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.