Ray Stevens: Health Update and CabaRay News...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens. I know that most of you have been up in the air wondering what the future will bring once the news broke in early July that Ray had a mild heart attack. At that time it was reported that he underwent a "minimally invasive procedure". Once the news broke it was announced that upcoming concerts at his incredible CabaRay showroom would be canceled as he recovers. There hadn't been much news to report for more than a month which is why I hadn't posted any updates here. That changed today when I went to his social media pages and learned that he's putting his CabaRay up for sale. Also, within the news statement published earlier today, we learned that in late July he underwent another surgical procedure. This time around it was a procedure where two stents were placed into his arteries to help blood flow/blockages. He recovered in a rehabilitation facility and once he was released to return home the news was released about the procedure and the future of the CabaRay showroom. There have been at least a dozen or more online articles posted sharing the same official statement about the CabaRay and the further surgical procedures. Ray said that he intends on performing concerts once he is able to do so and that he'll continue to record music. I don't know where he'll record music since he moved his recording studio to the CabaRay. I'm sure he'd be able to rent out studio space or even purchase a studio somewhere unless he's thinking about having a recording studio at his house? As far as concert performances go I don't know if these concerts he was referring to are being treated as make-up concerts for the ones that were canceled in July but once these as yet to be scheduled concerts are performed he plans on closing down the CabaRay and putting it up for sale. I went to a concert at the CabaRay in 2018. The concert I attended happened to be a few months after the showroom opened. While I was there with my brother we walked all over the place and saw a trophy case upstairs. A worker there told us that they have so much stuff in the storage building and they haven't had time, yet, to put everything on display. That meant that more trophies and awards he'd received over the decades weren't on display yet. I never did have the chance to attend another concert there. I didn't want to leave the place, actually. I nicknamed it Ray Stevens World. The photo of Ray I chose for this blog entry is from 2022. It was from the induction ceremony at the Musicians Hall of Fame. I hope everyone is keeping in mind that Ray is 86 this year.. the types of health issues he's recently been having are serious for any age bracket but especially someone who's in their 80's. Send get well wishes for Ray at his various social media pages. He has an official Facebook and X page plus you can send him get well wishes within the comment section of his various YouTube video uploads.  

Ray Stevens sings "Marie, The Dawn is Breaking" ...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! In this blog entry I'm going to embed a Ray Stevens performance from the CabaRay. In this performance Ray sings "Marie, The Dawn is Breaking", a song written by Irving Berlin in 1928. The original lyric and performance is simplistic in nature but in the course of time some recording artists have added their own musical take on the song given it's sparse lyrical content. The song was written for a movie in 1928 titled The Awakening. Ray performs a rendition of the song that is tied to a rhythm and blues group called The Four Tunes. They sold millions of copies of the song. Their rendition is up-tempo, lively, and unique compared to the slow ballad, mid-tempo ballad approach by pop music crooners. The song also has heavy connections to the Dorsey Brothers and Big Band acts...but like a vocal performance, instrumentals can be interpreted in any tempo. Some instrumentalists play the song softly while others play it raucous. Tommy Dorsey as well as a group known as The Bachelors recorded versions of "Marie, The Dawn is Breaking". Ray Stevens performed the song in a 2018 episode of CabaRay Nashville...some 90 years after the song emerged from the pen of Irving Berlin. 

Ray Stevens: A look back to 3 years ago...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! I just come over from one of Ray's social media pages and was reminded that on this day in 2018 he received his star on the Music City Walk of Fame in downtown Nashville. The walkway is located directly across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The walkway is a tourist attraction and because of this there is a large sign that sits out front that reads Music City Walk of Fame Park. If there wasn't a sign showing the way a tourist wouldn't even realize it's even there unless they researched the area beforehand. As you could tell the Music City Walk of Fame is similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The names of recording artists, of all music formats, are pressed onto material (I'm assuming either stone or marble) and they're placed into the walkway throughout the park. When my brother and I went to Nashville a few months after Ray's CabaRay was opened to the public, early in 2018, we went to the Music City Walk of Fame Park. The two of us were walking along the sidewalks of downtown Nashville, after having parked the car in a lot, and as we were on our way to the Country Music Hall of Fame I spotted this park across the street and so we went over there and walked around looking at the names of singers on the walkway. I remember thinking to myself "why isn't Ray part of this walkway?". Anyway, my point is, we visited the walkway nearly half a year before Ray received his Walk of Fame Star in August. The recipients of Stars on the walkway aren't tied to country music exclusively...but the bulk of walkway Stars are country music personalities...and that's simply because country music is the dominant form of music in Nashville even though all kinds of music is recorded there. Ray received his Walkway Star along side Jeannie Seely, Brenda Lee, and pop artist Ben Folds. Bluegrass/Country singer, Ricky Skaggs, was on hand to present Ray Stevens with a Walkway Star. 

When you visit the Music City Walk of Fame the Ray Stevens star is located next to the Ben Folds star. In fact, the star directly behind Ray in the photo off to the right is the one for Ben Folds. In that photo Ray gives us a zany grin...and he's looking off to his right. There are several photos of Ray from the Walk of Fame ceremony that you can find on the internet. There's one of Ray and Ricky Skaggs in front of the star...several photos of Ray with his arms spread apart, nearly identical to the photo on the right, but with different facial expressions in each one. Some of the non-country performers that have a Star on the Music City Walk of Fame are: Peter Frampton, Steve Winwood, Michael McDonald, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, and Steven Curtis Chapman just to name several. The Music City Walk of Fame is a tourist attraction, as mentioned, and if you receive a Star on the Walk of Fame there's a lot of ceremonial festivities that take place. It gets overshadowed, figuratively and literally, by the Country Music Hall of Fame which sits across the street but never let that fool you into believing that those who receive a Star on the Walk of Fame aren't just as honored. All you need to see are Ray's photographs during the Walk of Fame ceremony and hear his acceptance speech to know how tickled he happened to be that people thought enough about him and felt him worthy enough to give him a Star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Now, several months after Ray received his star on the Walk of Fame (a little less than 6 months later), he received the news that he was going to be one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Ray would be elected in the Veterans Era category in 2019. In several commentaries from him following the news release and after the induction ceremony later that year he was just as thrilled as he'd been in 2018 when he received a Walk of Fame Star. 

Ray Stevens and Jamie O'Neal sing: "Hey, Good Lookin"...

Here I am again with another fan-created blog entry about Ray Stevens! This time around I'm embedding a video clip of Ray singing a duet with Jamie O'Neal. The two sing a duet of "Hey, Good Lookin", a country music classic from the pen of Hank Williams. Prior to the performance Ray interviews Jamie and she talks about being born in Sydney, Australia but the family moved to America when she was 5. This explains why she has an American accent rather than Australian. Ray brings up how he once worked for Mercury Records in their Artists and Repertoire department...seeking out potential recording artists for the label. The video clip was uploaded back on June 3rd which is her birthday. She was born June 3, 1968. I didn't upload the video then due to the anticipation of the June 4th release of Ray's current novelty song and my subsequent blog entries focusing on it. Now, however, I'm getting around to embedding the video clip. 

Ray Stevens sings "When You're Hot, You're Hot"...

One of the legendary figures in music, Jerry Reed, was born on this date in 1937. If you follow the career of Ray Stevens with any sense of detail then you'll know that the two of them came up in the music business together through music publisher and promoter, Bill Lowery. If you do a simple image search online for 'Ray Stevens and Jerry Reed' you'll likely see images of the two of them from the late 1950s and early 1960s...their friendship was life long...photos of the two of them from the 1970s are also online. Jerry passed away on September 1, 2008 at the age of 71 from emphysema complications. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition to their shared past with Bill Lowery's company the two also possessed a natural flair for comedy and stage presence. They each used the visual medium (film, TV, and video) to their advantage. Also, on a more personal similarity, Jerry and his wife had two daughters...Ray and his wife have two daughters. Both Ray and Jerry, in addition to having a professional past with Bill Lowery they also had professional relationships and personal friendships with Chet Atkins. 

