March 15, 2025

Ray Stevens: My Review of 'Say Whut?'...

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! This is my official review of the latest album from Ray Stevens. Back on March 7th the legendary Ray Stevens released his latest and it's fabulous in my opinion. The album contains 11 recordings and it's titled Say Whut?

Now, most of you that follow Ray's career will be aware of that familiar photo. It's been used as a publicity photo several times over the last couple of years. Photos from that session have appeared on websites and when you open up the CD's case you'll see off to the left a photo of Ray on stage with a large push broom. There have been a couple of photos like this that have appeared online but this particular one ties into the overall theme of the album's title. Ray has a look on his face as if to say 'I'm cleaning up my own stage? Say Whut??'. Well, at least that's the thought that ran through my mind when I first saw the photo. As is the case with just about every Ray Stevens album he's his own producer and music arranger. He also published all of the songs. Compared with the five albums he released back in 2021 the list of musicians this time around on his 2025 album is sparse. Ray is credited as the piano/keyboard player plus he's credited with drums and bass. Now, it doesn't get too technical so I don't know if Ray was playing the actual drums and bass or if it was a programmed drum and bass played on a synthesizer. When the word, keys, is listed as an instrument it's safe to assume that it encompasses the piano, keyboard, organ, AND synthesizer. Longtime guitarist on Ray's albums and TV appearances, Jerry Kimbrough, is credited with rhythm and lead guitars. Tommy White is the steel guitar player. Nick Sibley is credited with the harmonica playing. 

The songwriters for this album are two. Buddy Kalb's songs are featured as are the songs of Nick Sibley. In the above paragraph I mentioned that Nick plays the harmonica on this album and that particular instrument is the main one heard on the album's sing-a-long opening track, "The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club". This song, written by Nick Sibley, was issued as a single several months ago and so if you're a fan of Ray then you're obviously already familiar with this song about a woman that becomes a stripper and learns that the man in her life frequents the place. 

The album's title can also be taken as a reference to the woke culture of the last several years and there are several satirical/topical songs on here that deal with it. The first woke song in the track list is "If It Walks Like a Duck". In this one Ray tells the story of a man that has a duck on a leash but insists it's his emotional support animal and although it looks like a duck it all depends on what the duck believes he is. In this song the guy says that the duck believes he's a dog and therefor it's a dog...not a duck! The song points out the absurdity of wokeness. This is one of four songs on the album that Buddy Kalb contributed. He also wrote these three: "Everybody's on the Telephone", "Don't Be Woke", and the big online video hit, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". That particular video has over 800,000 unique views on YouTube...if you factor in the plays from other social media it's well over 1,000,000. 

Some may be asking if there are any non-comical recordings on here. There are a couple of songs on here that I'd call non-comical. One of them is a social commentary called "Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?". A performance video of this song appeared online a few years ago on an episode of Mike Huckabee's talk show. That's an example of how long a few of these songs, making their first appearances on an album, have been in the public. The song has a twist ending but it starts out with Ray singing about how adults are perfectly happy mowing lawns as a job rather than as something you do as a home owner, etc. but by the end of the song the message changes. It's a song, in case you hadn't heard it yet, that you'll need to pay close attention to in order to appreciate the sentiments. The other non-comical recording is truly unique and not what you'd likely find on a Ray Stevens album. It's a song called "A Boy Fell from a Tree". I love the music arrangement and how Ray delivers the lyrics. It's got a jazz feel to it if I'm correctly identifying the music style. A third non-comical recording is the pleasant sounding "Cupholders". Ray performed this song a few times on TV appearances but it's making it's album debut on Say Whut?.

The album is chock full of great recordings practically any one of the songs is a standout. See if you're thinking of the same thing as I was when listening to "Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here". That song is hilarious and some may not truly understand the satire behind it but as soon as I heard it I immediately thought of a few female pop singers whose names I'll not mention. The title of the song "I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet" will grab your attention and it's probably the only song that's ever been recorded where a wallet is dropped in the toilet instead of what's usually dropped there. Now, this isn't any kind of hint of what the song's about. It's quite a story and I'll close this review with a video embed from YouTube of that song. The album closer, "The More You Cry", is country to the core. The steel guitar of Tommy White is heard all throughout this hilarious tale of love loss, crying, and beer. 

1. Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club
2. If It Walks Like a Duck
3. Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here
4. I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet
5. Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene
6. Cupholders
7. Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?
8. A Boy Fell From a Tree
9. Everybody's on the Telephone
10. Don't Be Woke
11. The More You Cry


March 3, 2025

Ray Stevens sings "Answer Me, My Love"...

