Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" hits 2.5 million unique views...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! I took a look at the numbers for "The Quarantine Song" and it's gotten 2,502,146 unique views...and this is a pickup of 93,422 in the last couple of days. When I posted a previous blog about "The Quarantine Song" it had accumulated 2,408,724 unique views. The COVID-19 vaccine is starting to be administered and here's hoping commonly heard phrases like pandemic, social distance, flatten the curve, and stop the spread will be a thing of the past soon. I have a nagging suspicion that those in power aren't too eager to give it up...which is why, in some States, the local officials there are throwing nothing but cold water on the vaccine roll-out. If anything threatens a scientist or politician's power of control over a people, like the roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine certainly can, the more hesitant a Governor or Mayor will become in the roll-out. Several media outlets are deliberately misleading people about the vaccine and sewing doubts about it. The doubts were being sewn earlier in the year...but once the announcement was made that a vaccine had been approved by the FDA the politically driven skepticism ratcheted up. "The Quarantine Song" is available as an Mp3 for those of you, like myself, that also like to have Ray Stevens songs in your audio library rather than only in your video library. You can purchase your Mp3 by clicking HERE.

Ray Stevens: Re-opened CabaRay shuts back down...

Hello all once again!! The news broke around 6pm Tuesday evening that the CabaRay showroom is shutting back down, temporarily, once again. The showroom re-opened on October 1st and it held two concerts there (October 1st and October 3rd) and so the news of it shutting down, again, comes as something of a surprise. In some of my September blog entries I promoted the showroom re-opening in October and provided imagery of the concert calendar...with concert dates filled out for the rest of the year. The showroom opened for it's third season in March and almost immediately shut down after it's opening weekend...and 7 months later, in October, it re-opened but it's shutting down after opening weekend. History repeats itself, yes, but I never thought it would repeat itself in one calendar year. 

Anyway, the message left on the CabaRay social media site left November and December open to perhaps returning to a normal CabaRay experience. The reason for the showroom shutting down, it's explained, is that with all of the COVID-19 restrictions, which they report they're following to the letter, it interferes with their ability to put on a quality show that will be fun and or memorable for the audience. So, if you go by their wording, they're closing down due to the restrictions interfering with the execution of the CabaRay experience (the dinner, the concert, the socializing in the piano bar, the dancing, etc.). In other words the experience of visiting the showroom is being hampered by the COVID-19 restrictions and they'd rather open up with no Government and health department mandated restrictions in place. 

In the social media message Ray remarked that until they're given permission that they're allowed to return to the regular rules of operation the remaining October concerts are canceled...and in late October an announcement will be made about November.    

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" is nearing 1,000,000 unique views...

Hello all once again!! I noticed a flurry of activity on social media sites the last couple of days...people sharing the Ray Stevens COVID-19 music video, "Quarantined". I decided to take a look at the YouTube video and discovered that it's nearing 1,000,000 unique views!! As of this writing the video has 995,292 unique views!! On August 25th the video turned 3 months old...having debuted on YouTube on May 25th. My first blog entry of the month focused on the pandemic and at that time the argument for or against face mask wearing was a big topic.

I wear a face mask, although I'm opposed to it, but I wear one only where it's mandated by a shopping store or whatever fast food place is open for carry-out. I don't like drive-thru...my driver side window is off-track so I open the driver side door to talk into the drive-thru microphone and then I open the door to receive the order. I don't wear a face mask when I'm driving (even though I have seen people seated behind their steering wheel wearing a face mask!) or when I'm with family. The oppressive over-reach of some Governor's in the country will have you thinking you're not allowed to engage in basic, God-given rights and activity unless they approve of it. This is why the pandemic has unleashed the true nature of Big Government politicians both locally and nationally...they've used the pandemic as a power grab where they've been allowed, most through fear and scare tactics, to take over parts of our lives that ordinarily would be hands off.