Ray appeared on the debut episode of Jerry's very short-lived television series in 1976...only two episodes were produced. A sing-a-long performance from Ray, Jerry, Burt Reynolds, Tammy Wynette, and Jerry's daughter of "Gotta Travel On" used be online but it's long since been removed from video sites. Also, a performance from Ray of "Misty" from this television show also used to be online. A screen cap is available online...it shows Ray dressed in super casual attire (wearing a brown sweater with a button up shirt underneath and blue jeans) while the rest of the performers are in stage clothes. That photo from the sing-a-long is below the video clip below of Ray singing one of Jerry Reed's hit songs, "When You're Hot, You're Hot". When Jerry hosted a country music special in 1979 among the performers taking part in it was Ray Stevens...singing a medley of hits and his current recording, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". When Ray issued a CD in 2009 called One For the Road the opening track happened to be "Concrete Sailor", a song that Jerry had previously recorded nearly 20 years earlier. The fact that the CD came out a year after Jerry passed away and Ray included that song on that CD, well, it was a classy gesture. Now then...here's Ray singing "When You're Hot, You're Hot"...

Ray Stevens and Lee Roy Parnell sing "Workin' Man Blues"...

It's me once more and I'm here to embed a video clip of Ray Stevens and Lee Roy Parnell singing a duet of the Merle Haggard song, "Workin' Man Blues". Today is the birthday of Lee Roy...born on December 21, 1956 in Abilene, Texas. Ironically he was raised in a town called Stephenville, Texas. The clip from a 2018 episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...it features Lee Roy discussing his arrival in Nashville in the 1980s and his involvement in the songwriting aspect of country music. He remarks how he got a job at Polygram Publishing...and how it eventually led to his arrival at Arista Records. Lee Roy was among the musicians playing on Ray's 1990 album, Lend Me Your Ears. In fact, the episode guest starring Lee Roy featured Ray opening the show with "Barbeque", a song from that 1990 album. In this clip, however, Ray and Lee Roy perform a duet of "Workin' Man Blues". Lee Roy had previously recorded the song as a trio with Steve Wariner and Diamond Rio for a Merle Haggard tribute album. The performance was issued as a music video in the early 1990s. 

 

Ray Stevens: Linda Davis CabaRay Nashville performance...

Hello all...I begin this post barely 10 minutes past Midnight and still 'recovering' from my usual Thanksgiving intake. I fell asleep sometime after 7:30pm Thursday night and woke up a little after 11:30pm. Christmas season begins almost immediately after Thanksgiving and I'll probably write some sort of Christmas blog entry later this week. Country singer Linda Davis celebrated a birthday yesterday. She's a recording artist/songwriter that's had a lot of success in both areas. The episode of CabaRay Nashville in which she guest starred is reviewed in my blog archives. I reviewed the episode in the summer of 2018. In this video clip Linda sings "Young at Heart" while Ray Stevens plays the piano. Ray recorded a version of the song on his Frank Sinatra album. Ray's album is called Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!?. The first time I'd heard of Linda was as a duet partner with Reba McEntire on "Does He Love You?". She then put out a song called "Company Time" that I remember...mostly because a music video of it was a hit on the video channels in the early '90s. A number of country artists were having a lot of exposure through music videos and Linda was no exception. 

A lot was written back then of how airplay on radio, for some singers, was becoming secondary considering music video airplay could reach national audiences all at one time on cable television whereas radio airplay is confined to local geography. What's playing in one area on local country radio stations might not be played somewhere else, for example. Country radio has changed a lot since then, of course, and most if not all Top-40 country stations play a national playlist of songs/artists. Radio stations insert voice tracked commentary to keep a local feel but the music is being programmed elsewhere. 

Linda, according to on-line biographies, was discovered by Bob Montgomery. If you're a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens then you should be aware of his name. Bob co-produced Ray's Don't Laugh Now album in 1982. Ray's 1983 album, Me, featured Jerry Kennedy as a co-producer and to date that's the last Ray Stevens album to feature a co-producer. Ray usually produces and arranges his own albums but those two back to back albums were exceptions. Linda has won three Grammy awards in her career. She and Reba won a Grammy for "Does He Love You?" in 1994 and then 23 years later, in 2017, she won two Grammy awards...one for an album she participated in, Love Remains, and the other for a single release from that album, "Thy Will" (the single has sold more than 200,000 copies). That album and single is credited as Hillary Scott and the Scott Family and it was produced by Ricky Skaggs (he won a Grammy for being the producer of the album). Linda's daughter, Hillary Scott, is a member of the group Lady A. 

Linda is married to Lang Scott. The Scott Family, officially, is comprised of: Hillary, Linda, Lang, and Rylee. Enjoy the video clip of Linda singing the Frank Sinatra classic, "Young at Heart" with Ray Stevens playing the piano.

Ray Stevens: Don McLean sings "Lucky Guy" on CabaRay Nashville...

It's me once again!! In this second blog entry of October 4th I am discussing Ray Stevens and Don McLean. If I'm not mistaken I published a blog entry awhile ago featuring Don's performance of his biggest hit, "American Pie", from this episode of CabaRay Nashville. I'd have to search the archives but I'm pretty sure I uploaded it in blog's past. 

In the photo off to the left we see Don McLean being interviewed by Ray Stevens. Well, it's more like chit chat as Ray asks Don to tell the audience what's being performed. Don remarks in the video embed that it's a song from his current album, Botanical Gardens. This album hit in 2018 which is right around the time this episode of CabaRay Nashville was taped. The song Don performs is called "Lucky Guy". The interview portion of Ray's PBS CabaRay Nashville series features the guest star seated on the other side of Ray's red piano. Ray sits at the piano and conducts his interviews. A typical episode will feature Ray either introducing the guest to the television viewer or introducing the guest's first performance. The guest usually doesn't walk out from backstage on camera...the guest is already seated beside the piano or standing in the performance area. Now, depending on the execution of an episode, the guest will either do their interview segment first and then perform or they'll sing first and do a brief interview second...followed by their second song. Most episodes feature the guest being interviewed first and then they sing their first song. A guest's first performance is typically followed by one of the recurring features...either a classic music video from Ray is played or sketches from his various video projects are played...followed by the second song from the guest. Ray opens and closes the show with a song. Here's Ray and Don McLean...and the performance of "Lucky Guy"...

Ray Stevens: Upcoming duet with Jeannie Seely...

Hello all!! While searching around on the internet I came across more information about Ray Stevens involvement in an upcoming project from Jeannie Seely. In a blog I wrote several blogs ago I mentioned that Ray had recorded a duet with Jeannie but I couldn't find out much...until now. In an article posted in The Tennessean newspaper back on July 2nd it was revealed that Jeannie would be issuing a new project in August and that the duet she recorded with Ray would be the final track. The collection is titled An American Classic.

The producer of Jeannie's project happened to be Don Cusic, a name that should be familiar to all fans of Ray Stevens by now. The first single release from Jeannie's CD will emerge tomorrow...a duet with Willie Nelson. July 6th is also Jeannie's birthday. As many know by now Willie's recorded duets or performed on stage with just about every major recording artist of the last 50 years. Ironically, Ray Stevens is the extreme opposite...he rarely records duets. In his career I think he's recorded less than 10 duets...off the top of my head here they are...

"Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" (1995 duet with Connie Freeman)

"The Streak" (2005 duet with Cledus T. Judd; it's on the Ray Stevens tribute album Cledus recorded)

"This One Burger King Town" (2007 duet with T.G. Sheppard)

"Retired" (2009 duet with Brent Burns; Ray recorded a solo version of this song, too)

"Temptation" (2012 duet with Lori Stegner)

"That's My Desire" (2019 duet with Beegie Adair)**

In the case of "That's My Desire" he recorded it twice with Beegie Adair. One of the recordings is performed straight while a comical version was also recorded. The two duet recordings with Ray are included in her duets CD, Grover's Hat Project.

