Ray Stevens: Upcoming August CabaRay concerts...

It's me once again!! We're here on the final day of July and that means another month of concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom has concluded. The last show of the month took place yesterday evening. An online friend of mine attended the concert last night and she shared some photos of her time there. I took notice of some additional trophies in Ray's display case that weren't there back in 2018 when I attended a concert there. The most notable addition is his replica Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, identical to the one that hangs inside the Country Music Hall of Fame building in downtown Nashville. Ray also has his golden medallion on display. These medallions are worn each successive year by members of the Country Music Hall of Fame when they attend each successive election ceremony. As the ceremony in Cooperstown, New York at the National Baseball Hall of Fame features Hall of Fame members in attendance to welcome in the newest inductee's the same thing happens in Nashville during the Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Now, as far as the CabaRay concerts go, Ray is going to appear 5 times during the month of August: 6th, 13th, 18th, 20th, and 27th. As you can see there's a 5th concert next month...indicating a Thursday night concert on August 18th. Now, keep in mind, you can also visit the CabaRay on Friday evenings. Ray won't be there but his piano bar is open and the pianist, John Jonethis, will be there for several hours. On the day of concerts John Jonethis plays in the piano bar before and after Ray's concerts and during the intermission period. The goal is to keep the experience up-beat and music heavy...so, no matter where you are within the CabaRay, you're going to hear John's piano playing and his banter whether you're literally inside the piano bar or not. Those interested in attending a concert can click this LINK. 

Meanwhile, have you purchased your 4-CD Iconic Songs of the 20th Century box set? It's been available for a little more than a year. It's a box set of 4 individual Ray Stevens albums: Great Country Ballads, Melancholy Fescue, Slow Dance, and Nouveau Retro. They're all great...chock full of non-comical Ray Stevens recordings.

Those certain fans that often say that they prefer the 'serious' songs of Ray Stevens much more than the comical ones, well, this 4-CD box set is an answer to your wishes. A fan such as myself I appreciate everything Ray Stevens has recorded but I've read a lot of internet commentary over the years and there's always those that point out that the serious songs are their preference. If you didn't know this 4-CD was available, now you do, and here's the product page to order it. If you want to purchase each individual album and not the entire 4-CD box set you can visit Amazon or other online music sites and search for each album individually. That's why I listed the name of each CD individually. They're also on streaming music sites, too. As I pointed out in a couple of blogs recently Ray Stevens has an online presence. You can find his music just as easily online as you can other recording artists, too. There's this mentality out there from some people, and I've seen it on some of the social media sites, and it's this mentality that Ray's music isn't readily available for "download" or "streaming" but yet it most certainly is available on contemporary music formats. In other words, Ray's music isn't restricted to vinyl or cassette tape as some people, believe it or not, think it is. I know it sounds like an insurmountable task but one of my recent goals is to educate people into realizing that Ray's music is also available for their I-phones and other listening devices, etc. 

When you visit the CabaRay showroom there's a gift shop...and you can purchase the 4-CD box set and I also think each CD is available to purchase individually as well. There's several new items available, too. As a reminder, Ray Stevens will be in concert at the CabaRay five times during the month of August!! Don't forget to scroll up above the photo and click the link for specifics. 

Ray Stevens audio track: "Speed Ball"

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! This particular blog entry focuses on a novelty song from back in 1963...from the second studio album in the career of Ray Stevens. This is Ray Stevens was released in 1963 on Mercury Records. I have the vinyl album and I have a copy of it on CD. The compact disc copy is the second half of a 2-album-on-1-CD...it's paired with Ray's first studio album titled 1,837 Seconds of Humor. I first heard most of Ray's early 1960's recordings on a compilation that Mercury Records released in 1970 titled The Best of Ray Stevens. The copy I had happened to be a re-issue, in cassette tape format, from the mid 1980s. As a single it reached the Hot 100 of the pop chart and the Top-40 of the Rhythm and Blues chart. The single's B-side, "It's Party Time", didn't appear on Ray's 1962 or 1963 albums...to this day it remains a B-side exclusive. Ray's early '60s albums and songs were all produced by Shelby Singleton. Ray, on records, didn't start to become credited as a producer until his move to Monument Records in the latter half of 1963. He joined that record company, headed up by Fred Foster, as a session musician/record producer/music arranger but he remained a recording artist for Mercury Records for a few more years. Ray's first recording for Monument Records arrived in the final quarter of 1965. But let's got jump ahead...we're discussing the novelty song, "Speed Ball", from 1963. 

