Ray Stevens and the Upcoming New Year...2024

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! It's getting that time of the year where I write a blog entry focusing on my predictions for the upcoming new year in the career of Ray Stevens. As we come to an end to 2023 it was a year where Ray kept himself the busiest performing concerts at his CabaRay showroom. There were a few departures from this, however, as earlier in 2023 Ray's episode of Songs at the Center was taped. The series, which is syndicated on local PBS stations, didn't have a national air-date for Ray's episode and so fans had to look up the series and, first, see if a local PBS affiliate in their area was airing the show and, second, which day and time featured the episode guest starring Ray Stevens. The episode began showing up on local PBS stations in the summer of 2023 (June/July) yet prior to this he was a guest on local Nashville entertainment programming. In March 2023 he was interviewed on local Nashville television station, WTVF, in the newscast's Talk of the Town segment. The appearance was to promote the 2023 concert season at the CabaRay showroom. Ray appeared in another interview in April 2023 on Today in Nashville, a lifestyle/entertainment program on WSMV, to promote the 2023 concert season at the CabaRay showroom. In the fall of 2023 a couple of news items pertaining to Ray made headlines. The first, reported in August, was a news article about Ray putting up his Belle Meade residence for sale. 

This bit of news came as a half-surprise, to me, considering that he moved into the house not too long ago. I looked in the archives and re-discovered news reports from June 2016 which told of Ray purchasing the property...and the amount he purchased it for in 2016 is 4 times less than the amount of his 2023 selling price. I hadn't seen any news reports indicating that the property is sold, as of this writing, so I'm guessing it's still on the market. The reason I said that the news was half-surprising is the sheer size of the house is extravagant for a couple (14 rooms which includes 5 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms of various size) but given that we don't know much about his personal life he may had members of his extended family (nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc.) living on the property, too. As many of you know Ray lost his wife of 60 years to cancer on New Year's Eve 2021 and so I don't know if that played a factor in his decision to put his house up for sale or not. The second headliner of the fall of 2023 in the career of Ray Stevens arrived in October...

On October 5, 2023 the music video, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", was uploaded onto YouTube and other video hosting sites. The song had been familiar to us Ray Stevens fans since the latter half of 2022 when he premiered it on an episode of Larry's Country Diner. As with practically anything it took an official music video to create some awareness for the song. On YouTube the video became an immediate hit...to date it sits with nearly half a million unique views. On Twitter, now known as X, the video soared past 1,000,000 views within two days. When you visit the Twitter/X site and look up the video you'll see the 1M view statistic posted underneath the video box. There isn't any way to find a specific number, though...only that it's been by more than a million people. On YouTube, in comparison, you can see the exact number of views posted under the video box. 

Curb Records issued an audio recording of the song and the publicity photo is what you see at the top of this blog entry. 

In the upcoming New Year I'm hoping, and I'm sure the rest of you are also hoping, that some new albums are released. There are several songs that have been put on social media from Ray that, to date, have no official album to call home. "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" is just one of those. The others are "Where Are All the 12 Year Old's?", "Cup Holders", "It's My Job", and "The More You Cry". In the past a total number of five songs would make up half of a 10 song album. 

Also in the New Year, January 24th to be specific, Ray will celebrate a birthday. I'll hold off posting about the upcoming birthday until we get closer to that date. Happy early New Year's!! If I don't post anything tomorrow I'll definitely post on the first day of 2024. 

I leave you with a look at super talent Ray Stevens at the console during various points in his recording career... 

Ray Stevens: The Christmas Time of the Year

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! The Christmas season at the CabaRay showroom wrapped up last weekend and the showroom will be closed until December 26th. There are two more concerts scheduled to wrap up 2023. Those additional concerts from Ray Stevens will take place on December 29th and December 30th. There won't be a New Year's Eve show and I'm sure most of you may have some kind of idea of why. In case you're not aware it was on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2021) that Ray's wife of 60 years passed away from cancer. Although I've not been able to find any information online to confirm my opinion, and it's just my opinion, I'd say that in tribute to her he made the decision to forgo future New Year's Eve concerts and so there wasn't one, obviously, in 2021 and there wasn't one in 2022 and there isn't going to be one in 2023. In 2024 Ray will have the Indie Country Showdown scheduled to take place at his CabaRay on select dates early next year. Ray's first concert of 2024 at the CabaRay will be early in March. If you're planning on attending any Ray Stevens concerts at the CabaRay in 2024 the tickets are on sale. 

It's the Christmas time of the year...we're two days from the holiday. Have you spotted Santa Claus anywhere? If so, was he watching you? Maybe you'll see Santa Sunday night...and as for this music video nearly 6 million have seen it on YouTube over the course of the last 14 years. It was uploaded in 2009 for those that don't want to do the math. 

Ray's first ever music video just happened to be his 1985 rendition of "Santa Claus is Watching You". The song, which Ray originally recorded and wrote in 1962, received an almost entirely different set of lyrics. Actually, 99 percent of the lyrics were re-written in the 1985 rendition with the exception of the song's title and hook lines such as "he's everywhere! he's everywhere!" and the exaggerated list of Santa's reindeer. The 1985 rendition has a love song overall theme whereas the 1962 recording was strictly aimed at children. 

Do you own any of the Ray Stevens Christmas albums? In this day and age it may sound old fashioned to ask such a thing when any one of us can easily visit YouTube, for example, and search for songs and albums and immediately have the ability to listen. So, then, do any of you have any of Ray's Christmas songs or albums in your audio library? If you do are they the comedy Christmas songs or do you also have the non-comical Christmas songs in your audio library, too? To date he's recorded three Christmas albums. 

1. Christmas Through a Different Window; 1997 (all comedy)

2. Ray Stevens Christmas; 2009 (non-comedy)

3. Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me; 2016 (comedy and non-comedy)

"Bad Little Boy", which you'll see/hear in the video below, comes from the 1997 Christmas album. This performance is from The Statler Brothers Show. In the late 1990s Ray had a Christmas concert series at Opryland's Acuff Theater and as you all could imagine it was tied to the 1997 album. If you were listeners of the Grand Ole Opry's radio programs at that point in time you may remember that Ray's Christmas concerts were promoted on-air. How? Well, his series acted as a sponsor of several Opry segments. You would've heard one of the Opry announcers say something like "...and this portion of the Opry is presented by the Ray Stevens Christmas Show at the Acuff Theater in Opryland..." followed by more information about his concerts. 

Wasn't that fun? Now, getting back to the Christmas albums... the first Christmas album features original songs. The second Christmas album contains an original, "Deck The Halls with Teardrops", with the remainder of the album being his arrangements of Christmas standards. On the third Christmas album it features a couple of original songs, some Christmas comedy songs, and some Christmas standards. The original songs, "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me" and "Claws (A Cat's Letter to Santa)", appear on the third Christmas album but it also includes his rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", his rendition of the Spike Jones classic, "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", and "Merry Christmas", a song that until the 2016 Christmas album came along was only available as an audio track online and in music video format. 