The upcoming duet with Jeannie Seely will be a version of "Dance Tonight", a song from the pen of Paul McCartney. I am making the assumption that Jeannie's project will be available for digital download in addition to it being available as a physical CD.

Ray and Jeannie were both honored in 2018 with Stars on the Nashville Walk of Fame. Ray was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019. Jeannie's been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1967. Jeannie appeared on an episode of Ray's PBS series, CabaRay Nashville.

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville episode Guide...

It's the weekend and that means somewhere out there on local PBS stations there are airings of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. Although the series is syndicated on local PBS affiliates across the country, which means local stations can air it at any time they choose, most of the local PBS stations that air it have placed it on their Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening time-slot while other local PBS stations air it on Sunday. In a lot of these local markets the series is airing on what are known as secondary channels/sub-channels or over-the-air channels. The best way to explain it is there might be one main PBS station per large market per State and in that PBS station's umbrella of channels there may be three or four secondary channels affiliated with the main PBS station. As mentioned those channels are referred to secondary/over-the-air because they're owned and operated by the main PBS station. In my area the local PBS affiliate airing Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville is in the umbrella of KET (Kentucky Educational Television). Ray's show airs on one of their over-the-air channels, KET2. The line-up for KET2, in my area, is assigned to television station WCVN in Covington, Kentucky. There is a KET3 and another sub-channel in the KET umbrella of channels. There have been 78 half hour episodes produced of the series between 2015 and 2018. Since there is an abundance of episodes and with it airing weekly (rather than daily) the local PBS affiliates are able to air a little more than 50 episodes per calendar year and still have more than 20 additional episodes to air before the series begins it's repeat cycle. If we were talking about daily syndication the series would've been into it's first repeat cycle perhaps within 30 weeks in the same calendar year. So, then, each local PBS affiliate that picks up the series (it's free) won't need to concern themselves with repeating an episode until the following calendar year. There are several stations, which I consider loyal, that have continued airing the series year after year and I love the fact that they continue to air the show, in repeats, because it keeps Ray's name out there and it allows people to find the show if they previously weren't aware of it's existence whereas other local PBS affiliates aired the episodes on a first-run only basis and didn't go into a repeat cycle.

I've posted an episode guide in past blog entries and I'll more than likely post an episode guide in future blog entries, too. The episode guide is based on the official release dates and not based on actual air-dates. A syndicated series can air out of order or it can run in chronological order...some PBS affiliates may be airing the first series of episodes whereas another PBS affiliate may be airing some of the later episodes but here is the official episode guide:

Season One:
1. Steve Wariner
2. Larry Gatlin
3. Bobby Bare
4. Don Schlitz
5. Charlie McCoy
6. Bobby Braddock
7. Jimmy Fortune
8. Aaron Tippin
9. John Conlee and Jeff Bates
10. Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard
11. Gene Watson
12. James Gregory
13. Billy Dean

Season Two:
1. Bobby Goldsboro
2. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale
3. Williams and Ree
4. Leroy Van Dyke
5. Bellamy Brothers
6. Gatlin Brothers
7. Collin Raye
8. Darryl Worley and Lee Greenwood
9. Bill Anderson
10. Sylvia
11. Con Hunley
12. Jimmy Wayne
13. Reed Robertson

Season Three:
1. Mandy Barnett and Harold Bradley
2. Shenandoah
3. Michael W. Smith
4. B.J. Thomas
5. Rhonda Vincent
6. Restless Heart
7. John Michael Montgomery
8. Baillie and the Boys
9. Tommy Roe
10. Mark Wills
11. Duane Eddy
12. Angaleena Presley
13. Riders in the Sky

Season Four:
1. Rex Allen, Jr.
2. Lari White
3. Charley Pride
4. Janie Fricke
5. Gary Mule Deer
6. Garry Morris
7. John Berry
8. Jeannie Seely
9. Don McClean
10. Felix Cavaliere
11. Suzy Bogguss (Christmas episode)
12. Deborah Allen (Christmas episode)
13. The A-Team (New Year's Eve episode)

Season Five:
1. Ray Hildebrand
2. Steve Wariner (edited repeat of series debut episode)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Daily and Vincent
5. Jenny Gill
6. Tracy Lawrence
7. Sam Moore
8. Wilson Fairchild
9. Deana Carter
10. Gary Puckett
11. John Rich, Part One
12. John Rich, Part Two
13. Tony Orlando

Season Six:
1. Jamie O'Neal
2. Mark Chesnutt
3. Special Moments (compilation/clip-filled episode)
4. Hall of Fame (Ray gives a tour of the recently opened CabaRay)
5. Moe Bandy (first live episode taped at the CabaRay showroom)
6. Linda Davis
7. CeCe Winans
8. Micky Dolenz
9. Tribute Show**
10. Ronnie McDowell
11. Shoji Tabuchi
12. John Schneider
13. Lee Roy Parnell

**- The Tribute Show episode features Ray singing songs made famous by country music artists that had passed away: Jerry Reed, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, and Mel Tillis. As most of you know there are pledge breaks on PBS stations nationwide. In the latter half of 2017 one of the gifts being offered for those donating at a certain level happened to be a DVD documentary of Ray's television show featuring backstage footage and the production of the show. The documentary is narrated by the announcer for Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville, Bill Cody. The special aired on the local PBS affiliates that were airing his show. The televised airing featured interruptions by pledge breaks but, of course, the DVD itself lacked the pledge break interruptions. I donated to the local PBS affiliate and got myself a copy of that documentary when it was brand new. Since it's initial airing it's been available in select PBS on-line gift shops and it's since been uploaded onto YouTube by one of the members of the video hosting site. It hasn't officially been uploaded by Ray's social media staff and so I'm not going to post it here. I'll post a promo for the special...

Ray Stevens: The Road to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Part Twenty-Eight...

It has now come to this...the final installment of this mini-blog series chronicling the career path of Ray Stevens as he made his way to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I have reached January 2018 and this is another busy month for Ray...the opening of his long-anticipated venue, CabaRay, dominated the local headlines. The showroom, located on River Road in West Nashville, had a VIP opening on January 10, 2018. The audience make-up consisted of family and friends...and some of the footage and interviews made their way onto the internet in addition to being featured on local television news outlets.

1/10/18: Ray Stevens Day

This photo of Ray circulated on the internet back on January 10th and in the next few days which declared January 10, 2018 to be Ray Stevens Day. The official declaration, signed by Nashville mayor, Megan Barry, is on display in the photo. The grand opening of the CabaRay to the general public came more than a week later. The overall layout of the interior, according to numerous interviews from Ray, was inspired by a venue he used to appear in numerous times in the past...a Las Vegas attraction called The Desert Inn. Ray commented that he wanted this to be a showroom...an intimate supper club kind of venue...and there's dinner served to those that choose that option. The floor level seats are actually tables...where you eat before the concert. Those that choose balcony seats are provided the opportunity for drink service but if you want the dinner option you'll have to purchase floor level tickets. There are booth's located on the floor level, too. The booth's are named after several record producers. Oh yes, the CabaRay also contains a piano bar...the official name is the Bill Lowery High Spirits Emporium. The walls are lined with photo's of numerous musicians, record producers, recording artists, as well as photo's, of course, of Ray. The gift shop is located just inside the main entrance. CDs, T-shirts, and trinkets of all kinds are offered...a lot of these trinkets aren't sold in his on-line store and so the only way to get these gifts is by visiting the gift shop. Large photo's of his album covers line the walls of the gift shop but those aren't for sale. The gift shop generally opens 1 hour before the dinner...the Piano Bar opens 2 hours ahead of the dinner. The piano playing can be heard throughout the showroom...so you don't necessarily have to literally be inside the bar to hear it. The piano player/singer wraps up several minutes before Ray comes out on stage. After the concert Ray usually appears in the Piano Bar to sign autographs or sing songs accompanied by the bar's piano player. The upstairs area contains trophy cases lined with his awards. How do I know all of this?? Well, I attended a concert at the CabaRay a couple of months after it opened...oh how I'd love to get back there one day!!