"Speed Ball" is a novelty song about a very fast motorcyclist and his girlfriend, Sugar Beet. Some hear the name as Sugar Bee, perhaps, but I've always heard it as Sugar Beet. The girlfriend has a very memorable experience on the motorcycle as she and Speed Ball pass a car on a hill and get a major surprise as they top the hill in the passing lane. I think the song would make a good limited animation music video...I'm sure many of you would especially be interested in how the scene involving Speed Ball and Sugar Beet topping the hill would be visually depicted on screen. Speed Ball, we're told, wears leather jackets and loves to peel out and throw debris all over the place as he takes off on the motorcycle. Ray includes some verbal effects of screeching tires and the genteel engine rev which, in contrast to the wild motorcycling, makes the revving hilarious. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-10, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Last night Episode 10, Season 1 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville made it's debut on YouTube. The guests are Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard. In this episode Ray opened the show singing "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me". This novelty song is from Ray's 2015 album, Here We Go Again!. If you ever wondered why the show's announcer, Bill Cody, often uses the expression, here we go again, it's used as a tie-in to Ray's 2015 comedy album. The 2015 album was the first Ray Stevens comedy album in 4 years. In 2012 he put out a 9-CD box set called The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. That box set features Ray's versions of novelty and comedy songs of the past, including re-recordings of some of his own songs, for the 9-CD collection. Some of the novelty songs Ray recorded for the box set go back to the 1930s. In most episodes of CabaRay Nashville you'll see the box set spotlighted by Don Cusic, wearing a graduates gown. 

Following the opening number there's a brief snippet from Ray's 1992 VHS, Amazing Rolling Revue. Ray then introduces Tanya Tucker and the two of them discuss "Delta Dawn". Ray includes a brief parody of the song that he says he learned from George Lindsey. Ray and Tanya discuss dogs and they relate a story about the time Tanya got him a schnauzer as a surprise. He says he was asked if he was a dog owner...and he said he wasn't...then he was asked if he had a dog what would he pick. Ray said he blurted out the first type of dog that entered his mind, schnauzer. Ray and Tanya sing "Old Dog". This song, in solo form by Ray, would later appear on his current comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. However, at the time of this episode's taping, it hadn't appeared on any Ray Stevens album.

Tanya sings "Strong Enough to Bend" and her portion of the show concludes. Ray then brings out T.G. Sheppard. He sings "I Loved 'Em, Everyone". I've always been under the impression that more footage of T.G. exists but it hasn't been seen. When you see the episode you'll probably have the same conclusion as I do. Ray talks about T.G. being a public relations guy which leads to a story from T.G. about how he was encouraged and advised by Waylon Jennings to make the change and become a singer. Ray mentions of an upcoming duet album that T.G. will be releasing. Ray closes the show singing "Along Came Jones"...it's history is briefly recounted by music professor, Don Cusic, as one of the songs Ray Stevens recorded in 1969 and was re-recorded for 2012's The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music.       

Ray Stevens: Hooks, Bait, and Streams...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! If you've taken notice I've been writing blog entries lately that center around the online presence of Ray Stevens. I'm not intentionally going by any kind of pattern...it just seems that way. I hadn't been promoting all of the various online ways you can hear the songs of Ray Stevens during the years that I've been writing fan created blog entries. Why? Well, I've always been a traditional consumer of music. I listen to it on vinyl and CD (my cassette player broke years ago) and since everyone that can see this blog is online, obviously, I didn't find it too appealing to promote readily available methods of music consumption like digital downloading and audio streaming. 

I wanted more focus on vinyl and CD back when I created this blog and I'd only mention digital downloads if it was necessary...like if Ray would release a new song through an online digital music platform...and there wouldn't be a physical copy of a CD available. In times like those I'd discuss digital downloads. Lately, though, I've been making up for lost time and relaying the various online sites where you can find Ray's songs. Now, I know you all don't need me to inform you of those music sites, you're all capable of finding Ray's songs on your own, but as a blogger I started to think that I hadn't done much to promote the online presence Ray Stevens has had for about as long as I've been writing this blog. 

I title this blog entry with such a unique phrase because songs have hooks, and some songs can bait listeners, and streams are how practically all music consumers hear the music. Streaming is the much preferred method because it doesn't require the downloading of audio files onto your computer. However, record companies prefer people paying a fee of some sort whether the music is being streamed or being downloaded in the traditional sense of the word. If you purchase music on Amazon in their Digital music store they still offer the traditional downloading...the audio files you purchase will be sent as a download attachment to your e-mail address and from there you upload the audio to your listening device. Going back to a previous subject matter in the above paragraph...another reason why I didn't promote the online music presence of Ray Stevens (originally) is because I couldn't show it off in a photo. You can't hold in your hand an audio file for the camera. 