The music video of "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me" has gotten just a little under half a million unique views on YouTube, so far. However, I'm sharing his performance of the song from his TV show, CabaRay Nashville. All of you fans of Ray Stevens have a Merry Christmas. I'm sure I'll make another post before the end of the year. I typically post a look ahead to the New Year blog entry at some point. 

Ray Stevens: Year-End Spotify Stats...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! I usually try to spotlight this each year and with my busy work schedule this time of the year I don't know if I've mentioned this bit of news, yet, but I'm making mention of it now. Several days ago the music streaming service, Spotify, released their annual statistics on all of the recording artists on that platform. It's officially called Spotify Wrapped but I choose to describe it with simpler terminology and call it the Year-end Spotify Stats. I don't know if you're like I am but I don't get specific when it comes to online music. Some people are very precise in their definitions but I use words interchangeably. For example: I often use the phrase 'online music' to describe any type of audio that's available to be played online. Now, other people out there, may get more specific and use phrases like 'streaming music', 'digital downloads', 'audience impressions', etc. Whatever word or phrase you use it's all the same to me...and on Spotify it's rewarding to see that Ray continues his consistent pattern and in fact gets a lot of exposure by way of modern technology. I point that particular fact out because it's very easy, or I should say, for a lot of people it's easy for them to push Ray into some sort of pre-determined category and ignorantly declare that the only people who listen to his music are those who "cling to vinyl, guns, use rotary phones, have rabbit ears on their TV sets, and haven't ventured into the current century". Yes, believe it or not, there are some snide, crass critics (both professional and self-appointed) who are prone to making those kinds of ignorant, loathsome remarks and so when Spotify releases the year-end review, and being a big fan of Ray Stevens as I happen to be, it's fun to take the attitude of 'Ha! Ha! In your face, critics!'. This particular year-end Spotify stats show us that Ray's songs received 5.5 million streams. In the listeners category they have Ray with 990.4K (in the range of 990,400 +). Hours spent listening, total, to Ray's songs in 2023 on Spotify is 287.9K (that's nearly 290,000 hours!). A total of 178 countries accessed the music of Ray Stevens on Spotify in 2023. Now, then, how's all of that to bring a year to a close? Also, don't forget, there are still Christmas at the CabaRay concerts going on for the rest of the month. There are concerts on Thursday and Saturday. Search online for 'Ray Stevens CabaRay' for more information. 

Ray Stevens: Early '90's "Santa Claus is Watching You" performance...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!!! I don't know if too many of you recall seeing Ray perform "Santa Claus is Watching You" on The Family Channel in the early 1990s or not. I remember watching it on TV the night it aired. It was a television special starring various recording artists synonymous with Branson, Missouri. Ray was very synonymous with Branson in that time period...he was one of the Top-10 attractions during his 3 season stay (1991, 1992, 1993). If you look closely he was probably among the Top-3. Ray performs "Santa Claus is Watching You" with the added assistance of Yakov Smirnoff and Janice Copeland. Ray's Branson concerts featured Janice Copeland as a comical co-star and as a featured vocalist. If you have Ray's VHS titled 'More Ray Stevens Live!' you'll see her as a serious vocalist but then you'll see her as a comical alter ego, Beulah. She was also in the 'Ray Stevens Live!' VHS, too. You're going to love seeing this early 1990's performance and if you remember that era in Ray's career it'll immediately send you into a time warp. Country Road TV uploaded this early 1990's television performance. 

Ray Stevens: Music Country at 50

Earlier in the year I highlighted the 50th anniversary of Ray's 1973 album, Nashville. Off to the right is a cassette copy showing the record company, Barnaby, and the distributor, MGM, on the cover. When writing that blog entry I don't recall if I made mention of Ray's appearance on the summer replacement show of Dean Martin. The summer show, Dean Martin Presents Music Country, ran during the summer of 1973. Online data indicates that Ray appeared on this show in July 1973...and there's a magazine advertisement that was circulated at the time promoting Ray's upcoming appearance. The ad promoted not only the upcoming television appearance but also promoted the fact that Ray would be singing his current single, "Nashville". Dean's summer show aired on NBC-TV. Now, as we're several weeks away from 2023 turning to 2024, a question forms in my mind: is there any footage of Ray's performance of "Nashville" from Dean Martin's summer show? When you look up information about the July 1973 episodes of that particular series you don't get too much information beyond what seems to be a randomly selected list of guest stars. If I recall correctly the magazine advertisement stated something along the lines of: "Stop! Look! Listen...to Ray Stevens as he sings his new hit, Nashville, on Dean Martin Presents Music Country on NBC-TV". Now, that's going from memory, I'm sure it's not word for word accurate. I've touched on this several times over the years that I've had this fan created blog page up and running and it's the lack of Ray Stevens footage on video hosting sites. I should be more specific, though. The lack of footage from variety shows that we, as fans, know that he guest starred on in his career. Ray's official social media pages has a lot of footage, obviously, but even their library of appearances isn't complete. 

Now, not counting the footage from the 1973 Dean Martin summer show, there are dozens of television appearances from everything from Hee Haw and Pop! Goes the Country to telecasts of the Music City News Awards, Crook and Chase, Nashville Now, and locally produced television programs that still haven't become available online. There is a 1991 episode of Nashville Now, for example, that Ray guest hosted but it has never surfaced on the internet...not even a clip or two, let alone the full episode. Am I impatient? Do I feel ungrateful for the things that are online? No, I'm thrilled and grateful for what's out there on the internet at the moment, I'm just impatient. 

I'm a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens that yearns to see more and more footage. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Christmas Concerts 2023

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! As many of you may know it's Christmas season at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom. The Christmas concerts began this past Saturday (November 25th) and they'll continue through December 30th. Also, as a reminder, a Thursday night concert has been added in addition to the usual Saturday night concert. November 25th and this coming Thursday, November 30th, are the first CabaRay Christmas concerts of the 2023 season. As we look ahead to the upcoming concert dates make sure to make note of these for the month of December:

December 2nd, 7th, 9th, 14th, and 16th will be the heaviest of the Christmas concerts leading up to the holiday. Ray will then take a break to celebrate Christmas with his family and will return for concerts on December 29th and December 30th. I don't know if those two concerts (the 29th being a Friday) will be a full Christmas show or if it'll be a regular concert with a few Christmas songs sprinkled throughout. In years past he kept the Christmas spirit for the entire month of December and so it's possible the concerts on the 29th and 30th will be Christmas dominated, too.