Hello one and all to another fan created blog post focused on Ray Stevens. In my recent series of blog entries I've focused on the recent happenings in Ray's career and the upcoming new album on it's way. Since it's March 3rd at the time of this writing we're now just 4 days away from the release of Say Whut?. Now, for those of you that come across this blog page and read the career timeline on the right hand side of the page you're well aware that Ray's recording career goes back to the late 1950s. On this blog I celebrate the songs, albums, and achievements of the great Ray Stevens and through my commentaries I point out why he's one of the most unique entertainers to ever step foot inside a recording studio. 

A recent video surfaced of Ray on a 1967 episode of The Bobby Lord Show. This was a locally syndicated country music program but it also featured pop vocalists from time to time. Ray was marketed/promoted as a popular recording artist in the 1950s and 1960s who found an audience within the umbrella of country music by the end of the 1960s and he kept it intact throughout the following decades. Ray's appeal to country audiences was such that Ralph Emery often had him as a guest on all kinds of radio and TV programs long before Ray began to intentionally market himself to a country music audience. There's a full episode of Bobby Lord's show featuring Ray as one of the guests but recently Ray's social media pages added the performance of "Answer Me, My Love" from that television appearance. He sings other songs during that appearance but I decided to share the clip of his "Answer Me, My Love" performance since it's the one uploaded on Ray's official YouTube page. The song was never released on an album. It was issued as a single-only on Monument Records. 

Since I've been blogging about his recent happenings this 1967 performance (from nearly 60 years ago) will go a long way at explaining why Ray Stevens is one of the greatest and why a lot of us fans remain forever loyal...

March 1, 2025

Ray Stevens: "Say Whut?" in 6 days...

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! We're now only 6 days away from the release date for Say Whut?, the brand new comedy album. The album consists of 11 songs and a couple of days ago Ray posted on his social media pages what the back of the album looks like. Well, first off, he mentioned that the album will be released as a digital download as well as compact disc. There will be no pre-order availability, though. The album will become available for order on release day, March 7th. Ray also mentioned that the first 50 orders of the CD will receive an autograph copy. I don't know if the CD will be released in a plastic case or if it'll be in a cardboard case. The 2015 CD, Here We Go Again!, was released in a cardboard case but his 2021 CD's were all released in a plastic case. Although there was no official word on whether the physical CD would only be available through his website the digital download will be available on all of the music streaming sites. Interestingly, the digital single release of "The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club" last year credited Curb Records but yet, more recently, it's been reported that Say Whut? will be released on Ray's own CabaRay label. Also, if you visit the Curb Records website and look up Ray's albums you'll see "The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club" listed there as a digital single. Earlier I mentioned that in a recent social media post the back of the upcoming album was shown. I was able to get a look at the name of all 11 of the songs and here is the track list:

1. The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club
2. If It Walks Like a Duck
3. Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here
4. I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet
5. Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene
6. Cupholders
7. Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?
8. A Boy Fell from a Tree
9. Everybody's on the Telephone
10. Don't Be Woke
11. The More You Cry

February 17, 2025

Ray Stevens: New Comedy Album arriving March 7th

Hello all of you Ray Stevens fans!! The news broke a little more than a week ago that a new comedy album from Ray Stevens would be on the horizon. The news broke back on February 7th via his various social media accounts. I was planning on writing about this upcoming album whenever an album track list became available or more detailed information would come about but ever since the news release back on February 7th there hasn't been any more discussion surrounding the album's release. The photo you see is the promo photo appearing on Ray's social media pages and the album's title is Say Whut?. When the album becomes available next month it'll mark half a year since the release of the audio track "Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club". That comical song hit back in September 2024 and I wrote a couple of blog entries leading up to the single's release. In the lead up to the audio track's release it was mentioned that it would be on an upcoming album. Ray co-wrote the song with Nick Sibley. I wrote a review over on Amazon. If you haven't easily found the single over there you're not alone. For whatever reason Amazon doesn't list Ray's latest recordings on their auto generated product pages. Instead, what you have to do after typing in Ray's name, is actually type in the title of the song or the album, and then click the search button. If you search for 'Ray Stevens' over on Amazon you won't find any of his recent products without being specific with the name of the song or the name of the album. Oh, there are a lot more options to get Ray's music besides Amazon's music store. You can always visit his own webpage and you can find his recordings, easily, on sites such as Spotify and YouTube. Say Whut?, as you could tell by the title, is intentionally misspelled. It's more or less meant to suggest that the album is going to be comical and that it might have a lot of southern dialect and southern appeal woven throughout. 

As of this writing there is no track list, as mentioned, and so I can't report what will be on the album. I am guessing that Ray will be the album's sole producer and music arranger and that he'll play any piano/keyboard/synthesizer on each track. 