Through the use of fear tactics a lot of Governor's and Mayor's have used the pandemic to erode individual rights and liberty. The face mask issue, for example, has become some sort of a morality argument. If you wear one you're praised for "not helping spread a virus if you're asymptomatic" and if you don't want to wear one you're vilified and said to be "selfish, intolerant, cold-hearted, and cruel" when all you're wanting to do, as someone who doesn't wear a face mask, is to have the freedom to choose whether you want to wear one or not. The most vulnerable at having complications from COVID-19 should be the ones wearing the face masks in public as I've been saying for months.

The reason why there's a little over 180,000 fatalities of COVID-19 in a country with over 6 million "cases" is because it's a virus that's 90 percent deadly to those aged 60 and older and for those who have underlying medical conditions. There isn't any significant medical data to support the argument to keep the country in partial or full lockdown...the country for half a year has been in a state of economic chaos and uncertainty because with every COVID-19 "case" that springs up a Governor over-reacts and doubles down on keeping their economy at a stand-still.

The State I live in has a little over 4,000 COVID-19 related deaths...the "cases" are a little over 122,000. The population of the State is 11.6 million! Now, in a State with a population that size, our Governor's rhetoric would have you believing we're a "hot spot" of COVID-19 activity. The numbers don't show that. People do and have recovered from COVID-19. I'm tired of the over-reaction whenever there's increases in "cases". COVID-19 isn't an automatic death sentence.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" and COVID-19...

In a previous blog entry I had provided the most recent unique views for the Ray Stevens video, "Quarantined". The numbers for that video were sitting at 816,307 on August 1st. I checked the numbers on August 3rd and they were 828,968 for a pickup of 12,661. I looked at the numbers a couple of minutes ago and "Quarantined" now sits with 853,331 which is a pickup of 24,363 unique views in the last five days. The COVID-19 pandemic, long since politicized, remains a topic of discussion each and every day. The intense focus on COVID-19 "cases" rather than hospitalizations or deaths has single handedly panicked a large swath of the country. A true disservice to the public and causing fear...businesses can't even get their workers to come back for fear of COVID-19. The panic and fear generated by anti-Trump politicians are to blame, in my opinion. Companies/businesses whose CEO's have completely overhauled their job sites to make them safe and COVID ready, based on local and State health mandates, face the burden of getting their workers back. As mentioned they're not returning to work because of the fearmongering of COVID-19 but also, not to forget, they're making more money on unemployment...so good luck getting them back if the checks keep going out with no cut-off in sight.

This intense focus on cases is politically designed to sabotage those in public office who hold differing opinions of the virus and choose to go about dealing with COVID-19 in their own way rather than falling in line with a one size fits all solution. Anyone who dares say that the virus can be dealt with on a local level without State or Federal Government intrusion is shamed and ridiculed. Anyone who dares say facemask wearing should be voluntary is also vilified. The concept of social distancing, I thought, was created to keep people separated 6 feet in case someone wasn't wearing a facemask. This inhumane practice of social distancing, strangely enough, is still being enforced inside retail stores and pretty much everywhere else even though everyone who enters stores and fast food restaurants are required to wear a facemask. I'd love for someone to explain why, even with facemasks on, they still want everyone separated 6 feet.

The video clip below will be three months old on August 25th. If the song/video is new to you Ray takes a humorous look at all of the frustrations and annoyances the pandemic has brought to daily life. The song picks at the disruption of normalcy that the pandemic unleashed on society...as you could guess it's a novelty song. There are those who think the serious nature of a pandemic means that there is nothing to laugh at or there's no humor to be had but that's why the humorless prudes are proven wrong each and every time. You can take a virus seriously but still balk at the Government over-reach. You can usually find the absurdity in the most serious of issues...and Ray has proven this time and time again whenever he decides to sing a topical piece and "Quarantined" is no exception...

Ray Stevens: It's August...COVID-19 still lingers...