How many of you have seen Ray's music video, "Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me"? I'm sure most of you have seen it and watched it many times over the years. Did you know that it's nearing half a million unique views on YouTube? It was uploaded back on November 16, 2016 and as of this writing it's received 455,622 unique views. Could it push into the 500,000 level by the end of the year? It's anyone's guess but if you want to see it reach that level by year's end then you'll need to share the video with those who haven't watched the video yet.   

Ray Stevens: 1995 'Cornball' CD

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! I came across a CD copy of the 1995 Warner Brothers CD, Cornball, for sale on eBay. The seller resides on the east coast. When I saw the CD listed on eBay it had me thinking, once again, of Ray's years on Warner Brothers (1976-1979) and how the Cornball CD isn't available for online listening like the other two compilation companion CD's happen to be. In 1995 the record company issued three compilations on Ray's years at the label: Cornball, Do You Wanna Dance?, and The Serious Side of Ray Stevens. The latter two CD's can be found either as digital downloads or are able to be heard on streaming sites. Cornball, for whatever reason, hasn't been as easily accessible. That particular CD collects ten of Ray's recordings during that mid to late '70s time period. In fact, all of the CD's showcase that time period, but because Cornball features his 1979 recording, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", it's the one compilation from 1995 to feature each year he was with Warner Brothers: 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. How come? Well, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" was Ray's only recording in 1979...meaning that the other two CD's focus on 1976, 1977, and 1978. Cornball, as an album title, is misleading. 

The title would have you believe that this CD is filled with humorous recordings and nothing else. The fact is that "Cornball" is the name of a song that Ray wrote...a love ballad...and it was originally released on his 1976 album, Just for the Record. There are three or, possibly, four, humorous songs on this ten track collection depending on what you might consider funny or comical. There's his two chicken clucking recordings as The Henhouse Five Plus Too titled "In the Mood" and "Classical Cluck". There's also the parody, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". Those are the three, without a doubt, comical recordings. I've read vintage music essays of the 1950s and most of those consider "One Mint Julep" a comical/novelty song. That particular recording, track 7, comes from his 1978 album, There Is Something On Your Mind. It had been a hit in 1952 for the rhythm and blues group, The Clovers. That particular 1978 album is Ray's salute/tribute to the music of the 1950s. "Money Honey" and "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash", tracks 4 and 8 on the 1995 CD, also come from that 1978 album. 

When I heard "One Mint Julep" for the first time on the 1995 compilation CD I didn't hear it as a humorous song...but apparently those who find it comical are those who know more about drinking alcohol than I do. 

The song is about a guy who has drank numerous mint juleps and has learned that, while under the influence, he's gotten himself into a relationship he didn't want. Music essayists and historians say the humor comes from a guy getting himself drunk by way of what's mostly a drink observed for special events (like the Kentucky Derby) and isn't what most would commonly want to get drunk on. 

Here is the Cornball track list:

1. In the Mood; 1976

2. I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow; 1979

3. You Are So Beautiful; 1976

4. Money Honey; 1978

5. Cornball; 1976

6. Dixie Hummingbird; 1977

7. One Mint Julep; 1978

8. Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash; 1978

9. Save Me From Myself; 1977

10. Classical Cluck; 1976

Ray Stevens: Festive Feast Fun

Hello all of you Ray Stevens fans!! We're getting closer to Thanksgiving 2023...as I write this blog entry we're a little more than a half an hour away from the 22nd and then it'll be one more day until one of my favorite holidays of the year. Ever since I began this fan created blog I've often posted holiday-themed blog posts whenever we get near a major holiday. This year it's no different. We're nearing Thanksgiving and as in time's past I'm here to spotlight several audio tracks from Ray Stevens which go a long way at explaining why we're so thankful for his brand of music. It's not all comedy songs yet that's what a general public knows him for. The menu for our Thanksgiving will be what we usually have: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stove top stuffing, homemade macaroni, chicken and noodles, pumpkin pies, dinner rolls, and some other items. 

One of the audio tracks I'm sharing in this blog entry is a 1975 recording by Ray of "Lady of Spain". If you have not heard his rendition of the pop standard then prepare to be entertained as Ray gives us a vocal impression of Fats Domino. When you listen you're going to hear Ray call out the name, Norman. The person he's referring to is the saxophone player, Norman Ray. 

Now, after listening to that great rendition, wasn't it festive and fun?? As you can see from the video embed, "Lady of Spain" is from Ray's 1975 'Misty' album. That entire album, well, most of it, contains Ray's rendition pop music standards. The two original songs on that album were "Sunshine" and a song from the pen of Layng Martine, Jr. called "Take Care of Business". The album has other festive, up-tempo tracks, too: "Deep Purple", the previously mentioned "Sunshine", "Cow-Cow Boogie", and the title track, "Misty". 

A year later, 1976, Ray found himself on the Warner Brothers label. He had been on the Barnaby Records label since 1970. Ray's first album release for Warner Brothers, 'Just for the Record', emerged months into 1976 and the lead-off single from that album was his up-tempo rendition of "You Are So Beautiful". Elsewhere on the album is another up-tempo, festive and fun track titled "Can't Stop Dancin'". That particular song would get covered by the pop music duo, Captain and Tennille. The duo gave the song a different arrangement and it sounds a bit different than how Ray recorded it. 

One of the up-tempo romps from a series of comedy albums Ray recorded for MCA Records in the mid to late 1980s came along in 1988 in the form of "Language, Nudity, Violence, and Sex". As you may be able to guess from the song's title it's about the warnings that accompany movies that get shown on cable television. In this particular time period consumers were growing their entertainment options...cable television, once referred to as pay-TV, was becoming more and more accessible as part of a person's basic cable service. Satellite television was also a big thing...how many people remember driving around in their cars and seeing certain houses, usually in the wealthier side of town, with a huge dish antenna sitting in the front or back yard? The song on Ray's 1988 album satirizes cable/satellite television and delivers a comical point of view from a newly subscribed customer. The album from 1988 is titled I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like. Listen for a veiled reference to Dr. Ruth within the recording. 