Oh, yes, in case you're new to this fan created blog, I post a lot of photos of myself showing off all kinds of Ray Stevens vinyl singles, vinyl albums, cassette tapes, CD's, VHS tapes, and DVDs...so subconsciously I must've avoided promoting online music because I couldn't hold it in front of a camera and click...unlike here, where I'm showing off one of my Ray Stevens items. This is Funniest Characters which was released in 2000. It's a CD featuring the audio tracks from the VHS tape, Funniest Video Characters. The photo is a screen cap from the music video of "The Blue Cyclone". 

Usually my blog entries aren't text heavy on top...so this is unique. When writing the blog entries I often lay it out like a newspaper and have a photo posted on either the left or right hand side of the page (the kind you see for newspaper columnists) and then midway or at the end I embed a video if I happen to be writing about a song. Curb Records has been busy the last several months...they've taken over some more previously released Ray Stevens albums. I wrote about 2000's Ear Candy and the 1995 soundtrack of Get Serious! being uploaded onto YouTube by Curb Records. Curb has also uploaded to YouTube Ray's 2009 One for the Road album (July 18th) and the 2011 Spirit of '76 album. The interesting thing about these YouTube audio tracks is if you read the fine print Curb Records used the album's original year of release. So, instead of seeing Spirit of '76 credited as 2011 Clyde Records you're now going to see the credit as 2011 Curb Records. It's like a retroactive credit. 

Curb also took over online distribution for Hum It, a comedy album Ray recorded in 1997 for MCA Records, and Curb did the same for several other albums Ray originally released on his own Clyde Records label. I've made mention of that before in a couple of previous blog entries but it often bears repeating. It's a testament to how much Curb Records feels about Ray Stevens...that they've put their name on some of the albums Ray recorded for his own label more than a decade ago. 

So far this year Ray hasn't hinted at any upcoming albums. He signed to Curb Records in 2020 following the recording session he had with Jeannie Seely which produced the duet, "Dance Tonight". They promptly issued a newly recorded version of "The Quarantine Song" and then a special 50th anniversary recording of "Everything is Beautiful"...complete with a new music video. Ray also issued a medley, "Everything is Beautiful / United We Stand". Then, in 2021, Curb issued Ray's 4-CD box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. This was followed up with the novelty single, "Gas", in the summer of 2021. Then, in the fall of 2021, Curb Records issued the comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. If you add in all of the previously released albums that Curb Records has re-issued this year and last year it adds up to well over a dozen releases by Curb Records of Ray Stevens audio content. If you're curious you can read my Amazon review of the 4-CD box set by clicking HERE. The review was posted on Amazon almost a year ago...in late July 2021. 

One of the CDs in the box set from last year is titled Melancholy Fescue (High Class Bluegrass). Ray had the concept of this album all the way back in 2013...he put out a music video for "Unchained Melody" that year. He sang the song and a Bluegrass rendition of "Oh, Pretty Woman" during a guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 2013...but following this nothing more was said about the potential Bluegrass album. In Ray's 2014 memoir he mentions future album concepts he's working on with titles such as Melancholy Fescue...so the albums in the 2021 box set were nearly a decade in the planning stages. Ray is quoted as having said that he plans on releasing sequels to his 9-CD Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music and his 4-CD Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. I have no doubt that he's racked up a lot of recordings over the last number of years...but figuring out when to release the music, plotting a marketing strategy, etc. is probably the reason why there hasn't been any news release hinting at new music. The "Unchained Melody" music video is inching closer and closer to the plateau of 1,000,000 unique views on YouTube. As of now it's sitting at 998,044...all it needs is 1,956 unique views to reach an even 1,000,000. I'm embedding the music video below...if this is your first time seeing the video, watch it, and share it with your friends...

Ray Stevens audio track: "The P.S.A. Song"...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! It's with absolute certainty that I can clarify that Ray Stevens has indeed returned to concert performances at his CabaRay showroom. The word was released last month that Ray's hiatus from performing due to a vocal strain would last until early July per doctor's orders...but then there was no indication on Ray's social media accounts that concert performances had in fact resumed and so I became cautious when it come to promoting his concert performances until I could be certain that he'd resumed his schedule. So, yes, Ray has returned to the CabaRay showroom and he held his third concert of the month last night. He performs at the CabaRay every Saturday night with a few Thursday night concerts sprinkled in. 

This blog entry, however, is about a 2008 Ray Stevens comedy album titled Laughter is the Best Medicine. Ray originally issued it on his own Clyde Records label. Curb Records has since picked up it's distribution and they've uploaded the audio tracks onto YouTube.