The album was recorded at his CabaRay Recording Studio. He performed his final run of concerts in 2024 at the CabaRay but he has no plans of selling the property. His recording and music video production facilities are located there and so my guess is he'll be treating the building as he would any other building he owns and maintains. It's anyone's guess what will be on this album. I have a feeling that several songs that he's performed over the last several years that haven't been placed on an album yet will find a home on Say Whut?. "The More You Cry", "Where Are All the 12 Year Old's?", "Cup Holder", "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", and "Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club". If my guess is accurate then we know the names of at least five of the songs that'll be on the upcoming album. In case you hadn't heard "Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club" you can listen to the audio track below...

February 9, 2025

Ray Stevens: Revisiting the New Orleans Moon...

As I begin writing this blog entry we're an hour and fifteen minutes away from the start of Super Bowl LIX which is roman numeral talk for Super Bowl 59. The game is being played in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome and so I thought it would a perfect tie-in to hype/promote the 2007 Ray Stevens tribute to the culture and music of New Orleans. It come in the form of the album New Orleans Moon. Ray, as is the norm, was the album's producer and music arranger. When you look on the back of the album you'll see that some of the songs feature credits specifically attributed to Ray on the songs "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and half of the two song medley featuring a snippet of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee". They're listed as PD/Arrangement which means the songs are in the public domain. Ray would later record a full version of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" for a gospel album nearly a decade later. Ray wrote the opening instrumental track which runs 1 minute, 8 seconds titled "Prelude to Way Down Yonder in New Orleans". The remainder of the album is vocal. Ray co-wrote which Chuck Redden the title track, "New Orleans Moon". The album, for those that weren't following Ray's career at the time, was sort of like the peak of his celebration of the music and culture of that particular area of Louisiana. It had began rather unofficially in 2005 during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Ray performed on some local fund raisers in the hurricane's aftermath and mentioned in news reports that he'd lost some property due to the hurricane and the flooding. Ray, Buddy Kalb, and Chuck Redden had written a satirical song titled "The New Battle of New Orleans" which was released as a single-only in 2005. It was a parody of the classic Johnny Horton recording, "The Battle of New Orleans". 

Chuck was the main writer of the parody and it contains a lot of lyrics some may find confrontational or controversial. Ray and Buddy Kalb made some slight variations to the song which means that some lyrics were omitted and new lyrics added. The single received some publicity but it set in motion what ultimately became 2007's New Orleans Moon. In the meantime the 2005 single has since became a rarity. The 2007 album is a serious release and so the 2005 single wasn't placed on the album. In the title track Ray does a vocal impression of Louis Armstrong near the end of the song. In the song Armstrong is referenced to as Satchmo, his nickname. The album does feature Ray's version of the Johnny Horton classic, "The Battle of New Orleans", by the way. Some of the other songs on the album are "Louisiana", "Louisiana Man", "New Orleans", and "Basin Street Blues". 

Here's Ray Stevens singing "New Orleans Moon" from an episode of his CabaRay Nashville television series. Keep in mind that you can go to YouTube and listen to the entire album, too. 

Ray Stevens: "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" 2025 update...

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! It's been quite awhile since I wrote my last blog entry...almost half a year has went by. The only explanation for that is a combination of creative writer's block and not a whole lot of activity going on in Ray's career in the latter half of 2024. Ray was going through his final season of concerts at his CabaRay showroom in 2024 as most of you already know but as far as new music was concerned there wasn't a lot of news. I don't know if creative writer's block is something that already exists or if it's a term I made up just now. I'm sure it's most commonly referred to as writer's block. Well, anyway, the news broke a couple of days ago that Ray will be releasing a new comedy album on March 7, 2025 and it's to be titled Say Whut?. I'll write a blog entry later this month as we get closer to the album's release date. 

In the meantime here's an update on "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". The audio track and it's official music video have become instant favorites. Some may have a strange reaction if I choose to consider the song an instant classic. The official music video made it's debut on October 5, 2023 and as of this writing the unique views for the video on YouTube are sitting at 814,932. An audio track of his performance of the song from the TV series Larry's Country Diner has 106,551 unique views which is pretty good on a visual site such as YouTube where performance video is the main preference of the audience.

However, there is also a video upload of his performance of the song on that very episode of Larry's Country Diner also found on the audio track upload. The upload of the TV appearance of him singing "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" hit YouTube on April 22, 2024 and as of this writing it's gotten 805,073 unique views. The song struck a nerve and no matter which social media format it was discovered (audio track or video performance) it's one of those kinds of Ray Stevens recordings that often takes on a life of it's own far beyond the initial release date or original intent/concept. It's biggest impact happened on the social media platform, X, where over a million plays were received of the official music video in two day's time following it's release in October 2023 which is why I referenced the song/video being an instant classic in Ray's long, prolific career. I'm only guessing but the song may have reached even more people within the last several days on the heels of an executive order signed by Trump prohibiting biological men from competing in women's sports. The song was never released as a CD single but this is a publicity photo that surfaced online at some point last year. 

2024