Ray Stevens; 2020

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! As we enter the month of August let me go check...yes, COVID-19 still lingers...and in some States there have been increases in cases. I've more or less come to the belief that practically everyone has the virus but just doesn't realize it and, facemasks or no facemasks, it isn't going to stop people from coming down with the virus. That's just my opinion. If my math is correct next month will mark half a year since COVID-19 upended the country. It was in mid to late March when the country went into the tail-spin of shutting down the economy and people went into a panic...there's still limits on how many health and hygiene products a person can buy at a store following the hoarding that took place in the early days and weeks of the pandemic. Tennessee remains in their phrase two re-opening. Keep in mind that, for the most part, these re-openings are arbitrary. Any State Governor can use "science" as their reasoning but at the same time it should be perfectly fine to base reasoning on facts instead of scientific hypothesis. Ray's CabaRay showroom will remain closed. An announcement on the showroom's Facebook page reported that the showroom would remain closed through August 16th. I'm sure once that date arrives another message will be posted saying the showroom will remain closed for the remainder of the month. I say that based on the pattern since April. It's frustrating, to me, that Ray isn't able to put on concerts at his CabaRay. As a fan of his and as the author/creator of this blog it impacts me because I'm not being given the opportunity to write about the happenings at the CabaRay nor promote his concerts through this blog as I would have if not for the pandemic. So yes, I feel denied that opportunity...

In "Quarantined" Ray touches on all of the issues that surround COVID-19...from the lockdowns to the 2 weeks quarantines to stores with empty shelves. It's a song that captures society's frustrations and annoyances. In a blog entry from July 31st I reported that the video had obtained 804,737 unique views. I checked the numbers this morning and they've jumped up an additional 11,570 for a total of 816,307 unique views!

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" music video update...

Well, it's me once again!! I decided to post an update on the Ray Stevens video, "Quarantined". When I last posted about it, on July 3rd, the video had gotten 716,522 unique views. When I checked the video statistics a few minutes ago the updated unique view total had risen to 757,540. That's a pickup of 41,018.

As a lot of you are probably aware there's been a spike in "new cases" of COVID-19 in certain pockets of the country. I don't know where you stand with the experts concerning COVID-19 but I'm about fed up with the whole thing. Let me correct that...I've been fed up for awhile...but each and every day I hear things that reinforce how fed up I happen to be with all things COVID-19. This isn't to say that I think the virus isn't something to take serious...but you can have common sense and still take things seriously at the same time. Like a lot of other people I reject the idea that you must shut down, lockdown, and live in fear...awaiting for an official vaccine. Let me tell you something...you may just be waiting for more than a year or two...and for those who feel that we should all just live in partial shutdown mode indefinitely, well, if that's you then I think you need to make yourself an appointment with a psychiatrist because that's silly talk.

I'm fed up with local and State officials playing around with our liberty and fundamental rights. I'm tired of seeing Blue Governor's using COVID-19 as a cover to implement their leftist social ideology...which otherwise would never see the light of day pre-COVID-19. I'm tired of local government's and local school boards hyperventilating over COVID-19 being dangerous for children when there's absolutely no evidence that an overwhelming majority of children get the virus...and there's also no evidence that should a child get the virus that it's transmissible from child to child or child to adult. There is no evidence to support the frenzy and panic of children being seriously impacted by COVID-19. The science and evidence doesn't support keeping school's shut down.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" is nearing 700,000 unique views...

Isn't it always the luck...just when we thought the warmer, summer weather would be something of an antidote for COVID-19's impact, at least that's what all medical professionals were predicting, here we go with several spikes of COVID-19 in multiple states in various parts of the country. As I've often remarked on here and elsewhere there's something to be said about spikes in cases and if those led to hospitalization and or death within a quarantine time frame (usually 2 weeks). If, at the end of an individual's quarantine, they weren't admitted into an ICU or they didn't pass away then it shows even more data that the virus can cure itself on it's own.

"Quarantined" is nearing 700,000 unique views. As of this writing it's obtained 694,382 unique views. This is a pickup of 8,017 from a previous blog entry. It's been on YouTube for a month and two days (having debuted on May 25th). When it comes to social media that's a lengthy amount of time but it's still bringing in unique views by the thousands and I predict it'll push beyond the 700,000 unique view plateau as we head into Monday...maybe sooner. Oh, by the way, the episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville airing locally here on PBS in three minutes (8pm) is the episode guest starring John Michael Montgomery.