I have the CD...and even though I already had almost all of the songs I purchased the CD in 2008 because of "The P.S.A. Song". As something of a completist I try and have just about everything Ray Stevens has recorded...in numerous formats (vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital download). Notice that I don't have the 8-track format listed. I've never been nostalgic for 8-tracks because I've always had less than fond memories about them. "The P.S.A. Song" was written by Buddy Kalb and it's origins were inspired by Ray's diagnosis of Prostate Cancer in the spring of 1999. 

When Ray's previous fan club was in operation (1987-2002) I was a member (1994-2002) and we'd get monthly newsletters. In one newsletter from 1999 they shown a photo of Ray with a comically large walking cane and in overly exaggerated hospital patient attire...with a caption that read it was from a music video recording session of "The P.S.A. Song" but there's never been a video of that song released to the general public. I don't know if the video was something Ray did, privately, for educational purposes at the request of a Nashville-area hospital or whatever come of that 'music video' described in the fan club newsletter. Anyway, the cancer diagnosis caused Ray to postpone the summer concerts at The Acuff Theater in Opryland. In the fall of 1999 he was declared cancer free and he launched a Christmas concert series at Opryland.

If you're a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens then you should be familiar with the photo used as the album cover. It's from his music video of "The Blue Cyclone". That recording, Part 1 and Part 2, is on this CD...which I call an audio get well card. The songs were meant for those recovering from surgeries or illnesses while in the hospital...and when this CD was originally released in 2008 it was only available inside the gift shops of local Nashville-area hospitals. It was given a much wider release later in the year once the exclusive portion of the release ended.

There's nothing too shocking when you open up the CD's fold-out. I just like making faces. When you open the CD's fold-out you'll see a get well message and Ray's autograph/signature. Below this is a blank line where you'd sign your name and then give it to whoever happens to be recovering or having to stay in a hospital. Now, obviously, I purchased this CD for my own collection but I'm sure others purchased the CD with the purpose of giving it to somebody as an audio get well card. Ray, at the time of the CD's release, was in his 9th year as a cancer survivor. All of the songs have to do with illness, pain, the hospital establishment... "Doctor, Doctor Have Mercy on Me", "We're Havin' a Baby", "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills", "Power Tools", and a wild song titled "The Cure". You can search YouTube for Ray Stevens and the album's title and the audio tracks will show up in the search results.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-9, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! If you've been paying attention to my blog entries lately you'll probably have noticed that there have been gaps between entries. This is because of my job...my hours have been changed to where I'm not available to author blog entries at all hours of the night and so I'll more than likely post the bulk of my forthcoming blog entries on my days off (Sunday and Monday) or like, now, in the hours after I get home from work...but if some sort of breaking news is released (like information of any new album or any new song emerges) I'll be sure and blog about it as soon as possible. This new schedule will take some getting used to.

Due to the new work schedule I'll no longer be home to watch the weekly YouTube premiere of Ray's CabaRay Nashville series. So, like now, I'll provide a re-cap once I get home from work. Last night's episode was Season One, Episode Nine guest starring John Conlee and Jeff Bates. Ray opened the show singing "Dang Me", the classic Roger Miller song. Ray recorded the song for his 2012 9-CD box set, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. Ray and Roger were friends in the music industry. I don't know if they were close friends in the same way that Ray happened to be with Jerry Reed, Ralph Emery, or Chet Atkins...but Ray and Roger respected each other's immense talents. Ray demonstrated his under-used scat singing ability while performing "Dang Me". I've always wished Ray would incorporate more of that into his songs since he's capable of scat singing, proficiently, but with Ray it's almost always used as a source of laughter.

I've been a fan of John Conlee about as long as I've been a fan of Ray Stevens. I was discovering all kinds of country music singers in the early 1980s thanks to my parents and grandparents. I was actually listening to and, as a kid, attempting to sing John Conlee songs for several years before I discovered the songs of Ray Stevens. Some of the first songs from John that I remember hearing were "Common Man", "Busted", "Nothing Behind You and Nothing In Sight", and "Miss Emily's Picture". On this episode of CabaRay Nashville John sings "Common Man" after discussing his earlier career as a news reader on WLAC radio. 

