The photo of Ray Stevens off to the left is from the latter part of 2022 when he was inducted into Nashville's
Musicians Hall of Fame. I decided to use this photo because I wanted to promote Ray's inclusion into that particular Hall of Fame which honors musicians/performers in all types of music. Now...about this particular blog entry! It's been almost half a year since this 2022 episode of
Larry's Country Diner originally aired...but if you remember I wasn't able to catch the episode the first time around. So, in the meantime, I'd been awaiting the time when the episode aired as a repeat. I counted the repeat airdates from October 2022 and calculated that the episode would repeat sometime in March 2023 and it did...this past Friday. If you caught my previous blog entry you'll know that the repeat wasn't promoted on any of Ray's social media posts and therefore I wasn't aware that Friday (March 31st) was going to be the airdate. I discovered that RFD-TV would repeat the episode a couple more times over the weekend and so I set my DVR to tape Ray's episode airing at 11pm last night (April 1st). I just finished watching it for myself and enjoyed the performances...and then kept thinking about how it was the final first-run episode of the series. Well, I should say the final first-run episode with an in-studio guest. The series officially came to an end following a 2-part look back (part 1 and part 2 aired in back to back weekends in late November). It's always a sad or melancholy feeling whenever a series comes to an end...especially one that's long running. Larry's show began on RFD-TV in 2009 and after 13 years (14 seasons) it wrapped up in 2022. It was one of, if not the
only, nationally airing programs in production that regularly spotlighted established, and in most cases, legendary, recording artists. There are other programs on RFD-TV that feature legends, too, but
Larry's Country Diner happened to be the only one currently in production (as opposed to repeats of
Pop! Goes the Country,
Porter Wagoner, and
Marty Stuart) and because of the show still being in production it had a contemporary flair to it. Ray was a guest on numerous episodes of Larry's show over the last 14 seasons.
Prior to Ray being introduced in this episode the announcer, Keith Bilbrey, joked about the show's host, Larry Black, auditioning in 1974 to play the part of a real-life streaker. A reference to Ray's single, "The Streak". Larry remarked that he ran down Broadway with no clothes on but nobody took him up on his offer to become a professional streaker. He said that he's loved Ray ever since "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" (1957 release). Larry brings up an old quote attributed to Ray where it stated that recording artists should never discuss religion or politics. Ray, to great laughter, remarked that if he said that then he was way too young to understand much of anything and that it's perfectly okay for recording artists to discuss politics or religion. It perfectly illustrates that opinions change with time. As Larry spoke more of religious aspects Ray discusses being on Barnaby Records at the time of "Everything is Beautiful" in 1970 and one of the executives, Mike Sheppard. The record company's headquarters was located in Los Angeles but it had a Nashville office.
When speaking of Nashville he comments on the congested traffic and how it hasn't changed in the last 4 decades...and this leads into a conversation about huge trucks that haul around large lawn mowers...and how they're parked wherever a space can be found (causing even more congestion). Ray sings "Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?". He commented that he's been singing that song at the CabaRay but has yet to officially record it. He had previously performed the song on an episode of Huckabee. The song comes from the pen of Nick Sibley who, based on the other songs by him that Ray has recorded, tends to have a nostalgic bent to his lyrics. Nick had written "Safe at Home" and "Dear Andy Griffith" (recorded by Ray in 2000 and 2010, respectively). The song has several twists on phrases and just when you think you know what the song's overall message is about up comes another lyrical twist that gives the song a different meaning. You might come away with the opinion that "Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?" is about a lazy youth culture glued to hi-tech devices with no physical exertion or work ethic...but then you may come away with the opinion that it's a commentary on how something mundane and simple as lawn mowing as a teenager can instill work ethic and the value of earning money...ensuring that future generations of teens will become productive rather than attach themselves to Government handouts.
Ray follows this performance with "Cup Holders", also from the pen of Nick Sibley. This song is fun to listen to...especially the music arrangement...but don't let the peppy arrangement prevent you from paying attention to the lyrics. I don't think I've heard Ray sing this type of love song in decades. You'd probably have to go back to 1989's "Another Fine Mess" or earlier.
Shifting music gears Ray brings in the comedy...first in the form of "Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", from the pen of Buddy Kalb. You could hear all types of laughter at various moments greeting this song...some of the laughter, to my ears at least, tended to be nervous laughter as if some members of the audience weren't too sure if they were allowed to laugh about the topical, controversial subject matter. Ray closed the show with another Buddy Kalb song, "The Gambler and the Octopus", from 2021's Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore.
This concludes my overview of the Ray Stevens appearance on Larry's Country Diner. It was a great appearance and one that didn't dwell, too much, on previous recordings to the extent where there wasn't much time to promote current activity. Ray currently performs every Saturday night at his CabaRay showroom in west Nashville. In the episode that aired over the weekend he remarked that he does concerts twice a week but keep in mind the episode airing over the weekend was from October 2022. A second night of concerts for 2023 haven't been added, yet.