The performance schedule at the showroom is typically confined to Friday and Saturday nights. There are times when a Thursday night concert is added in addition to Friday and Saturday. Ray made it perfectly clear in those grand opening interviews that he didn't want this to turn into another Branson-type of arrangement. If you're not familiar or are unsure of what he was referring to he was referring back to his early '90s run at the theater he headlined for three seasons, 1991-1993, and how at that time he did two shows a day, six days a week with very little downtime. So, this time around, the CabaRay, unlike The Ray Stevens Theatre, features one concert per night from Ray on Friday and Saturday and occasionally Thursday. In his memoir Ray remarks that the 2 shows a day, 6 days a week Branson schedule left him physically and mentally exhausted...so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the CabaRay would have a far less physically demanding pace. On the music front he had previously issued three CD's in 2016: Just a Closer Walk With Thee/Gospel Favorites, Love Lifted Me, and the holiday release, Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me, in addition to the music video/single only, "Dear America". The first gospel release was the second volume of gospel songs released through Bill Gaither's record company while Love Lifted Me was a re-issue of Ray's early '70s gospel album with a unique twist: The music tracks were from the 1972 studio album but the audio tracks were re-recordings, except for one song, "Let Our Love Be a Light Unto the People". The Christmas CD, to date, remains the last CD project he's released.

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville continued airing in local syndication on PBS television stations across the country throughout 2018. In August of 2018 the city of Nashville selected Ray as one of that year's recipient's for the Music City Walk of Fame. The attraction is located across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum...recording artists of all music genres have received Stars on this cemented row of musicians. It's kind of like the Hollywood Walk of Fame...but without the massive hype/attention.

August 21, 2018

The sixth season of Ray's television series wrapped up in the summer of 2018...a little more than a month prior to the Music City Walk of Fame honor. The series, as of this writing, has a total of 78 half hour episodes. The show's title, CabaRay Nashville, was used as a tie-in to the showroom even though almost all of the episodes were taped at a recording studio on Music Row. The last ten episodes of Season Six originated at the CabaRay, though. In the last couple of months in 2018 Ray put on a Christmas series of concerts at the CabaRay showroom before closing things down for the year.

The venue closed down for a couple of months but re-opened for it's second season of concerts in early March 2019. By this time Ray had reached age 80 (back on January 24th) and his CabaRay Nashville television series was returning to the RFD-TV airwaves in addition to a second series, Rayality TV, making it's RFD-TV debut...all of these happenings arrived during the month of January but the biggest news of all arrived on the morning of March 18, 2019. It was on this day that WSM radio personality, Bill Cody, in a news conference, delivered the latest list of inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. I was watching the news coverage that morning and it was surreal...as soon as Bill began reading about the inductee being from the small cotton mill town of Clarkdale, Georgia I couldn't believe my ears!!! Ray's election/induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame is something I had championed for years and years. I have always felt that his lack of presence in the Hall of Fame among those he worked with or worked for over the decades was a shame...but beyond that just his talents alone and the impact he had with songs, albums, home videos, and on-line music videos provides a perfect display of his artistic range and why he belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

His talents as a singer/songwriter/musician/producer/arranger/publisher touch every facet of the music industry. For some country music fans they feel election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is more or less a prestigious popularity award. In this mindset they feel that Hall of Fame members need millions upon millions of album sales and dozens of Top-10 and number one hits to qualify. You can have a very successful career without being the dominant headliner or without being known all over the country. Anyway, Ray continued on with his CabaRay concerts, of course. Wednesday nights saw the addition of taping sessions for Larry's Country Diner, a series that airs on RFD-TV. I suspect that Ray had plans for new music to be released this year but the March announcement of his election to the Country Music Hall of Fame perhaps blindsided him so much that everything he had planned was put on hold. There are still several months left in 2019 so it's possible he'll issue something by year's end. In the summer of 2019 Ray appeared on the Close-Up Stage at CMA Fest...being interviewed about his career and recent election to the Hall of Fame. He served as Grand Marshal of an area Shriner's parade in June and held a private concert at the CabaRay for the Shriner's...photo's surfaced which looked as if they came right out of his 1980 "Shriner's Convention" song...but for the record there were no Shriner's in the photos wearing a Fez with a propeller on top.

I have this photo posted along the right hand side of the blog page. It's a photo of Ray inside the rotunda at the Country Music Hall of Fame during the morning of March 18, 2019 after being named one of the 2019 inductees into the Hall of Fame. His plaque will be unveiled this coming October 20th at the private Medallion Ceremony. The gala is a private function but photos, video, and audio from the event show up on-line almost immediately afterward. I felt this was a perfect photo of Ray to use as publicity for his upcoming induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and so I also have it posted on the photo time line off to the right. Ray gave an acceptance speech back on March 18th when the news broke that he was one of the artists going into the Hall of Fame this year and it's available to see and hear on YouTube. The big speech won't take place until October 20th when the formal induction takes place. I, like so many of his fans, are eager to hear what he has to say and if it's going to be full of laughs or if it'll be serious and dare I say, tear-jerking. Ray isn't known as an artist that shows those kinds of emotions publicly...and so I'm anxious to see/hear Ray's speech once his plaque is revealed for all to see. This mini-blog series was designed not to be an in-depth career history (although that's probably how it turned out) but more or less an overview of his career with some emphasis placed on things that elevate his career as something other than 'novelty singer' which is how he's viewed and it's what his reputation is even though you and I know Ray Stevens is much more than a 'novelty singer'.

In this mini-blog series I attempted to show his skills as producer, music arranger, and his role as music publisher...and the many styles of music he's recorded over the decades. While it's true that the comedy songs and the equally comedic music videos are tough to overcome in the overall legacy of Ray Stevens this mini-blog series gave equal time, in some cases more, to his serious recordings and to more serious aspects of his recording career...at least I happen to think it did. "Don't look, Ethel" is a very popular catchphrase associated with Ray Stevens...but don't let that catchphrase dictate your opinion regarding Ray's overall career. His serious recordings from the late '50s to the present time are definitely worth looking at and discovering if all you know about Ray Stevens is a comedy song or two from the '70s or '80s.

Tune into CabaRay Nashville every Saturday night on RFD-TV at 8pm Eastern or if you don't have the channel look for the show on your local PBS stations. When you watch his television show you'll know exactly why Ray Stevens belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame and formal induction takes place in six days...October 20, 2019.

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville telecasts...

Hello all...and here's hoping you all took a look at my previous blog entry. In it I embedded a video clip of Ray Stevens from the early 1980s in a commercial for Flav-O-Rich. As I type this it's 10 minutes til 7pm Eastern which means we're a little more than hour away from the Saturday night telecasts of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. The series is locally syndicated on PBS stations across the country but it also airs nationally on cable channel, RFD. The episodes airing on PBS, since they're in local syndication, air at various times based on each individual station's schedule and so there's no definitive air-time. This is why for television programs that are syndicated the phrase "check your local listings" is used.

However, the RFD airing of the series is nationally based and with it comes a definitive time-slot: Saturday nights at 8:30pm Eastern.

In my area a local PBS affiliate, KET, airs Ray's series. It airs on one of their sub-channels, KET2, each Saturday night at 8pm Eastern. So, luckily for me, an episode of his show comes on at 8pm on a local PBS station and then at 8:30pm Eastern the national RFD-TV channel airs an episode. Tonight on KET2 an episode guest starring Jamie O'Neal is airing. In this episode, among the songs performed, is "Open the Door, Richard". That particular song goes back several decades...many decades in fact...it emerged in 1947, originally, and Ray revived it in 2012 for his stellar Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music.