The second guest is Jeff Bates. Ray mentioned that Jeff co-wrote a Christmas song...the song is "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me". Ray recorded the song and put it out as a music video. Those of you are probably aware that Jeff Bates sounds incredibly like Conway Twitty on a lot of songs...particularly romantic songs...and on this episode he sings a Conway-type song called "Sleepin' In". Don Cusic appears as the music professor and tells the backstory of the novelty song, "Mr. Custer", which Ray sings to close out the show. Like the previous episodes this one is also a fast moving show. Each episode is typically 22 to 23 minutes including a couple of commercial breaks...one commercial airs at the beginning and another commercial airs at the end of the episode. The commercials are for the CabaRay showroom.

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube Episode 8, Season 1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Did you catch episode 8 of CabaRay Nashville this past Friday? The special guest happened to be Aaron Tippin. Ray opened the show singing part one of "The Blue Cyclone". In this episode Ray and Aaron discussed the military and the U.S.O. The reason being is because Aaron's breakthrough in the music industry arrived in 1991 with the song "You've Got to Stand For Something". The song, which Aaron sings first, is inspirational and it deals with a man passing along to his son advice he got from his own father about honor, integrity, and standing up for things in life. The feeling/mood of the song struck a strong chord with country music audiences in 1991 during the Gulf War as something of a national battle cry. The music video became a massive hit on The Nashville Network's video programs...the video showing Aaron sitting with his guitar singing the song to a boy representing his son...and speaking of the U.S.O., the song got him appearances on various military and patriotic charity events including an appearance or two with Bob Hope during his final round of international troop visits. Aaron's breakthrough success coming with a song of that magnitude indirectly or perhaps intentionally caused most of his follow-up songs to have lyrics that touched upon self-pride, honor, and a heavy dose of a blue collar worker sensibility. Some of his hits included "Working Man's Ph. D", "I Got It Honest", "Kiss This", and "Where The Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies".   

Aaron's second song of the episode is "God's Not Through with Me Yet" from his 2015 project called Aaron Tippin 25. That CD contained an overview of his official recording career which began in 1990. There were a lot of new songs on there including "God's Not Through with Me Yet" as well as a version of "Keep Your Hands to Yourself". During Aaron's performances Ray accompanied on the piano. 

Ray performed part two of "The Blue Cyclone" before wrapping up this episode.

Ray Stevens: 20 years since Osama

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! In December 2001 the legend gave us a new novelty song, "Osama Yo' Mama". The single hit in the final weeks of December and throughout the first half of 2002 was a country music best seller. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies and was certified a GOLD single by the RIAA in 2002. Curb Records released the CD single and then in February 2002 they released Osama Yo' Mama: The Album. The cover art and graphics are the same as the CD single from December 2001...the only difference is that the CD single doesn't contain the banner that reads 'The Album' beneath Ray's name. Ray produced a music video of the song and it became available in 2002 as well. It was the main music video on a VHS collection that ultimately got released in 2003, Cartoon Video Collection. Ray appears in live action in the music video but there's computer animated backgrounds and characters inserted into the production. Randy Cullers handles much of the animation that you see in some of Ray's music videos and he often does caricature illustrations for Ray. That 2003 VHS features the "Osama Yo' Mama" music video as the closer. It's a VHS of 6 music videos. It's since been re-issued in DVD format and all of the music videos have long since become part of Ray's YouTube channel. This 2001 single and the subsequent 2002 album returned Ray Stevens to Curb Records after a brief hiatus. Ray had previously been signed to Curb/Capitol in 1990...but as a result of music industry conglomeration and the business itself Curb and Capitol split after their few years in tandem and Ray remained with Curb Records. Originally Ray recorded three studio albums for Curb Records (1990, 1991, and 1993) while the label released several other compilations on him (1990, 1991, 1995, and 1996). Ray then made a return to MCA Records in the latter half of 1996 and he recorded two studio albums for them in 1997. 

Throughout this early to mid 1990s time period Ray had a separate career as a music video star with a series of VHS releases on his own Clyde Records label. Curb Records eventually distributed two of Ray's early VHS releases to retail stores in 1993 and 1994, each following year long mail-order television advertisements. After Ray left Curb Records in 1996 and following the release of his second studio album for MCA in 1997 Ray was without a recording contract for the first time in decades. In 2000 he recorded a studio album called Ear Candy for his own Clyde Records label. Then, a few months after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 Ray found himself with "Osama Yo' Mama" the following December and a return to Curb Records. The song was written by Ray Stevens and Buddy Kalb. The album features 10 songs...7 of them had previously appeared on Ear Candy. The three songs that weren't originally on Ear Candy were: "Osama Yo' Mama", "United We Stand", and a song Ray Stevens wrote called "Freudian Slip". "United We Stand" appeared as the B-side of the "Osama Yo' Mama" single. The 2002 Osama Yo' Mama: The Album reached the Country Top-40 on the album chart whereas the single reached the Top-50 on Billboard's Country Songs chart and it spent nearly half a year on Billboard's Country Single Sales chart. 