Ray Stevens: Audio Diary 7

2023

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! I know that most of you have probably heard what I call the recent recordings from Ray. The  recordings, to date, have not appeared on any album yet. As mentioned in some of my other blog entries the recent recordings have either become available as stand alone digital downloads or as audio tracks on several streaming sites but there hasn't been a full album released where those songs can call a home. The image you see of Ray is strictly for promotional/publicity purposes. If any compact disc release is forthcoming I doubt that particular pose will grace the album cover but it may be included should a CD be released with a fold out. In this day and age you have to always wonder if a CD will be released considering how a massive amount of people get their music through online streaming and it's only a small amount of people that prefer compact disc purchasing. The recent recordings from Ray are: "Where Are All The Twelve Year Olds?", "You're the Cup Holder of My Life", "The More You Cry", and "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". In this seventh installment of the Audio Diary series of blog posts I'm going to include the audio tracks of a couple of those recent recordings. I won't be including any video embeds, though. In this particular blog entry I'm going to share clickable links to the YouTube audio tracks. Why? Well, the reason for that is I don't want to have three video embeds stacked on top of one another. Some will  probably say to themselves: "oh, wow, he doesn't want three video embeds stacked on top of each other but he'll stack three links on top of one another...". True, that's what I'm going to do, because visually I think it looks more better using links. The two audio track I'm including are shown below...

Where Are All The Twelve Year Olds? 

You're The Cup Holder of My Life 

Those audio tracks come from Ray's appearance on Larry's Country Diner on RFD-TV. There's an audio of his performance of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" from Larry's show, too, but when it comes to that particular recording I prefer to promote the official music video. I won't be posting it here since this blog entry is meant to focus on audio-only but in a future blog entry I'll be embedding the video and providing some updated unique video totals. I'm also going to include my review of the song...a review I posted over on Amazon but it hasn't been posted to their site yet. 

Ray Stevens: Time Tested and Terrific

2021

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I know so many of you are well aware that in a couple of hours the clocks will fall back 1 hour at 2am. This will usher in the start of Standard Time which will run until March 2024 when we'll then set our clocks ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time. Since most of you who read this fan created blog are fans of Ray Stevens then you'll more than likely agree with my sentiment that he's time tested and terrific. Ray is well into his 66th year as a recording artist/entertainer (1957 - present) and given that kind of longevity he's, as I wrote, time tested and terrific. As fans we know that he remains active in the recording studio as well as on the stage at his CabaRay showroom just west of downtown Nashville. There have been some new songs from Ray pop up from time to time since the latter half of last year but, so far, there hasn't been a release of any new album. As of this writing the last full length album Ray released came along in 2021, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. The lead music video, "Hoochie Coochie Dancer", got a lot of online notice on video hosting/video sharing social media sites. Another song from that particular album, "Gas", had been released as an audio track months earlier. There were several other songs on that 2021 comedy album that I felt should have gotten some official publicity, too.. one of them being "Dis-Connected" which focuses on online dating/online chat rooms. The album's title track, "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore", strikes a chord with it's focus on a segment of society who want to erase anything and everything that they find questionable/offensive. In a similar topical vein there's "Disorder Down on the Border". 

Time Tested and Terrific

As the banner collage above shows us... throughout time Ray Stevens has provided a smile and a lot of entertainment. Now, of course, sometimes things aren't always funny...there are plenty of times where Ray has shown the serious, somber, and reflective side in his music and in his demeanor. Where some may wonder how somebody can go from "Everything is Beautiful" to "The Streak", often back to back, within the same concert, it isn't much of a wonder to us. We appreciate all sides of Ray Stevens...even when he's being what we'd call super-serious. I don't know about other fans of Ray but I'd consider this one of those super-serious looks. Yes, there's a slight hint of a grin but it isn't the kind of grin often associated with him.  

If my memory serves me correct I don't believe that there's an official color photo in existence of this pose. I've only seen this image in black and white. There's a longer photo that also exists...the full length photo shows Ray seated on a stool. The photo has appeared on a few compilation albums on Ray over the years. The compilations are associated with the RCA/BMG label and so it's been my theory that the photo originated at some point in the early 1980's during Ray's time on RCA (1979-1983). A compilation from 1990 titled Everything is Beautiful and Other Hits and another titled The Last Laugh from 1999 feature this image of Ray. When I mention official color photo at the start of this paragraph I'm making an assumption that the image used on the 2007 re-issue of The Last Laugh colorized the black and white photo of Ray. The only RCA recording on the 1999/2007 compilation is "Shriner's Convention" from 1980. If you look for the release online you'll come across comments criticizing the album's title. Their complaints stem from the album containing a mix of comedy and non-comedy recordings from Ray. Ironically, the compilation is titled The Last Laugh and yet the comedy song he recorded in 1980 titled "The Last Laugh", while with RCA, is not on the album. 

Speaking of RCA.. in 1980 he recorded "The Watch Song". In this hilarious recording we hear the story of a man (played by Ray) who gets in a bar fight. Now, as we listen, it's made clear that the guy is beaten up yet he's more distraught over the fact that his wrist watch got destroyed in the fight. This causes the beaten up guy to go ballistic where he fatally wounds the opponent...and while sitting in prison awaiting his time to go to the electric chair he seeks the advice of newsman John Cameron Swayze throughout the song. Why? Well, John Cameron had also appeared in dozens of commercials for the Timex wrist watch company. 

Here's a LINK to that 1980 recording from Ray Stevens.    

We're now less than an hour away from the fall back an hour time change...and here's an audio example of the time tested and terrific Ray Stevens asking "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?".. 

Ray Stevens: 12 All Time Greats cassette

Trick or treat!! Oh yes, it's Halloween!!!

I decided to kick off this blog entry, as you can see, with Halloween/pumpkin coloring. However, this blog entry isn't entirely about any Halloween song from Ray Stevens, in particular, it's more about a rare treat I come across while browsing eBay a few minutes ago. While I was looking through the section listing cassette tapes I came across a release titled Funny Man with 12 All Time Great Greats written across the top of the cassette cover art as you can see off to the right. 

The photo of Ray should be familiar to a lot of you. There have been a couple of CD releases on Ray that have used this photo or one very similar...both being taken, obviously, at the same photo session. Those similar looking photos appear on a few 3-CD collections...one titled The Incredible World of Ray Stevens. Anyway, this 12 All Time Greats was released in 1996 on the MCA Special Products label. The track list appears to have been selected entirely at random...jumping from mid 1980s to late 1980s and back again. I highlight this because it's a rarity...so rare that even I had never known of it's existence until I came across it on eBay. There are 6 recordings per side...and if you're knowledgeable about Ray Stevens compilations you'll immediately notice the inclusion of recordings from 1988 and 1989. I highlight that due to the fact that most, but not all, but most compilation releases on Ray that have come along since the late 1980s and into the 1990s often omit recordings from his 1988 and 1989 albums. There's another compilation that came along titled Legendary Ray Stevens. It's track list, much like the one featured on Funny Man/12 All Time Greats, includes overlooked recordings from his MCA years. The Legendary Ray Stevens also contains 12 recordings and the bulk of those come from the latter half of the 1980s. I have no confirmation about this but it's my assumption that Legendary Ray Stevens and this 12 All Time Greats are companion releases...although each title was released several years apart. Legendary Ray Stevens was released on MCA Special Products in 1994 and, as mentioned, 12 All Time Greats was released in 1996. The similarities of both titles containing 12 recordings and that most of them come from that late 1980s time period leads me to believe they're companion releases. In case anyone has trouble reading the track list of the 1996 cassette here are the song titles:

1. I Used To Be Crazy (1989)

2. Surfin' U.S.S.R. (1988)

3. Armchair Quarterback (1985)

4. Joggin' (1984)

5. Southern Air (1986; with Jerry Clower and Minnie Pearl)

6. Bad (1988)

7. I'm Kissin' You Goodbye (1984)

8. The Pirate Song (1985)

9. Punk Country Love (1985)

10. The Booger Man (1988)

11. Another Fine Mess (1989)

12. Ethelene The Truckstop Queen (1988)

The track list of 1994's Legendary Ray Stevens is as follows:

1. Mississippi Squirrel Revival (1984)

2. Erik the Awful (1984)

3. The Monkees (1984)

4. Stuck on You (1989)

5. There's a Star Spangled Banner (1989)

6. Would Jesus Wear a Rolex? (1987)

7. It's Me Again, Margaret (1984)

8. Your Bozo's Back Again (1989)

9. I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O. (1989)

10. The Flies of Texas (1987)

11. Doctor, Doctor Have Mercy on Me (1987)

12. Gourmet Restaurant (1987)

Track 10 on the 12 All Time Greats, "The Booger Man", is one of the recordings that is considered a Halloween song. There have been times in the past where, during various Halloween seasons, Ray would perform the song on various guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Here's the 1988 recording from his comedy album I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like...

Ray Stevens: "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" YouTube update

It's me once again, Ray Stevens fans!! We're closing in on one month since the YouTube debut of the latest comedy video from Ray Stevens, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". Ray uploaded the video on October 5th and so this upcoming weekend will mark it's 1 month anniversary. When I last posted an update on the YouTube unique views I reported that it was sitting with 238,346 unique views back on October 14th. I did a numbers look on October 22nd and it was sitting with 311,125 unique views but I didn't create a blog post specifically drawing any attention to them. A few minutes ago after writing my earlier blog entry I went over to YouTube and took a look at the recent unique views for the video and as of this writing it's moved from 311,125 to 348,711. This is a pickup of more than 37,000 unique views in an 8 day time frame. 

Now, along with the substantial increate in unique views, it's accompanied by more and more reaction from those who've watched the video in the comments area. The commentary associated with/accompanying any sort of YouTube video isn't something that's usually monitored/tracked since most online video content is accessed many different ways. Video hosting sites beyond YouTube, for example, will embed a YouTube originated video but any commentary that's generated stays on the website that embedded the video and it isn't added to the commentary on the actual YouTube video page. Also, there a lot of people who just watch video and don't ever think to add any kind of commentary. So, the total number of those leaving commentary isn't nearly as coveted as statistics such as unique views or video shares. 

Have you seen the latest comedy video from Ray Stevens?? If not.. here it is...

Ray Stevens: Upcoming November CabaRay concerts...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Due to my off-line activities I had been too busy to concentrate/focus on writing blog entries on a consistent basis this month due to extended time being spent where I work. We had a couple of weeks of mandatory overtime which left me with little time for some of my online activity such as writing content for this blog. Since we're nearing the end of October it's time to look ahead at the upcoming November concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom in west Nashville. Ray will be performing 5 concerts next month according to the calendar over there. The concerts will take place on November 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th, and the 29th. The 2023 CabaRay Christmas concert season at the CabaRay will take place beginning the 25th of November and running through the month of December will have a Christmas overtone. My guess is that Ray will begin to heavily promote any Christmas-related activities after Thanksgiving given that the first Christmas themed concert will take place the Saturday following Thanksgiving (November 25th). You can visit the CabaRay main page when you click HERE. 

Ray Stevens: The Indie Country Showdown Event

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! In my blog post from a few weeks ago where I spotlighted the upcoming October CabaRay concerts from Ray Stevens I mistakenly listed a Thursday concert (October 26th). I didn't click that particular date and simply assumed he'd be in concert that night. However, I have since found out that his CabaRay showroom is hosting an event called The Indie Country Showdown. The event kicks off on October 26th and it'll be at the CabaRay for the duration of the contest. The first night of the contest, as mentioned, is October 26th. Additional nights are November 2nd, 8th, and 16th. Participants in the contest will be voted on and the surviving participants will return for the subsequent rounds...and through the process of elimination the November 16th installment of the contest will determine the winner. 

This being Saturday, October 14th, Ray will be in concert tonight at the CabaRay showroom. Tickets and all of the information can be found by clicking HERE. 

In the meantime.. Ray's current music video, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", has vaulted beyond 200,000 unique views!! As of this writing it's gotten 238,346 unique views. You can watch the video below..

Ray Stevens: Bubba/Charlene Update...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! It's been fun watching the unique views over on YouTube soaring every day for the new music video, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". I've been checking in on the video once a day since it debuted on October 5th and as of this writing it's sitting with 126,750 unique views. The video has steadily rose which is indicative of most viral videos. When I first wrote about this video the other day it was at 13,815. The following day it was at 43,740 and then on October 7th it had risen to 71,913. Yesterday seen the largest increase, so far, when a check in shown that the video had risen to 101,244 unique views. That was a pickup of 29,331. Tomorrow I'll check in on the numbers and see where the video sits. A webpage titled Whiskey Riff did a promo for the music video back on October 5th. The article was written by an author named Aaron Ryan. You can read the article HERE. The song, as well as the video sight gags, are presented in Ray's signature light-hearted approach. Feedback on YouTube is overwhelmingly supportive/positive but there are the usual whiners, criers, complainers, and trolls who have nothing intelligent to say but nevertheless show up to disrupt the positive conversations. The subject matter of the song is about the raging debate over biological men playing in women's sports. 

You can watch the latest hit music video from Ray Stevens, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", below...

Ray Stevens: "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" music video...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!!! I just got onto my computer a few moments ago and headed over to Ray's social media pages and discovered that less than an hour ago he released an official music video of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". I watched it and will share it in this blog entry. Ray uses the familiar green screen/blue screen technology with quick edits in the background as he sings along and reacts to the lyrics. As of this writing I don't know who's playing Bubba. 

When you watch the video you'll see a pose or two from Ray that look similar to the promo photo that appears accompanying the digital single of the song. The song itself made it's debut on the next to last episode of the RFD-TV series, Larry's Country Diner. Video footage of Ray performing the song appeared on YouTube as did an audio recording from that episode. Then, several months later, a digital single emerged of the song, released by Ray's CabaRay Entertainment label. Now we have an official music video using Ray's gentle humor to address one of the topical issues raging across the country. 