Ray Stevens: "Quarantined" by the Numbers...

Ray Stevens; 2020

Here I am once more!! After a sort of hectic Memorial Day filled with the premiere of "Quarantined", the COVID-19 song from Ray Stevens, and later on the airing of his episode of the Keith Bilbrey hosted Reflections, I went to sleep sometime after 8pm last night...I think. When I left the internet last night the numbers for "Quarantined" were 8,910 unique views on YouTube and 337,508 views on Facebook. When I checked a couple of minutes ago the numbers were 29,438 unique views on YouTube and 590,259 on Facebook! That is more than half a million...closer to 600,000. I don't know the policy when it comes to video views on Facebook. I don't know if the the video only counts one view per device as YouTube happens to do (what they refer to as unique views) so I don't know if Facebook counts multiple views from the same device. There are benefits either way. On the YouTube side of things the statistics show 29,438 unique views for "Quarantined"...based on their policy that means the video was accessed on 29,438 separate internet devices (desktop computer, laptop, smart phone, etc.). It means that once I watched the video on YouTube yesterday morning any of my repeat viewings of the video won't be counted as a 'view'. Facebook, I think, may count repeated views as well as other data metrics including unique views. I think they break down the statistics by unique views, repeated views, auto-play views, etc. etc. but combine it all into an overall view count. However way they monitor and track video content the point is the "Quarantined" video has gotten close to 600,000 views on Facebook in less than 24 hours. I'll check the numbers later on today and see if it's gotten more than 30,000 unique views on YouTube. I hope the song is available on some future album.

Ray Stevens sings "Quarantined"...

Extra...extra!!! The premiere of the Ray Stevens music video has happened!! I've been sharing it on social media sites and I'm embedding it in this blog entry. The "Quarantined" music video premiered at 11:30am Eastern today. I was initially wondering if that meant Central or Eastern time. On my YouTube page I had a reminder put in place to alert me of the video going live. I should have known that the video would premiere at 11:30am Eastern...I have my YouTube settings programmed to the Eastern time zone...but in my excitement I forgot all about that. All of that means I unexpectedly caught the premiere of "Quarantined" an hour ahead of when I initially thought I'd get to see it. Earlier this month Ray appeared on Larry's Country Diner and I wrote a blog entry about it. In that blog entry I noted that his appearance wasn't promoted on any of his social media sites and I couldn't understand why. Well, happily now I know...it's because of an effort to minimize publicity so that there would be substantial impact once this video clip premiered today...



The video premiered more than an hour ago and it's already been viewed more than a thousand times. As I type this the unique view count is 2,851 on YouTube. His Facebook post has the video with over 3,000 likes, over 4,000 shares, and over 200 comments so far. Later on today I'll be looking in at the numbers to see where they stand. This being Memorial Day there's a chance a lot of people are away from the internet doing whatever...so they'll see the video clip later. The hyper-serious mood that's taken over much of the national conversation due to the Coronavirus has meant that light moments and comedy, for some, seems inappropriate and unwelcome. However, "Quarantined", in my opinion, goes right along with a large segment of the public as it points out the annoyances and aggravations in coping with COVID-19...more specifically people coping with the policies enacted in local, State, and Federal Government as a result of the pandemic. The song briefly touches on the hoarding habit that caused the shopping stores to ration certain products (limiting the purchase of specific items). The song doesn't single out any political party...it simply states a sentiment that a lot of people can relate to.

Ray Stevens; 2020

As of now I don't know if "Quarantined" will be part of any future Ray Stevens project. It was on Larry's Country Diner where Ray revealed the name of a box set he'll be releasing...but I don't know if this song will be part of that collection. This song may only exist, for now, in video format on the internet. The song comes from the pen of Buddy Kalb. As I've mentioned in other blog entries this year the COVID-19 pandemic upended life as we know it...disrupted the entertainment industry entirely...the economic loss is massive. If there wasn't a pandemic there wouldn't be this new song from Ray Stevens...but yet if there wasn't a pandemic his CabaRay showroom would've been in it's third month of concerts and there's no telling what would be going on in his career as far as music releases are concerned if not for the pandemic. If you recall he was to have taken part in a fundraiser for WCTE television which was canceled/postponed. Tennessee was ravaged by a tornado just prior to the COVID-19 policies taking over the country and one of Ray's efforts at raising money for relief was going to be the concert proceeds at the CabaRay...but the pandemic changed those plans. This pandemic has created loss of life, loss of jobs, economic devastation, and all kinds of turmoil we'll probably never know about...but it's okay to laugh and smile...exactly the sort of thing "Quarantined" from Ray Stevens will make you do.