The Country Single Sales chart at this point in time was dominated by patriotic songs in the aftermath of 9/11. Ray had the only comical patriotic song...so it wasn't uncommon to see Billboard's Country Single Sales chart in the latter half of 2001 and throughout much of 2002 occupied by patriotic songs like Aaron Tippin's "Where The Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Flies", Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A.", Charlie Daniels "This Ain't No Rag it's a Flag", and the LeAnn Rimes recording of "God Bless America". Ray remained on the Curb Records roster until 2005 following several single-only recordings: "Hello Mama", "We're Having a Baby the Natural Way", and "The New Battle of New Orleans". Afterward, Ray became an Independent recording artist...recording studio albums and continuing to produce music videos for his own Clyde Records label until returning to Curb Records in 2020. 

As many of you are well aware Ray Stevens has given us plenty of comedy songs over the decades. There are all types of comedy and if anything comedy is one of those areas of entertainment which is highly subjective. Comedy is something, in order for it to work, has to be appreciated by a listener. Since comedy is subjective there's always going to be the possibility that a comic may get the wrong audience...and that's probably the worst nightmare for any comedian. I've watched/listened to a wide variety of comedians and due to my sense of humor I either find it funny or I don't get it...and that's the very essence of subjectivity. In comedy there is also an intellectual component to it. Even though it may sound strange to some people, even in comedy where we think it's suppose to be all laughs and fun, there are comedians that are serious about comedy. In rare moments you'll see comedians criticize one another over what's funny or what's appropriate subject matter. 

Have you ever heard of the phrases low-brow and high-brow? A lot of comics who are cerebral in nature, have a dry wit, and satiric tend to have much more appreciation among the high-brow, or, high society...but the humor sometimes doesn't translate outside that group. On the other hand there's comedy that's derogatorily referred to as low-brow, sophomoric, or blue...which has much more commercial appeal or broad acceptance...but is looked down upon by the more cerebral humorists. Also, just typing the word 'humorist' has me wanting to go into detail about the styles of comedy and how some comics prefer to be known as comedians, satirists, humorists, parodists, or absurdist. Ray Stevens, as mentioned, has recorded all kinds of comedy...and because of this there are some who only appreciate the more satiric or the more 'sophisticated' kinds of comedy from his vast recording catalog. Then there are those who may not get the satire or sophisticated humor of some of Ray's songs and they gravitate or prefer the good ol' boy 'low-brow' comedy in some of his other songs. Who knew that comedy could be splintered into so many tiny subjective pieces? Here's the 2003 music video for "Hang Up and Drive", from the 2002 album...

Ray's 2002 album contains various kinds of comedy. There's obviously the topical comedy of "Osama Yo' Mama" but then there's pop-culture trends that provide laughs such as talking on the phone while driving, "Hang Up and Drive", as seen above. Radio shows featuring callers seeking marital and relationship advice...or to vent their frustrations...is satirized on the song "The Lady on the Radio". The art of storytelling comedy is found in "Bon Temps Roulette", a wild adventure detailing a woman at a Riverboat casino and her exploits throughout a night of gambling and who ended up taking her home. The subject of pool sharks dominate "The Hustler", a non-comical story about a young pool player seeking out a legendary pool shark for a chance to take the old timer's place as the greatest pool player. Buddy Kalb and his wife, Carlene, wrote the song and it had previously been recorded in Mel McDaniel in the 1980s. Ray wrote "Freudian Slip" which humorously tells of a nervous man and how tongue tied he gets when trying to speak to women...while arguably not necessarily representative of Freudian slips, according to psychologists, nonetheless that's the song's title and it's funny. The nostalgic "Safe at Home", from the pen of Nick Sibley, is another non-comical recording on the 2002 album. The album's closer is the inspirational "United We Stand". 