The music video's gotten over 700 unique views in an hour's time. Now, one of the questions that I think may accompany the video will be the question of who's playing the role of Bubba. I don't know if it's someone who works at Ray's concerts or if it's some relative of one of Ray's band members. Ray doesn't tour anymore.. he performs shows at his CabaRay.. and so he technically doesn't have what they call a roadie but he still needs people to make sure the equipment (instruments, sound, etc. etc.) is working correctly. So, Bubba may be part of the crew that does that sort of thing at the CabaRay. However, it could also be someone they hired just for this music video. So, now, here's the official music video from Ray Stevens of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene".

Ray Stevens: Upcoming October CabaRay concerts

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! The month of September has flown by and here we are on the last day of the month and so it's time to take a look at the upcoming October CabaRay concerts. There will be five concerts from Ray in the month of October. How can that be for a month that has 4 weeks in it? Well, he's added a Thursday concert. As you can see from the photo it's almost as if Ray is saying "come see me at the CabaRay" and I hope you all will do so if you hadn't already. I am pretty sure some of you live so far away that it would probably be impossible to make the trip to Nashville. However, if you live just one State away or if you're actually in Tennessee and have yet to make the drive to Nashville to see Ray at his CabaRay showroom I highly encourage you to. There's not a terrible seat in the venue and if you choose to you can add a dinner to your experience. Also, there's a piano bar and a gift shop to visit while there. Ray Stevens will be in concert during these dates in October: 7th, 14th, 21st, 26th, and 28th. You can click this CabaRay LINK and plan your trip to see Ray in concert. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube Bundle, Part Five...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!!! The last installment of the CabaRay Nashville bundle series that I wrote on this blog was back in early July so I think it's about time I posted a new installment. In part five I've randomly selected episodes of Ray's CabaRay Nashville television series to embed. Episodes of the show make their YouTube debut every Friday night. Some of these episodes making their YouTube debut had previously aired on RFD-TV but a bulk of them aired on local PBS affiliates across the country. There are some local PBS stations still carrying episodes of the television series but a much wider exposure, even larger than RFD-TV's reach, began when Ray started uploading one episode per week on his YouTube channel. There are/were quite a few fans of Ray that didn't live in areas where local PBS stations carried his music/talk show and so for those fans these episodes will be new to them. If you've been a fan of Ray's for any length of time (longer than 5 years) then you should be familiar with this television series even if you hadn't had the chance to see it until episodes of it began debuting on his YouTube channel. If you've been a long time fan of Ray and are aware of his signature songs but don't necessarily keep up with his career then this television series might be all new to you as well. In Part Five I'm embedding the following episodes... click each guest star's name to see the episode on YouTube...

REX ALLEN, JR 

JOHN RICH, Part One

JOHN RICH, Part Two

DEANA CARTER

TONY ORLANDO

WILSON FAIRCHILD

John Rich holds the distinction of being the only guest to have two separate episodes. Ray explained that there was so much footage taped that he and the production team decided to make two episodes out of the recorded footage. Whenever the series airs on PBS in local syndication it's always in batches but in chronological order and the two episodes with John Rich are always shown as they were intended to be shown... Part one airs first followed by the second part the following week. 

Ray Stevens: Texarkana columnist discusses "The Streak"...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens! I was browsing through some Google search results and come across an article posted in the Texarkana Gazette. The author of the article is Doug Davis and he wrote a retrospective on "The Streak", one of Ray's comedy songs from 1974. There isn't any explanation as to the reason for the song being singled out given that it's next year, 2024, which will mark it's 50th anniversary. The essay details the song, it's inspiration, and the sales accomplishments the single achieved. The single, globally, sold more than 5 million copies. 

The webpage that is home to that particular newspaper in Texarkana is a subscription based site but it provides visitors a set amount of "free views" before the content is exclusive to subscribers. For those curious and want to read the author's summary of "The Streak" you can click HERE. As long time fans of Ray Stevens, as most of you readers and I happen to be, you won't discover anything new when you read the article but I thought that since it's a story on Ray Stevens and one of his songs I'd share it here on my blog page. 

Ray Stevens: Spotify Digital Single Release...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Well, take a look over there at what I came across on the internet today. A fellow fan of Ray's alerted me that Spotify had a studio recording of the Bubba/Charlene comedy song available to listen to. Several months ago I shared with you all an audio performance of Ray from Larry's Country Diner singing the song. Spotify as well as Amazon both have the recently released studio recording. Now, as you all know, Amazon sells their digital download singles for 99 cents (or more) whereas Spotify provides the audio content free of charge. As you can see from the photo the official title of the song is "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". I don't know the reason for attaching the word, since, to the official title since all this time we fans of Ray Stevens have been calling it "Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". I love the studio recording, too. Some may prefer the recording from the TV show since it contains elements of reaction from the studio audience, etc., but it's the studio recording that sounds more crisp and sharp. One of the things I took note of was the record label. In what I call the fine print it credits CabaRay Records. This caught my eye since he's been signed to Curb Records since 2020. I have recurring correspondence on social media with Ray's online crew, as I call them, and I was under the impression that Ray would be issuing music on Curb Records well into the decade so it caught me by surprise that the website credits CabaRay Records rather than Curb. It's purely topical comedy blending with southern comedy. Southern comedy is aan under-appreciated and, critically, a much maligned form of comedy given it's simple, direct approach without the gloss of sophistication or urbanity. 

Another thing that caught my eye while over on Spotify was this particular Mp3 single. It and "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" were both added to Spotify on August 30th. I listened to it and to my ears I couldn't tell any vocal difference between it and the recording that appears on his 2014 gospel album. "If Jesus Is a Stranger" is the song promoted heavily from the Gospel Collection album released on the Gaither label. The song comes from the pen of Don Cusic. I don't know why it's been re-released/re-issued nearly 10 years later but it has...and it's on the CabaRay Records label but it doesn't sound like a new recording to me. So, as mentioned, both of these digital singles were listed available on August 30th. As you can see from the photos they were from the same photo session. As of this writing there hasn't been any online information from Ray's various social media pages about either of these two digital singles being available. My guess is they want the fans to find the songs on their own, organically, rather than pushing their availability too soon. In online media anything that's found organically tends to carry a little more weight than people finding something through heavy publicity. When something is found organically, in theory, that allows a record company or recording artist know that people are searching for your online content on their own without being nudged or persuaded to do so. 

Although there hasn't been much discussion about those digital download releases what did make a lot of news when it comes to Ray Stevens was in the real estate section of Tennessee's online newspapers. If you're a dedicated fan of Ray then you'll know his secondary interest is real estate and on more than one occasion he's remarked that he likes architecture and purchasing houses, fixing them up, and re-selling them so much that he briefly thought of going to Georgia Tech but decided to pursue his music interests and enrolled in Georgia State. 

