Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! It was announced on social media sites a couple of hours ago that Ray would make a return to his CabaRay showroom in west Nashville. If you're a dedicated fan you'll know that he closed down the venue a couple of months ago after having made the announcement that he was going to retire from regularly scheduled concert performances. That announcement was made in January of 2024 and true to his word he performed what was, at the time, considered to his last concert at the CabaRay for awhile in December of last year. He never said that he was completely retiring, however, and this was made abundantly clear earlier this month when he released his comedy album, Say Whut?. However, even the most dedicated of fans (myself being among those), didn't think that Ray would return to the stage this quickly and yet that's what's going to happen this coming May.
In a couple of press releases Ray announced that beginning May 17th he'd be returning to the CabaRay stage and putting on his standard 90 minute concert. If you've been there before then you know that the CabaRay is like a Ray Stevens paradise without it being overly extravagant. His career is on full display in photos on the walls as well as displayed in awards and certifications housed in several trophy cases.
As many of you know he has that brand new Say Whut? comedy album out and the promotion of that album is one of the reasons behind the decision to re-open the showroom for another season of concerts. The album features such songs as "Cupholders", "I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet", "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", "The Boom-Boom Gentlemen's Club", and "Everybody's On the Telephone".
The piano bar will also re-open. John Jonethis, who's been the resident pianist there since the showroom opened in 2018, will appear on Friday nights while on Thursday nights an additional pianist will play inside the bar, Teri Reid. She will be accompanied by a percussionist named Jennie Hoeft and a bass player named Steve Forrest.
According to the CabaRay webpage they have Ray scheduled for a concert every Saturday night from May 17th through the end of the year. Everything you want to know about the showroom and to purchase concert tickets can be found when you vist the showroom's webpage HERE.
Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! This is my official review of the latest album from Ray Stevens. Back on March 7th the legendary Ray Stevens released his latest and it's fabulous in my opinion. The album contains 11 recordings and it's titled Say Whut?.
Now, most of you that follow Ray's career will be aware of that familiar photo. It's been used as a publicity photo several times over the last couple of years. Photos from that session have appeared on websites and when you open up the CD's case you'll see off to the left a photo of Ray on stage with a large push broom. There have been a couple of photos like this that have appeared online but this particular one ties into the overall theme of the album's title. Ray has a look on his face as if to say 'I'm cleaning up my own stage? Say Whut??'. Well, at least that's the thought that ran through my mind when I first saw the photo. As is the case with just about every Ray Stevens album he's his own producer and music arranger. He also published all of the songs. Compared with the five albums he released back in 2021 the list of musicians this time around on his 2025 album is sparse. Ray is credited as the piano/keyboard player plus he's credited with drums and bass. Now, it doesn't get too technical so I don't know if Ray was playing the actual drums and bass or if it was a programmed drum and bass played on a synthesizer. When the word, keys, is listed as an instrument it's safe to assume that it encompasses the piano, keyboard, organ, AND synthesizer. Longtime guitarist on Ray's albums and TV appearances, Jerry Kimbrough, is credited with rhythm and lead guitars. Tommy White is the steel guitar player. Nick Sibley is credited with the harmonica playing.
The songwriters for this album are two. Buddy Kalb's songs are featured as are the songs of Nick Sibley. In the above paragraph I mentioned that Nick plays the harmonica on this album and that particular instrument is the main one heard on the album's sing-a-long opening track, "The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club". This song, written by Nick Sibley, was issued as a single several months ago and so if you're a fan of Ray then you're obviously already familiar with this song about a woman that becomes a stripper and learns that the man in her life frequents the place.
The album's title can also be taken as a reference to the woke culture of the last several years and there are several satirical/topical songs on here that deal with it. The first woke song in the track list is "If It Walks Like a Duck". In this one Ray tells the story of a man that has a duck on a leash but insists it's his emotional support animal and although it looks like a duck it all depends on what the duck believes he is. In this song the guy says that the duck believes he's a dog and therefor it's a dog...not a duck! The song points out the absurdity of wokeness. This is one of four songs on the album that Buddy Kalb contributed. He also wrote these three: "Everybody's on the Telephone", "Don't Be Woke", and the big online video hit, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". That particular video has over 800,000 unique views on YouTube...if you factor in the plays from other social media it's well over 1,000,000.
Some may be asking if there are any non-comical recordings on here. There are a couple of songs on here that I'd call non-comical. One of them is a social commentary called "Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?". A performance video of this song appeared online a few years ago on an episode of Mike Huckabee's talk show. That's an example of how long a few of these songs, making their first appearances on an album, have been in the public. The song has a twist ending but it starts out with Ray singing about how adults are perfectly happy mowing lawns as a job rather than as something you do as a home owner, etc. but by the end of the song the message changes. It's a song, in case you hadn't heard it yet, that you'll need to pay close attention to in order to appreciate the sentiments. The other non-comical recording is truly unique and not what you'd likely find on a Ray Stevens album. It's a song called "A Boy Fell from a Tree". I love the music arrangement and how Ray delivers the lyrics. It's got a jazz feel to it if I'm correctly identifying the music style. A third non-comical recording is the pleasant sounding "Cupholders". Ray performed this song a few times on TV appearances but it's making it's album debut on Say Whut?.
The album is chock full of great recordings practically any one of the songs is a standout. See if you're thinking of the same thing as I was when listening to "Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here". That song is hilarious and some may not truly understand the satire behind it but as soon as I heard it I immediately thought of a few female pop singers whose names I'll not mention. The title of the song "I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet" will grab your attention and it's probably the only song that's ever been recorded where a wallet is dropped in the toilet instead of what's usually dropped there. Now, this isn't any kind of hint of what the song's about. It's quite a story and I'll close this review with a video embed from YouTube of that song. The album closer, "The More You Cry", is country to the core. The steel guitar of Tommy White is heard all throughout this hilarious tale of love loss, crying, and beer.