Ray Stevens: The Online Presence...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Awhile ago I wrote a blog entry about the availability of Ray Stevens songs on various online sites. Ray himself has promoted his presence in digital download, streaming media. In earlier blog entries I mentioned that I prefer to listen to audio tracks by Ray Stevens on YouTube but as most of you are well aware there are numerous online music sites to listen to Ray. A few days ago Ray uploaded a Spotify playlist titled The Complete Ray Stevens. It's a playlist of more than 100 Ray Stevens recordings (specifically 115) from all time periods. Ray's Spotify account gets nearly 200,000 monthly listeners. Four of his recordings have racked up more than 2,000,000 plays. As of July 14, 2022 the Top-6 most played Ray Stevens songs on Spotify are:

1. The Mississippi Squirrel Revival (1984 recording)  5,585,530

2. The Streak (1974 recording)  4,784,167

3. Misty (1975 recording)  4,555,687

4. Everything Is Beautiful (1970 recording)  2,308,552

5. It's Me Again, Margaret  (1992 recording)**  1,124,357

6. Ahab the Arab  (1995 recording)**  1,046,005

Some explanation is in order, not necessarily about the photo of Ray Stevens that I decided to use, but about audio tracks 5 and 6. Although Spotify features the original 1984 recording of "It's Me Again, Margaret" by Ray Stevens, very interestingly, his 1992 re-recording for the music video is the one that's gotten more than 1,000,000 plays. This 1992 re-recording later surfaced on Ray's Curb Records Box Set release in 2005. The 1962 original of "Ahab the Arab" is also on Spotify but yet it's the re-recording for his 1995 music video, found on the VHS Get Serious!, which has gotten more than 1,000,000 plays. I don't know if those audio tracks at 5 and 6 are the ones that listeners find first in Spotify search results but it's unique for re-recordings to out-perform original recordings. I'm a Ray Stevens nut/fanatic and I like each rendition of "Ahab the Arab" that I've heard Ray perform: there's the 1962 recording, a 1965 recording featuring an introduction from Ralph Emery, the 1969 recording which has gotten a lot of exposure on various compilation albums, and the 1995 recording for the music video. If you're not on Spotify and want to be you can create a free account. If you're already on Spotify but have never thought to look to see if Ray Stevens is there do a search for him and then start listening. I say that because I believe there are some people out there who automatically think that because Ray is of the well-established age group that he doesn't have his music available on contemporary online music sites but he actually does. Whenever you visit Spotify, since that's the site I'm spotlighting in this blog entry, do a search for Ray Stevens if you've never thought to do one before...you'll be amazed at just how many recordings of his that you'll have at your fingertips.   

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-7, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Yesterday evening Episode 7, Season 1 of CabaRay Nashville made it's debut on YouTube. In this particular episode the guest star happened to be Jimmy Fortune. Ray opened the show with "Hang Up and Drive". Afterward, Ray brought out Jimmy Fortune and the two discussed Jimmy's long-time role with The Statler Brothers. Jimmy become a member of the group in 1982. The previous tenor singer, Lew DeWitt, become ill and was unable to continue and so Jimmy Fortune was selected as a replacement. His composing style and the kind of lyrics he come up with immediately had an impact on the group, overall. The group had previously recorded their share of love songs for their albums but Jimmy brought a flair for drama and sentimentality whereas, before, the group had an overall sing-a-long, bouncy feel to their music...even with the love songs. Jimmy's tended to be slow, dramatic ballads...and he usually sang lead vocal on those songs. Here's a super brief summary of the group...

When The Statler Brothers were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 the plaque spotlighted Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, Jimmy Fortune, and former member Lew DeWitt. Although Lew had retired from the group in 1981 and passed away in 1990 his contributions to the group's initial successes in both gospel and country music were so vital that his likeness is on the Hall of Fame plaque along side the other four. The Statler Brothers originally started out as a southern gospel group called the Four Star Quartet and then The Kingsmen. They eventually had to change their name, in 1963, so it wouldn't be confused with the rock group, The Kingsmen. Joe McDorman was originally part of the group prior to Don Reid's involvement. McDorman was with the group from it's 1955 inception until 1960 when Don Reid replaced him. From 1964 until 1972 the group was part of Johnny Cash's road show. They opened his shows and sang back-up vocals. In 1982, as mentioned, Lew DeWitt retired and Jimmy Fortune replaced him. The group hosted The Statler Brothers Show on The Nashville Network for 7 years, 1991-1998. 

After the group retired in 2002 Jimmy continued on with a solo career. In this episode of CabaRay Nashville you'll see Jimmy perform the group's biggest hit of the 1980s, "Elizabeth". He wrote the song and sang the lead vocal on the original release late in 1983. Bobby Bare, Charlie McCoy, and Don Schlitz are featured toward the end of the show. When Ray was taping these first season episodes they recorded several episodes in a day's time and on that particular day they happened to have the three of them in the television studio...so Ray recorded a segment with the three of them and inserted it into the Jimmy Fortune episode. The trio, along with Ray playing the piano, took turns singing lines from a rhythm and blues song called "My Babe". Don Cusic's professor of music segment was shown and he spoke a little bit about the history of "Gitarzan". Ray performed the song and closed out the show with a one-liner joke...as he does at the end of each episode before asking a member of the audience to dance with him as the closing music plays and the credits roll on the screen. Full episodes of CabaRay Nashville make their debut on YouTube every Friday evening at 7pm Eastern, 6pm Central. For the last 7 weeks I've been watching each episode when it makes it's YouTube debut but soon I'll have to catch it later because my upcoming new work schedule in a couple of weeks will interfere and I won't be home at that time anymore. So, then, I'll be posting an overview of each YouTube CabaRay Nashville debut on a Saturday afternoon much like I'm doing now.