Down through the decades reporters nicknamed him, at various times, the landlord of Music Row because at one time he owned a lot of property and rented it, or, sold it to various entertainment conglomerates. The news of Ray putting up his residence for sale hit a couple of days ago. The news came as a shock to me because, if I recall correctly, the house was purchased because it would be within driving distance to the CabaRay showroom, which was in it's planning stages, when Ray purchased the house. We don't know, yet, if he's purchased a house nearby or if he's moved out of the area but then if he did that it wouldn't have him within reasonable driving distance of the CabaRay. He purchased the house for a whole lot less than the selling price being asked for now...but that's typical of anything that's bought and sold. You hope to sell something for a higher amount than what you paid for it. 

Don't forget... you can listen on Spotify or purchase on Amazon.. "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene"...

Ray Stevens: Ronnie Milsap Tribute Concert...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! The news broke a couple of days ago but I am just now getting around to making it part of this blog.. what news? Well, this coming October 3rd at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee the legendary country soul performer, Ronnie Milsap, will perform his final Nashville concert. Ray is going to take part in the final concert performance. I have not seen any definitive information as to what all is going to take place. It's being billed as The Final Nashville Show a Tribute to Ronnie Milsap. So, some of the things I've seen online that are mostly assumptions, is that Ronnie will individually perform a lot of his songs with the large list of guest stars. I've also seen assumptions where the guests will sing a specific hit from Ronnie's career prior to him taking the stage to close out the evening. So, as of now, I don't exactly know which format will take place on October 3rd other than knowing that whichever one it is Ronnie will definitely be performing. As soon as I heard of Ray's involvement I began thinking of Ronnie's songs and what could possibly suit Ray or, better yet, which songs would fit him like a glove should the format of the guests singing Ronnie's hits be the one that's revealed. I thought of Ronnie's hits with the titles "Nobody Likes Sad Songs", "Cowboys and Clowns", "Houston Solution", "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me", and "Back On My Mind Again". I thought of those for a couple of reasons. Ray's songs are typically up-tempo and rarely, if ever, are the lyrics actually truly sad or mournful. In the songs that deal with lost love that he's recorded, for example, there's sadness or heartbreak in the lyrics but nothing painful. Another reason I thought of those songs is they're direct and not filled with a lot of vocal acrobatics like some of Ronnie's emotional ballads like: "Let's Take the Long Way Around the World", "It Was Almost Like a Song", "Stranger In My House", "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World", or "Inside". 

Ray and Ronnie both share a fondness and love of multiple music styles. Whereas Ray absorbed the music of country, gospel, and pop he also loved the rhythm and blues songs that were all over the place in his youth. In addition he also loved novelty songs. Ronnie, on the other hand, loved the bluesy/soulful sounds of various recording artists in addition to loving country music and early rock and roll. Ray, as you can see, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019. He is a member of various other Halls of Fame as is Ronnie Milsap, too. Ray is a few years older than Ronnie. They were both born in the month of January. Ray was born January 24, 1939 and Ronnie was born on January 16, 1943. Ronnie was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. The two of them performed together, very briefly, in a television movie in 1979. They sang "It's Only Temporary" and a screen cap closes out the blog entry. 

To recap... Ray Stevens will be among the guest stars on the final Nashville concert by Ronnie Milsap on October 3rd at Bridgestone Arena.

Ray Stevens: Upcoming September CabaRay concerts

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! As we make our way to the end of August it's time to look at the upcoming CabaRay concerts for the month of September. There will be 5 concerts this month...four of the concerts are scheduled on their regular night, Saturday, while the fifth concert of the month is scheduled for a Friday night. The concert start time is always 7:30pm Central. The doors to the CabaRay open up earlier in the evening. The showroom typically begins it's business day around 5pm on the day of the concert. The reason for this is to give fans time to enter and present their concert tickets and then lounge in the piano bar. If you purchase a dinner option you'll be able to enter the performance area an hour prior to concert time. Dinners are served during this time. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts it used to be only those who ordered a dinner were allowed to sit at the tables on the main floor or in the red leather booths situated throughout the main floor. Non-dinner guests sat elsewhere in the showroom. The balcony seating area isn't the most popular choice since, in my opinion, it's above the main floor and furthest away from the activity taking place below...although it doesn't mean you're not getting the same entertainment value up there than you'd have on the main floor. We know the balcony seating isn't as popular because of the various photos that are taken during the course of a concert which get posted on the internet from other fans of Ray. Now, based on the photo's I've seen, everybody prefers to sit on the main floor and there's a few in the balcony...and it's my guess that's why the seating policy changed a couple of years ago to allow non-dinner guests to sit at the tables. 

As far as September goes Ray will be in concert on the following dates: the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and on the 29th. Ray, as you can see from the photo, is still a master entertainer and continues to perform with just as much feeling as ever. Even though his recording of "It's Me Again, Margaret" came along in 1984 you can see how much fun he still has performing the song just by looking at the concert photo from a CabaRay performance. The only thing different is he rarely uses the prop hat which became a fixture of the song's antagonist, the prank caller Willard McBain. The hat was made much more popular when Ray made the music video of the song in 1992 and through performances of the song at his former theater in Branson, Missouri. 

You can purchase CabaRay tickets by clicking this LINK. 

The reason why there isn't a concert scheduled for September 30th, a Saturday, is due to Ray having been invited to attend an event being held at the Tennessee State Capitol celebrating the heritage and history of Tennessee. The event is called A Tennessee Waltz. It's a charity event centered around the Tennessee State Museum.   

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville clip of Ray Hildebrand...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! I just read on various online sites that recording artist, Ray Hildebrand, passed away at the age of 82. (December 21, 1940 - August 18,, 2023). For those of you familiar with the pop music duo of Paul and Paula and their recordings in the early 1960's then you'll be familiar with Ray Hildebrand for he was the one playing the role of Paul in that duo. Jill Jackson performed the role of Paula in the recording. 

He guest starred in an episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. The full episode is on YouTube, which I've shared the link to in a couple of older blog posts, but there's also a clip of him singing "Hey Paula" with the harmony singers on Ray's show. In the video clip you'll see part of the interview that he does with Ray Stevens and then the performance of "Hey Paula" begins.

