In 1996 Curb Records issued a compilation on Ray titled
Great Gospel Songs. This collection of gospel songs was a re-issue of his 1972 album,
Turn Your Radio On, with additional songs added. This 1996 collection from Curb includes the rare, full-length version of "
All My Trials". The gospel collection includes original liner notes and it includes some of the following: "
Turn Your Radio On", "
A Brighter Day", "
Have a Little Talk With Myself", "
I'll Fly Away", "
Glory Special", and others. It's a thirteen track collection. The mid 1990s were a period of numerous compilation albums released on Ray Stevens...and sometimes several of his songs would appear on albums featuring other recording artists, too. Those are referred to, obviously, as various artists projects. One of those compilations from 1996 come from the Mercury/Polygram Records label in the form of
All-Time Hits. A cassette version and a CD version was issued...the CD featuring eleven songs while the cassette featured eight. Oddly enough most of the tracks on this compilation were recordings that Ray did while he was on Mercury Records (1961-1963 and 1983) with a couple of selections from his RCA era. One of the selling points, for me, of
All-Time Hits happened to be the inclusion of his 1983 single, "
My Dad", from the
Me album. It's very rare whenever one of his recordings from that 1983 album show up on a compilation and at that point in time I only had cassette tape in my collection...I had no CD's or vinyl...and so I first heard "
My Dad" on that 1996 collection.
In July of 1996 a label called Varese Sarabande issued a CD copy of Ray's 1969 album,
Gitarzan. The reissue came complete with liner notes within the fold-out cover and it also featured three 'bonus tracks' from later on in his career. The bonus tracks on the 1969 reissue were: "
The Streak" (1974), "
The Moonlight Special" (1974), and "
Bridget the Midget" (1970). A couple of months later the import label released a CD copy of Ray's 1968 album,
Even Stevens. It, too, featured liner notes about the album and it included four 'bonus tracks'. Now, unlike the bonus tracks on the previous compilation, three of the four bonus tracks on the
Even Stevens reissue had rarely, if ever, been available in CD format before: "
Party People" (1965), "
Devil May Care" (1966), "
Answer Me, My Love" (1967).
Amidst the avalanche of compilation albums released on him both overseas and in the United States from an array of record labels minor and major Ray Stevens returned to the concert stage!! In May of 1996 he began a limited run of concerts at
The Wayne Newton Theater in Branson, Missouri. It was Ray's first concert in the Missouri town since shutting down his own theater in 1993.
Ray's schedule at the venue, in more detail, was as follows: He performed 8 concerts at the venue during the month of May...from the 6th to the 13th. He increased his concerts in the month of July and performed 12 concerts from July 15th to July 27th. He performed there 12 additional times in August from the 12th through the 24th and lastly from September 2nd until September 14th. By year's end Ray had quietly left Curb Records and signed a brand new contract with one of his former labels, MCA Records. The first project from MCA on Ray happened to be the retail distribution of the previous year's direct mail VHS,
Get Serious!. The VHS reportedly sold Double-Platinum through direct mail (based on commentary from Ray on an episode of
Music City Tonight in the first half of 1996). The VHS entered
Billboard's Music Video chart for the week ending January 25, 1997...and if you're keeping track that happened to be the day after Ray's 58th birthday. The VHS had a strong chart run...reaching a peak within the Top-5 in February 1997 but keeping a consistent presence on the Video chart through August...more than 20 weeks altogether. In between the debut of
Get Serious! on the Video chart and it's exit 20 some weeks later Ray issued a new studio album...his first in four years and his first for MCA since 1989.
Hum It is filled with comedy, for the most part, and it included a special guest in the form of J.D. Sumner. He and Ray performed a parody of "
Daddy Sang Bass" entitled "
Mama Sang Bass". You can pretty much guess who portrayed Mama in that song. It's hysterical...the plot of which centers around a Church going couple that sing in the choir. Mama and Daddy work at a pharmaceutical factory...Mama works at making steroids for body builders while Daddy works on a line that manufactures birth control pills. Through osmosis and chemical reactions they symbolically switch gender but it's not physically noticeable...but one day they appear in the church choir and everyone gasps that "
Mama Sang Bass" and, of course, Daddy sang tenor. A couple of other songs found on this 1997 album have since become music video classics: "
Too Drunk To Fish" and "
Virgil and the Moonshot". There are a couple of other songs on the CD that aren't comical but they aren't overly dramatic: "
It Ain't Over Till It's Over" and the wonderful "
I'll Be In Atlanta". In the latter Ray weaves a tale of the Old South with a lot of references to
Gone With the Wind. It's a wonderful song...and an infectious melody...complete with Dixieland/jazz accompaniment.
Rhino Records issued a compilation on Ray in 1997 titled
The Best of Ray Stevens. The liner notes were written by the legendary novelty song disc jockey known on-air as Doctor Demento. The art work shows illustrations of several characters from Ray's songs...in which the depiction of Ray has him in a 1970's suit with a couple of green and purple pills in his hand. It's a 20 song compilation that goes in chronological order, for the most part...the first 19 songs are in chronological order...the 20th song, "
In the Mood", is from late 1976 and should have appeared on the CD between 1975's "
Misty" and 1979's "
I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The liner notes are extensive and feature plenty of photos of Ray. The compilation was released as part of Ray's 40th anniversary as a recording artist...having issued his first commercial release in 1957. In the latter half of 1997 MCA issued
Christmas Through a Different Window...it was Ray's very first Christmas album. He had released Christmas songs in the past but this was his first album of Christmas songs. The dagger of political correctness had all but sanitized comedy and this mindset had also played a role in the war on the idea of saying, Christmas, instead of the generic 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons Greetings'. Ray kicks off the album by addressing political correctness head-on: "
Guilt For Christmas"...that's what Ray's sending everyone this year. As you could tell it's a bizarre, novelty song heavy Christmas album. Some of the gifts Ray leaves us in song are: "
Guilt For Christmas", "
I Won't Be Home for Christmas", "
The Little Drummer Boy Next Door", "
Bad Little Boy", "
Nightmare Before Christmas", and "
Redneck Christmas". He even revives "
Santa Claus is Watching You" and "
Greatest Little Christmas Ever Wuz". This Christmas album would set the stage for a series of Christmas-themed concerts from Ray at
The Acuff Theater...but more on this and other interesting tidbits from the late 1990s era of Ray's career in the next chapter in Ray's road to the Country Music Hall of Fame!!