Ray Stevens: COVID-19 song premiers May 25th...

Hello all! I was searching the internet and came across an alert posted on the Ray Stevens YouTube channel.

*** The alert is for a live video event taking place this coming Monday May 25th at 11:30am on YouTube. Ray will unveil his new COVID-19 recording, "Quarantined", from the pen of Buddy Kalb. You can access the page where the live video event will take place by clicking HERE. In the upper right hand side of the page is the chat area. I've already left a comment stating that I want May 25th to hurry up and get here!! When the video goes live this coming Monday you'll be able to add commentary as the video's playing and say how much you love the song, etc. Also, don't forget about sharing the song all over social media sites. The virus has caused so much heated division since becoming weaponized politically that it's time for a lighter side to calm things down a little bit. ***

1962, 1985, 1987, 2018

When it comes to Ray Stevens there's usually always a lighter side. In this collage of photos I depict the years of 1962, 1985, 1987, and 2018. As you could guess I chose the photos at random. I originally had a couple of other photos inserted before I decided to switch out images. I think it's an overall representation of Ray Stevens being a consummate entertainer/performer. Specific photos showing him performing in 1962 as well as 2018...a time span of 56 years....even though we know that Ray's professional career dates back to 1957 and he's still active with his career as indicated by the fact that he'll be doing a live premiere of his upcoming "Quarantined" song on May 25th. In addition to the news breaking that he'll be premiering a new song next Monday his social media sites feature an upload of an audio clip of a song he recorded in 1974 on his Boogity Boogity album. The song is titled "Heart Transplant" and the writers credited are Ray Stevens and someone with the unique name of Elkin Rippy. I did some looking around on the internet and apparently he is/was a medical doctor who dabbled in songwriting. There's not much to find when doing an on-line search for that name...one of the regular features in Billboard magazine called 'Nashville Scene', in an installment from September 1971, makes mention of Elkin Rippy being a doctor-songwriter who recently needed to perform surgery on Ronnie Dove.



Wasn't that great?? It plays on the theme of older people receiving donated organs from younger people and, for comical purposes, how it could cause the older recipient's mind to suddenly have the energy of someone half their age...in spite of the older body they're trapped inside.

Reminder: May 25th 11:30am YouTube! Ray Stevens premiers "Quarantined", his new COVID-19 song!!

Ray Stevens: March CabaRay Concerts...

Hello all...looking at the March 2020 calendar of events at the CabaRay showroom I see that there are three concerts from Ray scheduled to take place: March 21st, 26th, and 28th. The Larry's Country Diner series will be taping at the showroom on March 25th. I don't know the reason for there not being a concert taking place on March 19th but I'm guessing it's tied into the COVID-19 a/k/a Coronavirus pandemic. When you visit the CabaRay WEBPAGE you'll see the message that I linked to in a previous blog entry. The message is about the virus and how, for now, concerts will continue to take place at the CabaRay but if you've purchased tickets but have symptoms of the virus then, of course, do not attend the concert. They ask you contact the showroom if you're not able to attend a concert that you've purchased tickets to. All of this may change within the upcoming week, however, given how rapid the virus outbreak has become. In the message posted on Ray's social media pages about the virus it sounds like he's leaving open the possibility that if State officials mandate or Federal health organizations suggest the closing of venues where large amounts of people gather then the CabaRay would have to comply. This is the line that got me thinking that Ray may, at a future date, decide to shut things down temporarily: "At this time, we are continuing with performances and monitoring the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials". As of this writing CabaRay concerts are still going to take place until further notice.