Ray Stevens: Audio Diary 6

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! As Ray was departing from RCA Records in 1983 the record company issued a compilation album on him simply titled Greatest Hits. Ray had signed with the record company late in 1979 and his album debut for RCA arrived very early in 1980. Those who are fans of Ray, as I am, often cite his Warner Brothers years (1976-1979) as the turning point where the marketing of his music, overall, shifted from a general pop music audience to a country music audience. I agree with that but I'll further add that when he joined the roster of RCA Records he became even more woven into the fabric of country music...becoming very visible on all kinds of country music programming on television, increasing his appearances at county and state fairs across the country, and performing/appearing at country music themed awards show. Now, of course, this isn't to say that Ray was a stranger to county fairs, country-oriented television shows, and nightclubs prior to his signing with Warner Brothers or RCA...it's just that when you see him on television programs from the early to mid 1970s and then see him on television in the late 1970s and into the 1980s you'll notice some subtle changes in his stage presence and delivery...and obviously you'll notice that the beard became permanent in the late 1970s. A lot of Ray's comedy songs I'd categorize as fun songs, recordings that are heavy with southern comedy/southern humor, but there are plenty that can be categorized as topical and satiric. 

The 1983 Greatest Hits album that RCA released I've written about and spotlighted numerous times during the life of this fan created blog page. The collection includes 10 songs...and Ray wrote 9 of the 10 recordings. The mystery that I don't think will ever be solved about this album is why the record company decided to feature just two recordings that Ray did for the company (from 1980) and fill the rest of the album with songs from decades past. Ray recorded three studio albums for RCA during the years 1980, 1981, and 1982. In that three year time frame RCA released 6 singles on Ray...5 of the single releases reached the national best selling charts...and so it's baffling why those single releases weren't spotlighted on the 1983 album. The track list of the 1983 album: "Shriner's Convention" (1980), "Ahab the Arab" (1969 recording), "The Streak" (1974), "Everything is Beautiful" (1970), "Mr. Businessman" (1968), "The Moonlight Special" (1974), "Misty" (1975), "Gitarzan" (1969), "Freddie Feelgood" (1969 album cut), and "The Dooright Family" (1980). Do you want to know what single releases on RCA that could have been included on this 1983 album but weren't? Here they are: "Hey There" was released in 1980 in international markets instead of "Shriner's Convention". "Hey There" and "Shriner's Convention" contained the same B-side, "You're Never Goin' To Tampa With Me". "Night Games" was issued in the latter half of 1980 as the first single from his yet to be released 1981 album. The title track of that 1981 album, "One More Last Chance", was issued as a single in the first half of 1981. 

Inexplicably, RCA never released another single or album on Ray throughout the rest of 1981. This brings us to 1982 and the release of Don't Laugh Now. This album contained the final two single releases on Ray from RCA: "Country Boy, Country Club Girl" and "Where The Sun Don't Shine". As mentioned, 5 of the 6 single releases charted on the various best selling charts.. the one that didn't happened to be "Hey There". I have not, to date, come across any weekly sales or airplay chart from overseas that lists his comical take on "Hey There" as having made the charts. The other RCA single releases all reached the Top-100 best selling singles charts here in the United States. 

Now, from the 1983 Greatest Hits album, is the 1974 audio track of "The Moonlight Special". Ray wrote this song as a parody of the television series, The Midnight Special, upon which it's announcer was disc jockey Wolfman Jack. It's an example of how Ray's music played to a general, pop music audience at that time. I don't know if country music audiences at the time were even aware that TV show even existed?! You can listen to the track by clicking HERE. 

Ray Stevens: Audio Diary 5

In this 5th installment of the Audio Diary series of blog posts, I'm spotlighting a 2015 recording from Ray Stevens which doubled as a salute/tribute to the comedy legacy of the late Jerry Clower...but first a little, brief backstory on Jerry Clower's friendship with Ray Stevens. 

In country music circles Ray Stevens and Jerry Clower are two of the most popular and beloved entertainers when it comes to country comedy. On YouTube their recordings are being heard by hundreds and thousands of people weekly. 

Jerry Clower, in his comedy stories, always said that he backed into show business. He said this because he didn't begin recording comedy albums until he was middle age. In fact he was perfectly content to remain a fertilizer salesman for the Mississippi Chemical Corporation. He had been born in 1926 and served in the Navy during World War Two. After his military duties he went to Mississippi State University and played college football while getting a degree in Agriculture. 

He worked with the 4-H and eventually found himself selling fertilizer. It was during one of his speaking engagements selling fertilizer to potential customers that his speech was recorded...for you see, during his speaking engagements, he would tell wild stories about his youth, his military experiences, his years playing football, and the misadventures of a family with the last name of Ledbetter. One thing led to another and his monologue found it's way to music executives. When MCA Records came calling in 1971 he was 44 years old and having no previous desires of being a comedian or even a celebrity of any kind he found himself on a major record label, receiving his first of several Gold albums, and within several years he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry (1973) and the rest is history. He passed away in August 1998...a month shy of turning 72. 

Ray and Jerry's paths crossed multiple times on various country music awards shows and talk shows. In fact, in 1986, the two of them and Minnie Pearl got together and recorded "Southern Air", a comedy song dealing with a run down airplane where Jerry plays the part of the Captain and Minnie plays the role of the stewardess...with Ray playing the role of the meek passenger fighting off Minnie's flirtatious behavior as well as commenting on all of the in flight chaos going on around him. Ray was a labelmate of Jerry Clower at MCA for five years (1984-1989). 

In 1995 Ray issued a Direct-to-VHS movie titled Get Serious!. In this movie Jerry Clower appears several times in the role of the Colonel.. the boisterous manager of Ray's career who spends more time relaxing and taking it easy instead of overseeing Ray's career and professional reputation which, in the storyline, is being trashed and tarnished by a new, yet, humorless music executive (played by Michael Airington). Here's Jerry Clower as Ray's manager early in the movie as Ray is wearing his Gitarzan costume.

In 2015 Ray released the comedy album, Here We Go Again!. It was his first album of comedy in four years. The album featured the audio tracks of the hit YouTube music videos "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me" and "You Didn't Build That"...it also features the song "There Must Be a Pill For This" which became a YouTube hit video a number of years later after Ray performed it on his CabaRay Nashville television series and uploaded the performance onto YouTube. The 2015 comedy album also includes the song, "Knock Him Out, John". The title of the song is a phrase heard in the first comical story released on Jerry Clower in 1971. The story about the raccoon hunt and how the hunters were led to believe that the dog chased a raccoon up into a tree...only to discover it was a lynx...the one that discovered that it was a lynx was a man that Jerry identified as John Eubanks. In the story Jerry says the phrases 'knock him out, John!!!' and 'shoot this thing!!' many times as the story reaches it's climax. Ray recorded "Knock Him Out, John" as a tribute to Jerry and I'm sharing the audio track below. 

In the song, Ray puts Jerry's story about the raccoon hunt to music and uses phrases from the story to give added highlight. One of the best things is Ray's impression of Jerry Clower's famous holler. In the song the holler is timed with the music and you'll hear it at various moments throughout the song. Don't be surprised if after hearing the song you don't find yourself trying to do the holler.