded the following songs that Ray arranged: "Guess Who?", "Live It Up", "Here She Comes", "Now That You're My Baby", "I Want Your Love Tonight", "If Wishes Could Be Kisses", "I Wanna Make You Happy", and "Don't Say It Baby". Ray was also the orchestra director according to album credits. Those recordings were spread out over several mid '60s albums. Ray was also a music arranger for several recordings by Dottie West between the years of 1965 and 1967: "You Took the Easy Way Out", "Before the Ring on Your Finger Turns Green", "Wear Away", "I'll Help You Forget Her", "Give Him My Love", "No One", "Childhood Places", "Everything's a Wreck", and "Like a Fool". Something you also may not know is the massive hit from Bobby Bare in 1966, "Streets of Baltimore", featured Ray Stevens as the music arranger. He isn't credited as the arranger on the single release but if you have the Streets of Baltimore album he's credited on the back of the album cover.

An interesting bit of information is a Charlie Rich recording from 1966, "No Home". Ray Stevens is credited, in big letters, as the music arranger on the vinyl release of the song from Smash Records. However, when that label's parent company, Mercury, re-issued the single in 1974 the music arranger (Ray Stevens) wasn't credited. Charlie, by that time, had moved to Columbia Records and the Epic imprint. Once Charlie's breakthrough single hit in 1973 and following a series of four straight number one hits there was a rush of archive recordings of Charlie from the 1950s and 1960s released in the aftermath from Sun Records and RCA Records. As mentioned "No Home", the 1966 Charlie Rich recording that Ray arranged, was re-issued as a Mercury single in 1974. Now we move into the music publishing aspect of Ray's career. As I mentioned earlier Ray has published almost everything he's recorded since 1966. He's had a couple of music publishing companies over the decades...the most used publishing imprint was Ahab Music Company. This publishing company was not only attached to all of the songs that Ray Stevens composed but the company was attached to numerous songs written by Layng Martine, Jr. for a number of years in the early '70s. Layng's compositions while he was a writer for Ray's publishing company were recorded by numerous artists throughout the '70s and into the '80s. Layng recorded a song he'd written, "Rub It In", and Ray was the publisher. Layng's recording became a chart hit in 1971 but the timing of it's release proved to be a problem and it didn't hang around too long on the charts. Billy 'Crash' Craddock recorded a version of the song a couple of years later and it became a monster hit for him...selling millions of copies...and given that Layng was it's writer and Ray was the song's publisher the two of them shared in the success of Craddock's hit. 

"Way Down", from the pen of Layng and published by Ray, was recorded by Elvis Presley. It holds the distinction of being the final hit single from Elvis during his lifetime...it was on the singles charts in 1977 at the time of his death. A song that Ray co-wrote, published, and recorded in 1976, "Can't Stop Dancing", would become a Top-20 Pop hit in 1977 for The Captain and Tennille. Ray produced and published a novelty song from Chet Atkins, "Frog Kissing". The song came from the pen of Buddy Kalb and it featured Chet singing in addition to playing guitar. Ray sang harmony vocals on the recording. A couple more recordings from Billy 'Crash' Craddock, from the pen of Layng Martine and published by Ray Stevens, became hits: "Just a Little Thing" reached the Country Top-30 in 1976 and then the eye catching song title, "Hubba Hubba", became a Country Top-20 hit in 1978. It was in the mid '70s time period when Ray's publishing company was given a new name: Ray Stevens Music. In addition to the singles from Billy 'Crash' Craddock the Gentle Giant, Don Williams, recorded one of Layng's songs that Ray published, "Time On My Hands", and it appeared on Don's Visions album. The song was later issued as a single in Germany in 1978. Dicky Lee's Top-30 Country hit in 1979 from the pen of Layng Martine that Ray published, "Workin' My Way To Your Heart", soon followed. 

Reba McEntire had an early hit in 1981 with another Layng Martine song that Ray published, "I Don't Think Love Ought To Be That Way". It almost made it into the Country Top-10...peaking just outside. Reba's brother, Pake, had a Country Top-20 with "Every Night" in 1986...from the pen of Layng Martine and published by Ray. Now, then, with the exception of Ray's own recordings that he either wrote, co-wrote, or were written by or with Buddy Kalb, the Pake McEntire single from the pen of Layng Martine, Jr. would be the final publishing credit for Ray Stevens Music to reach the singles charts until 1992. Mark Petersen joined Ray Stevens Music and two of his songs became massive hits for Sammy Kershaw. Ray published "Cadillac Style" (1992) and "I Can't Reach Her Anymore" (1994). In 2010 a song co-written by Ray's daughter, Suzi Ragsdale, titled "Bad Angel", was recorded by Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Jamey Johnson. This trio recording, though not released as a single, was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. Ray was the music publisher of that recording.

Now, then, that's a generous overview of the career of Ray Stevens as a music arranger and music publisher. It's by no means definitive. I'm still discovering songs that Ray either produced, arranged, published, or was part of the session musicians for other recording acts over the last 6 decades (1960-1970, 1970-1980, 1980-1990, 1990-2000, 2000-2010, 2010-2020). I take notes if I ever come across such information and like now I'll put it in a blog entry. I began writing this blog entry a little past 11pm...and I glance over at the clock and it's past 2am!! I've been on this particular blog entry for more than 3 hours!! Enjoy all of that technical information I've researched and provided...and the next time you read something on the internet from somebody insisting that Ray Stevens is 'just a comedy act' think about this blog entry and share it with them. It'll open their eyes to a more complete picture of Ray Stevens.