On RFD-TV an episode guest starring Jenny Gill is going to air. In that episode one of the songs performed by Ray is "April in Paris". That particular song hasn't appeared on any studio album from Ray, though. One of the perks of watching Ray's television show is sometimes you'll get to see him perform songs that he hasn't recorded, perform songs that were album cuts and not pushed as single releases, or you'll see him perform songs that he's recorded yet hadn't released yet...and you'll see him, obviously, perform the songs that are closely identified with his career. On top of that you'll also see him perform duets, on occasion, with the special guest of the week. There's a lot of activity packed into each half hour episode...and it's a fast-moving half hour...and that's why some out there have wished the show to expand to an hour.

I don't think expanding to an hour is necessary, though. The half hour format is perfect...it keeps the show tightly scripted, fast moving, and more importantly it leaves a viewer wanting more. I think an hour format would backfire simply based on the type of show CabaRay Nashville happens to be. Would I complain about an hour long version of the show? No! I'd watch it regardless. As mentioned earlier, in my viewing area, two different episodes of the show air back to back on two different networks on Saturday night thanks to the 8pm local PBS airing and the 8:30pm national RFD-TV airing and so for viewers in this area we're getting an hour of Ray Stevens every Saturday night but it isn't an hour-long individual episode...it's two separate half hour episodes on two different channels...and in less than half an hour from now these episodes will air tonight: 

CabaRay Nashville: 8pm Eastern KET2 (special guest Jamie O'Neal)

CabaRay Nashville: 8:30pm Eastern RFD-TV (special guest Jenny Gill)

Ray Stevens performs "My Dad"...

Hello all...it's Father's Day! Last year around this time (June 17, 2018) Ray Stevens uploaded a performance he did of the song "My Dad" from his CabaRay Nashville television series. I never created a blog entry title centering around that performance/video clip but I decided to do so today. As mentioned it was uploaded a year ago tomorrow...for Father's Day fell on June 17th last year. I never knew the specifics but it's always the third Sunday in June which marks Father's Day and so this time around it falls of June 16th but last year it was June 17th.

Anyway...there are a couple of websites I came across in the past that mistook the title of Ray's recording and claimed it's a cover of an earlier song by the same title from actor Paul Petersen. A glaring mistake on their part, obviously, because both songs are different even though they share the same title, "My Dad". Isn't it revealing how very little research actually goes into the construction of some websites out there? I'm not posting the early '60s recording simply because this is a Ray Stevens fan created blog page and so his recording of the completely different song, also titled "My Dad", gets total deference.

Ray originally recorded the song in 1983 for his Mercury album, Me. It's from the pen of Dale Gonyea. Ray re-recorded the song for inclusion on his 2011 album, Bozo's Back Again, which is a mix of re-recordings and some obscurities. The song, "Ruby Falls", made it's CD debut on that release but the song itself had been available as an Mp3 single for almost a decade. "Priceless" had never been available while "Just For The Hell of It" had originally appeared in the soundtrack for the 1981 movie, Cannonball Run. In the 2011 recording of the song Ray includes an opening verse not heard in the 1981 soundtrack recording. In the 1981 recording the song begins with the chorus. He retains the same music arrangement for the 2011 re-recording.

"My Dad", as mentioned, was one of the re-recorded songs on that 2011 CD and here's Ray performing it on an episode of CabaRay Nashville...

Ray Stevens: Vintage Visuals early 1980s...

Oh yes I'm almost a week late in posting this image on my fan created Ray Stevens blog page. I wrote several blog entries recently centered mostly around Ray's participation in CMA Fest 2019 as well as his concerts at the CabaRay but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity of sharing this particular photo...

I almost came close to titling this blog entry 'Georgia at Alabama' as if it were a College ball game. It's Ray Stevens on stage with Alabama, of course. When the photo was posted this past Tuesday on his social media sites I remarked that Ray's belt buckle and vest cry out Urban Cowboy and that the photo has to be from somewhere during the 1980-1982 time frame...maybe 1983. Ray and Alabama were label mates on the RCA roster during that point in time. The label was also the home to Ronnie Milsap, Charley Pride, as well as the label that kept the catalog of Elvis Presley in print. Chet Atkins, one of Ray's closest friends in the music industry, had long been a recording artist (instrumental albums) as well as a record producer for RCA and later an executive at the label but he stepped down as an executive at some point in the late '70s. I'm pretty sure Chet was responsible for guiding Ray to the RCA roster in 1979 once Ray's contract with Warner Brothers expired but I don't know if Chet, himself, signed Ray to RCA in 1979 or if someone else happened to. Ray's debut album for RCA was released in February of 1980 shortly after the release of the album's title track, "Shriner's Convention". Ray recorded three studio albums for RCA: Shriner's Convention (1980), One More Last Chance (1981), and Don't Laugh Now (1982). The label released two compilations on Ray during the 1980s: Greatest Hits (1983) and Collector's Series (1985). The latter was a general release in which artists both past and present for RCA were each given their own Collector's Series spotlight release. Ray had joined MCA Records by the time RCA began issuing the Collector's Series compilations so he was considered, obviously, a former RCA artist. Each release consisted of eight songs. Chet Atkins, in the meantime, had departed from RCA in 1982 after a decades long run. He joined the label in 1957 and so he spent 35 years on their roster as a recording artist and music executive before departing for Columbia Records. I imagine it's pure coincidence that Ray's third and final studio album for RCA arrived the same year Chet departed from the label: 1982.

Now...about that photo...

Ray, as you can see, is in the early '80s country music attire...casual clothing with a decidedly western flavor (Urban Cowboy). The next thing that caught my eye is the wild hair of their drummer but then the third thing that caught my eye is Jeff Cook's shirt!! Does it look familiar? If you're a Ray Stevens fan the shirt should be very familiar to you. In addition to it's appearance on 1983's Greatest Hits (released on RCA) Ray also wore the shirt (or one very similar) in a television appearance in an episode of The Fall Guy. He appeared in the episode 'The Pirates of Nashville' and during a performance scene of "Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee" he wore one of those flowery black button up shirts. The episode originally aired November 23, 1983. Ray Stevens, Dottie West, and The Charlie Daniels Band appear. Dottie and Charlie appear as themselves, though, while Ray plays a fictional character essential to the episode's story-line. The irony, though, is at the time of Ray's appearance on The Fall Guy he had signed with Mercury Records and had issued a studio album, Me, and so he wasn't on the RCA roster when his episode of The Fall Guy premiered; and yet another irony is one of Ray's RCA recordings is heard in the background, 1982's "Country Boy, Country Club Girl", during the show's opening scene. I have no information on the production details of Ray's episode of The Fall Guy. It was taped at some point in the latter half of 1982 or sometime in the first half of 1983 given that it's an episode of the show's 1983-1984 season.  

Ray Stevens: Hot Chili and Barbeque...

Hello once again...an early Sunday morning has me looking at a couple of food related music clips from recently elected Country Music Hall of Fame (CMHOF) member, Ray Stevens. There's been something of a food topic over the last several blog entries...the previous blog entry focused on a mid 1980s television commercial for ice cream that Ray Stevens did for the Flav-O-Rich company. Prior to that I wrote about a 2013 music video from Ray titled "Red Hot Chili Cook Off" which was also being highlighted on Episode 8 of Rayality TV. When I watched the music video I took note of the unique view total and at that time (April 28th) it had 955,945 unique views...a day later it increased to 956,436. As of this writing the six year old music video is sitting at 961,377. Now, that is an increase of 5,432 unique views in a week's time (going back to April 28th)...I think it's quite an achievement for a six year old on-line music video to obtain over five thousand unique views. Now, of course, given that the video had been showcased on Rayality TV on April 26th that, too, more than likely caused RFD-TV viewers to search for the video on YouTube after having seen it on Ray's clip-filled series...so I'm not going to take full credit for the music video's 5,000-plus increase in unique views but speaking of his clip-filled television series...