Ray Stevens: Upcoming July CabaRay concerts...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Happy 4th of July as well...Independence Day 2022. As most of you probably are already aware, Ray Stevens come down with a vocal issue midway through June and had to cancel his remaining CabaRay concerts. At the time Ray commented that he'd be returning to the CabaRay stage on July 9th. As of now there hasn't been any posts on his social media indicating those plans have changed...but I've been cautious about writing a blog entry promoting the July concerts given there's been no news update as to whether or not he'll be returning to the CabaRay this coming Saturday. I'm sure that there will be an announcement made this week...this being a holiday there wasn't an announcement about future CabaRay concerts on his social media pages. Now, if everything goes as planned, Ray should make his return on July 9th. In the month of July he will be in concert at the CabaRay every Saturday night. The dates of the concerts are as follows: July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd, and July 30th. As always you can visit Ray's official CabaRay webpage by clicking  HERE and browse the various ticket and dinner options. You can purchase concert-only tickets or you can add an additional fee for dinner service prior to the concert. There's a piano bar at the showroom, too. Some may choose to lounge around in the piano bar prior to Ray's concert. The piano bar features a pianist named John Jonethis. There is also a gift shop in the showroom as well. After the concert the piano bar remains open as does the gift shop. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-6, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Yesterday evening Episode six, Season one of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville premiered on YouTube. As I often do I made a couple of comments in the live chat room that was available during the streaming of the show and I posted a comment in the main section below the video. On this episode the special guest is songwriter Bobby Braddock. Ray opened the show singing "There Must Be a Pill For This" from his 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. If you've been watching these CabaRay Nashville episodes you should be familiar with the announcer, Bill Cody, using that phrase in his introduction. Sometimes he'll say "ladies and gentlemen, here we go again...". 

Ray and Bobby talk about the songwriting business and experiences in the music industry. They have a laugh when talking about how their primary music instrument is the piano, in Nashville, which has received the nickname of guitar town. Bobby mentions numerous songs that he's written and co-written. Some of the songs that he was involved in as a writer, but not mentioned in this appearance, were "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too" by The Statler Brothers; George and Tammy's duet, "We're Not The Jet Set"; Tammy's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"; John Anderson's "Would You Catch a Fallen Star"; and many more. 

Bobby sings "He Stopped Loving Her Today", a song he co-wrote with Curly Putman and had become a massive award winning hit for George Jones. Bobby's songs were recorded by numerous recording artists and in my opinion George Jones recorded probably more songs from Bobby Braddock than other recording artists. Bobby wrote several songs that ended up on George Jones albums...and several that were single releases...long before "He Stopped Loving Her Today" appeared on George's 1980 I Am What I Am album. One of the earliest songs that George recorded from the pen of Bobby Braddock was the humorous 1973 single, "Nothin' Ever Hurt Me Half as Bad as Losing You". Bobby had a hand at writing "Golden Ring", which became a huge duet hit for George and Tammy. Bobby was also the writer of George's 1976 single, "Her Name Is...". 

Although he didn't make a career out of it Bobby did write his share of comical, amusing songs...some of them I previously mentioned plus he also wrote "Country Music Lover" which became a hit for Little Jimmy Dickens and the whimsical "Something To Brag About" which is most often recorded as a duet. George and Tammy recorded a version as did Charlie Louvin and Melba Montgomery. Willie Nelson and Mary Kay Place also recorded the song. 

In this episode of Ray's television show you'll see Ray and harmony singer, Sheri Copeland-Smith, perform "Golden Ring". She used to be part of the George Jones road show and she sang duets with George in concert. Ray closes the show with "Makin' the Best of a Bad Situation". Given that the guest was a songwriter this episode tended to be more focused on the music industry and the behind the scenes goings on. Dick Feller was the writer of "Makin' the Best of a Bad Situation" and it's a song that fits right in with the up-tempo, sung narration that can be found on other songs from the writer. Jerry Reed recorded numerous Dick Feller songs...and this closing song, when I first heard it years ago, made me think of Jerry Reed.