This past Friday (May 3rd) Episode 9 of Rayality TV aired on RFD-TV (airtime is 1:30pm Central, 2:30pm Eastern). Ray's promo for that episode is below...



Also taking place on May 3rd was the uploading of "Barbeque", a live performance of the song from an episode of CabaRay Nashville, which guest starred Lee Roy Parnell. In the performance of the song Lee Roy is playing the guitar. It may have been deliberate or coincidental but when Ray recorded the song for his 1990 album, Lend Me Your Ears, Lee Roy Parnell was among the studio musicians on that project...and so, chances are, given his guest appearance on Ray's show that's why he was seen playing the guitar with the rest of Ray's band during "Barbeque". A limited animation music video of the song emerged on DVD in 2005 but has since been uploaded onto YouTube. The video used the 1990 audio recording. Ray's CabaRay 2018 performance of "Barbeque" could be the first time he sang it on television since 1990. I recall seeing Ray perform the song on an episode of Nashville Now right around the time Lend Me Your Ears was brand new. The song was never pushed as an actual single in 1990...that distinction fell upon two songs that became much more popular as music videos: "Sittin' Up With the Dead" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...but nevertheless "Barbeque" was one of those great Ray Stevens comedy songs that took on a life of it's own with fans over the decades. Ray, as far as I know, doesn't perform the song as part of his concert set-list, neither, so this may be the only time you'll see him perform the song on stage for quite some time...

Ray Stevens: It Starts with M.E.

Hello once again...in this first fan created blog entry of the month I'm going to highlight a recent YouTube video clip that emerged from Ray Stevens last week (April 5, 2019). The video promotes music education and how emotionally beneficial it can be to a person's life. In researching the project I found out that It Starts with M.E. got underway in the latter half of 2018 following the CMA Music Fest telecast on ABC-TV in August of 2018. In the years leading up to the creation of this program there had been similar kinds of programs/seminars devoted to enriching one's life with music but based on my research It Starts with M.E. is a culmination of those similar awareness programs all rolled into one.

Ray has, down through the years, participated in a number of seminars and programs promoting music awareness in addition to sitting on panels discussing songwriting and the intricacies of music and it's impact on people's lives and so from that aspect this isn't new territory for Ray to cover but given the clever slogan and the fact it's being widely publicized beyond Music Row gives the CMA Foundation's campaign a bit more broader attention rather than it coming off as something exclusive to those that work in, or routinely visit, downtown Nashville.

The reason for the unique spelling, in case you hadn't figured it out by now, M.E. stands for music education.

Ray Stevens and the Upcoming Year...2019...

It's that time once again...we're very close to ending another calendar year...and although it hasn't become an annual tradition it's time for me to take a look at the upcoming year and the events and happenings in the career of Ray Stevens. Now, of course, I can only speculate on things that may happen and so I won't do too much of that but rather I'll focus on things that I know for certain. For example...2019 will mark the Golden Anniversary of everything Ray recorded in 1969 and this will include recordings found on his two albums that year: Gitarzan and Have a Little Talk With Myself. I won't go into detail about those two albums in this blog entry...I'll wait until we get to 2019 before I dive into those albums with my usual enthusiastic nature. Since 1969's recordings will reach 50 in 2019 that, of course, means his recordings from 1979 and 1989 reach 40 and 30 respectively. Ray never released any recordings in 1999 but he did issue recordings late in 2009 and those will reach 10 later this year but more on that in the second half of 2019.

Performing "Gitarzan" in concert is easily identified by the fact it's the only performance in which Ray is shown with a guitar. The song turns 50 next year and I've written down some notes regarding potential blog entry titles for when I take the plunge and write the Golden Anniversary blog entry. A brief look back on one of the major things that took place in 2018 in the career of Ray Stevens can be summed up in one word: CabaRay. The luxurious showroom on River Road in West Nashville opened it's doors in January this year and since we're on an anniversary kick I'll remark that the showroom reaches it's one year anniversary next month. The showroom had been in the planning stages for at least two years before it had it's grand opening in January 2018. There was a rather lengthy delay in the building's permit being cleared and given approval in spite of the fact that the land/property had already been purchased, cleared, and ready for construction but the land sat vacant during the long permit process. This meant that the showroom wouldn't be open by the summer of 2017 nor late 2017 as was hoped. The grand opening, as mentioned, happened in January of this year. There is a photo of Ray from the latter half of 2016 and it shows Ray holding the building permit with a big smile. I've got that photo in my collection...

There's a certain cliche that goes 'a picture is worth a thousand words' and this photo lives up to that expression. If you're a casual fan and do not follow the career of Ray Stevens as intently as I or some of the other fans do then you won't know just how agonizing and frustrating the process happened to be with the construction of the CabaRay on what seemed like permanent delay...but finally the building permit was issued. Even though we, as fans, personally had nothing to do with the process of getting the showroom constructed nor were we in any way part of the goings-on behind the scenes it nevertheless, for me anyway, was as agonizing as if I happened to be part of the goings-on. As a fan I, too, couldn't wait to see the showroom transformed from it's paper design and layout to an actual physical building one can walk into. A further explanation can be found within the next paragraph or two. I had never had the desire to visit Nashville or venture too far "from home" even though some may say that's a terrible mindset to not want to travel and "see the country" or "see the sights", etc. etc. I've always been a homebody and have always been happy just attending concerts of singers I like if they happen to appear within reasonable driving distance from where I live.

I don't go to sporting events either...I prefer to watch sports on TV or listen to the radio...but anyway I never had such a burning desire to travel to such a distant place as Nashville, Tennessee in my life until Ray's CabaRay showroom was opened to the public in January. I kept telling myself that I just had to visit the place. Strangely enough I never had that kind of overwhelming desire to visit a venue when he returned to his theater in Branson, Missouri in the mid 2000s even though by then I was now old enough to have attempted a trip down there. I was still a kid/teenager in the early 1990s when Ray was originally in Branson and so, obviously, it was completely out of the question back then and so it never entered my mind to visit Ray's Branson theater in person.

Anyway, my brother and I embarked on our trip/voyage to Nashville in March and we attended a concert at the CabaRay. I wrote a review of our time in Nashville and at the CabaRay back in March but I don't think I expressed the feeling I got when, from the car window, I saw the CabaRay sitting high atop the area...for me, seeing the CabaRay showroom in person with the big red letters across the front of the building spelling out the name of the showroom was like, for others, seeing the Hollywood letters on the mountain in California. I seriously want to attempt another visit to the CabaRay in 2019...but everything depends on vacation time where I work (and it getting approved in a timely manner) as well as the schedule of my brother. It's completely out of the question of my traveling to Nashville by myself and so that isn't an option.

One more look back on 2018...in August Ray received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. There was a lot of publicity for the ceremony/event, I wrote several blog entries about it, and it played out like the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, actually. There were speakers at the event of the civic variety and each star that received this Walk of Fame honor also had their career highlights/statistics spoken of, too, by those doing the presentations...

The Music City Walk of Fame now includes a Star honoring Ray Stevens and as you can see in the collage off to the left the equally legendary artist, Ricky Skaggs, did the formal induction of Ray's star on the Walk of Fame. I'd seen the Walk of Fame when I was in Nashville but this was months before Ray received a star. In 2019 I plan on visiting Nashville and the CabaRay in a more warmer time of the year, too...with the added bonus of seeing Ray's Walk of Fame star. As one could guess the Music City Walk of Fame is similar to Hollywood's Walk of Fame...and there's a certain legendary actor that has had a star on the Walk of Fame going back several decades and in a lot of his films he wore a star and I'm talking about John Wayne. As many Ray Stevens fans already know he recorded a song/tribute to John Wayne in 1989 and it's on the Beside Myself album which turns 30 in 2019. The writer of the song is Ray's long-time associate/collaborator, Buddy Kalb. It's not a heavy, deep tribute song but actually more along the lines of a clever tribute using movie titles and characters played by John Wayne...and I happen to find these kinds of tribute songs much more appealing and endearing than some kind of music creation or instrumental which would have little to do with the subject being honored or given tribute. The song I'm referring to is "Marion Michael Morrison"...which, at the time, was considered to be John Wayne's birth name but in the years following it's been changed to Marion Mitchell Morrison and I've also seen his birth name listed as Marion Robert Morrison. Whichever one is ultimately correct is irrelevant because everybody knows him as John Wayne or The Duke...and you can sing the song just as easily no matter if the middle name is Michael, Mitchell, or Robert...the melody will remain intact. Some of the films mentioned are The Sands of Iwo Jima, The Flying Tigers, and a couple of his characters mentioned in the song are McQ and McClintock.

Anyway...I have Beside Myself on vinyl and on cassette. I don't have a photo of myself with the vinyl album but here's the cassette copy. I also have it on CD under a different name, At His Best. The album, released in 1989, was his sixth studio album for MCA Records and at the time his final for the label (he'd return in the mid 1990s for a couple of projects). The album broke up the pattern of his previous five which were all comedy. This one presented 10 songs altogether (five ballads and five comedy). The ballads are featured on side one and I believe that was by design...his serious side hadn't been represented on records since 1983...and so the first five songs on this album showcase his serious side and probably by coincidence a more serious looking image of Ray is seen first on the album cover seated next to the comical/clown image of Ray of which takes center stage on side two of the album. The album's lead off is the appropriately titled "Your Bozo's Back Again". The third track is "Marion Michael Morrison" which I previously wrote about in the above paragraph. Just recently an article became available centering around John Wayne but more to the point it was an interview of Chris Mitchum (the son of the late actor, Robert Mitchum) and it was conducted by Jeremy Roberts...a name that should ring a bell with the more in-depth fans of Ray Stevens. It's Jeremy whose conducted interviews with Ray as well as Buddy Kalb in recent years...and yes, he even conducted an interview with me of all people centering around my frustrations of why Ray isn't in the Country Music Hall of Fame. You can read each of the three interviews by clicking the following links: Ray Stevens Buddy Kalb and Yours Truly. The interviews were published in December 2016 (Ray), June 2017 (Buddy), and July 2017 (mine). In the Buddy Kalb interview you'll see mention of the upcoming CabaRay and how, at the time, the parties involved were expecting to have the showroom completed and ready for it's grand opening in September of last year...so, as I was referring to earlier, it's completion and eventual grand opening took longer than expected.

The latest interview of Chris Mitchum and the connection to John Wayne can be found HERE. The title of the piece is 'John Wayne built my career'. As you'll see when you visit the page it's the third part of an interview. The second part was published in November and titled 'When Robert Mitchum considered Elvis Presley for Thunder Road' and part one was earlier in November and titled 'Chris Mitchum's Fluke Showdown with the King of Cool'. Once you visit the link featuring commentary about John Wayne that I provided you can visit the author's home page and locate the other two parts of the interview and find all of his interviews, in general, but part three ties into the career of Ray Stevens in an indirect way given the recording of "Marion Michael Morrison" in 1989. On the left hand side of each interview there's an applause symbol. This is the site's version of a 'like' button so make sure you click the applause symbol when you read the articles.

I look for Ray to release some sort of audio CD in 2019...the last album was the Christmas release Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me (2016) and before that Here We Go Again! (2015). A couple of months ago Ray had made some commentary on social media that he'd been in the recording studio and usually that means some kind of recording or an entire CD is on the way and so perhaps the early half of 2019 will feature new songs from Ray!? His CabaRay Nashville television series continues to air in local syndication on PBS and I'm hoping new episodes of the series are produced in 2019. An elusive Season Seven has yet to materialize...but the previous six seasons of the series are currently airing on scattered local PBS stations across the country...and the first two seasons are also available on DVD. In addition to the anniversary milestones for specific songs/albums by Ray Stevens in the year 2019 the biggest milestone will happen a month from now...technically less than a month from now...on January 24, 2019. Dedicated fans of Ray should know the importance of that day without my having to say it. This might be the last blog entry I write for 2018...but perhaps not...I may squeeze in one more before the calendar flips to January. Whatever I decide just remember that I'll continue to follow the career of Ray Stevens in 2019 just as I have the last several decades and I'll continue offering an informative, detailed, opinionated, and enthusiastic blog for those that are seriously interested in the career/music of Ray Stevens.

Ray Stevens Christmas Nuggets...

Merry Christmas from this long time Ray Stevens fan!! I've been a fan of Ray's ever since discovering one of his recordings, "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival", on a jukebox in a local pizza place in the late 1980s. A couple of blogs ago I put together a sort of 'celebration' of my 10th year as a blogger of all things Ray Stevens. I've always been an independent blogger with no personal or professional connection to Ray whatsoever...this fan created blog is strictly for my and hopefully your pleasure as well. Ray's been uploading several Christmas themed performances on YouTube lately. Two of the performances come from his CabaRay Nashville television series. One of them is his performance of "White Christmas" with Deborah Allen while the other is a performance of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Suzy Bogguss. 

In addition to those he uploaded a performance of "Bad Little Boy" from a television appearance in 1997...the very year the Christmas Through a Different Window album was released. The performance comes off like a live music video and by that I mean he performs it with plenty of stage props (giant toys and a giant chair to cause him to look smaller). If I recall correctly I once remarked that "Bad Little Boy" was like a modern update on the Spike Jones classic, "Nuttin' for Christmas". In fact one of the repeated phrases in Ray's recording echos the same sentiments. In case you missed it here's that video...



There's been a number of things happening in the world of Ray Stevens over the last week and a half...certainly in the last week. Events started out typical enough...several advertisements appeared on YouTube for the Christmas at the CabaRay concerts in addition his New Year's Eve celebration taking place at the CabaRay; but...then came the breaking news surrounding his decision to sell his Music Row property (which includes his long time recording studio). The buyer of the property will use the space to construct a 7-story building designed to benefit the music industry and lure economic vitality to the region once more. Detractors/preservationists are saying it's one more nail in the coffin in the destruction of Music Row's historical buildings. Those who support Ray's decision and the property sale, in general, see it as a way to bring in music-driven business and who knows? The building, based on the art work of the finished project, is certainly large enough to include office headquarters for songwriters, publishers, musicians, and the like...and serve as a beacon for those wanting to get their foot in the door in Music City. The local paper published an article all about the breaking news and it included commentary from Ray and how he had held off selling his property until the right buyer came along. At the time of the article the sale hadn't been finalized yet but it looks to be finalized probably early next year. You can read the article by clicking HERE. 

In addition to the Christmas concerts at the CabaRay, the upcoming New Year's Eve concert, the breaking news surrounding his Music Row property, and the Christmas themed YouTube video clips...on top of this a decision was made by those at RFD-TV to remove his two television programs that they'd just started airing the last couple of weeks. There wasn't any kind of explanation given...I posted several comments on RFD's social media sites hoping to get a response and I even sent a personal message/e-mail inquiring as to the reason both CabaRay Nashville and Rayality TV were suddenly removed without any explanation whatsoever. Given that I sent that message a couple of days ago I'm sure the office staff at RFD is on Christmas break and aren't going to reply until later this week or in the New Year.

CabaRay Nashville had been placed on RFD's schedule on Saturday night and Rayality TV was placed in the 9pm time-slot on Sunday following Hee Haw a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend neither show was on their line-up and neither were listed on RFD's on-line program guide. Prior to last weekend the two shows were listed on the program guide along side the network's other regularly scheduled shows. I know that RFD removed a massively popular series from their Sunday night line-up and placed Rayality TV there. Since then they brought back the massively popular series but yet didn't place Ray's show in a different time-slot on their network...as far as I know it was removed entirely. As far as CabaRay Nashville was concerned it was placed on the same night it previously had aired during the 2015-2016 season and yet it, too, was removed. Could I be jumping to conclusions when I wonder if Ray's most recent business decisions in any way played a role in his two television shows abruptly leaving RFD's airwaves? Is RFD going to bring the show's back in 2019 on a more permanent basis and therefore am I over-reacting concerning their disappearance from RFD? I could be over-reacting...remember, though, I hadn't received a reply yet as to why Ray's programs aren't part of RFD-TV...and so all of my irritation, confusion, and curiosity may prove to be unnecessary should both programs return to RFD's airwaves. I hope to get a reply from them just so I can try and understand their reasoning because, quite honestly, it just doesn't make any sense and it isn't fair to his fans.

Just so I don't close the blog entry on such a gloomy overtone I'm closing it with the bouncy and cute rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from Ray and Suzy Bogguss. Ray adds in mostly his own lyrics...it's not a total parody or anything...but Ray's comical reaction lines deliberately keep the mood playful instead of romantic.

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville Television Series...

For a larger view you can click the photo on the left. Although it's  not a thumbnail image it should give you a slightly larger image than the one I've placed in this blog entry. It's one of the various collage's of Ray Stevens that I've made over the last couple of years. In case you missed some of my recent blog entries or hadn't heard the news...the television series that Ray's been hosting since 2015, CabaRay Nashville, has returned to RFD-TV. The program departed the RFD-TV schedule after a little more than a year on their line-up (two 13 episode seasons which included 26 repeats). Upon it's departure from RFD-TV it moved into local PBS syndication in January of 2017. The episodes that had aired on RFD-TV from November 2015 until December 2016 (26 total) were the first ones to air when the series moved to PBS syndication. While all of this was going on, though, Ray was putting together more and more episodes of the series. These brand new episodes became known as the PBS exclusives since they hadn't aired on any other network. These exclusives began airing in the summer of 2017 (officially the start of Season Three). The series continued on through seasons four, five, and six with each season consisting of 13 first-run episodes. Last night (December 15th) marked the third week since Ray's return to the RFD-TV airwaves with the airing of episode three from Season Three...but not to forget is the fact that episodes of the series continue to air on local PBS stations as well. The first two seasons of the television series have been released on DVD.

If you want to purchase them specifically as a Christmas gift you'll have until December 18th (this coming Tuesday) at the very latest to place your order. Logistically speaking any order placed after that date you'll probably not get until after Christmas. You can purchase Season One and Season Two separately but there's also a combo offer where you can purchase both seasons and end up paying less when purchased together rather than sold separately. Each DVD is $29.99 (not including shipping and handling). If you order the combo offer you'll pay $44.99 (not including shipping and handling). So, more or less, you'll be saving maybe 10 or 11 dollars off the total price when purchased together. Everything you need to know can be found in the DVD area of Ray's web-store when you click this LINK but make your purchase by December 18th if you want it before Christmas!

Now, then...are you ready for the episode list of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...here they are...all six seasons and they're in chronological air-date order. I don't know how many episodes of the show RFD-TV is going to air but use this as your episode guide. Feel free to copy, paste, and print off the episode list just in case RFD-TV does indeed air all 52 of the PBS episodes (Seasons Three through Six)...

Season One (RFD-TV):
1. Steve Wariner
2. Larry Gatlin
3. Bobby Bare
4. Don Schlitz
5. Charlie McCoy
6. Bobby Braddock
7. Jimmy Fortune
8. Aaron Tippin
9. John Conlee and Jeff Bates
10. Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard
11. Gene Watson
12. James Gregory
13. Billy Dean

Season Two (RFD-TV):
1. Bobby Goldsboro
2. T. Graham Brown and Suzi Ragsdale
3. Williams and Ree
4. Leroy Van Dyke
5. The Bellamy Brothers
6. The Gatlin Brothers
7. Collin Raye
8. Darryl Worley and Lee Greenwood
9. Bill Anderson
10. Sylvia
11. Con Hunley
12. Jimmy Wayne
13. Reed Robertson

Season Three (Local PBS syndication; currently airing on RFD-TV):
1. Harold Bradley and Mandy Barnett
2. Shenandoah
3. Michael W. Smith
4. B.J. Thomas
5. Rhonda Vincent
6. Restless Heart
7. John Michael Montgomery
8. Baillie and the Boys
9. Tommy Roe
10. Mark Wills
11. Duane Eddy
12. Angaleena Presley
13. Riders in the Sky

Season Four (Local PBS syndication):
1. Rex Allen, Jr.
2. Lari White
3. Charley Pride
4. Janie Fricke
5. Gary Mule Deer
6. Gary Morris
7. John Berry
8. Jeannie Seely
9. Don McLean
10. Felix Cavaliere
11. Suzy Bogguss (Christmas episode)
12. Deborah Allen (Christmas episode)
13. The A-Team (New Year's Eve episode)

Season Five (Local PBS syndication):
1. Ray Hilderbrand
2. Steve Wariner (edited version of series debut episode)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Daily and Vincent
5. Jenny Gill
6. Tracy Lawrence
7. Sam Moore
8. Wilson Fairchild
9. Deana Carter
10. Gary Puckett
11. John Rich (Part One episode)
12. John Rich (Part Two episode)
13. Tony Orlando

Season Six (Local PBS syndication):
1. Jamie O'Neal
2. Mark Chesnutt
3. Special Moments (retrospective featuring out-takes and clips from past episodes)
4. Hall of Fame (Ray plays video clips of Hall of Fame guests that have appeared on the show)
5. Moe Bandy (first episode taped from the stage of the CabaRay showroom)
6. Linda Davis
7. CeCe Winans
8. Micky Dolenz
9. Tribute Show (Ray salutes Jerry Reed, Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, and Merle Haggard)
10. Ronnie McDowell
11. Shoji Tabuchi
12. John Schneider
13. Lee Roy Parnell

His clip-filled series, Rayality TV, is also airing on RFD-TV. This unique series airs on Sunday nights at 9pm Eastern (following Hee Haw). I don't have an episode list for that series, however. It's a perfect fit because Ray's clip based series features the same kind of quick edits and cutting away from scene to scene...the sort of technical wizardry that made Hee Haw unique from a production stand-point.

Ray Stevens CabaRay Christmas...

Hello all once more!! Here we are on December 15th...ten days until Christmas...and I hadn't even started on attempting to figure out what to get some of my family for Christmas. I purchased the Ray Stevens DVD titled Such a Night: 50 Years of Hits and Hilarity. I purchased it yesterday when it went on sale. It was the final item in the 12 Days of Christmas discount sale that was taking place on Ray's website. I was not on-line during the first day of the sales event and so I missed out on the offer on the CabaRay hat. The discount sale on each of the 12 items lasted one day only. I posted a link to the discount sale in my previous blog entry back on December 9th and so for those that seen that particular blog post then chances are you participated in the discount sales event or at least were aware that it was taking place. Discount sale or not I'll more than likely put in an order for one of those CabaRay hats in a couple of days or perhaps early next year. I'm not too concerned with whether or not the item arrives before or after Christmas which is why I'm not in any hurry to place an order just yet but I definitely want one of them. I could have purchased one of them when I attended a concert at the CabaRay back on March 1st but I ended up purchasing a CabaRay Nashville coffee mug and his Love Lifted Me CD instead. When you visit Ray's official on-line store you'll see an alert posted indicating the cut-off date pertaining to items arriving before Christmas. As of this writing there's an alert giving a reminder that if you place your order by December 18th chances are it'll arrive before Christmas should you be planning on purchasing something as a gift. I purchased my DVD yesterday, as mentioned, and so I look for it to arrive in my mailbox at some point early next week...I'd be surprised if it took longer than that...given my past experiences they ship things in a timely manner.

Recently there was a write-up in The Tennessean on-line newspaper about the CabaRay Christmas and it featured a video clip. Someone at the newspaper has gone ahead and posted the video clip on YouTube for an even larger audience to see and I'm sharing the video clip in this blog entry...



*** Program alert: Tonight at 8:30pm Eastern on RFD-TV... Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville guest starring Michael W. Smith. ***