Hello all you Ray Stevens fans!! Happy Easter 2023!! It hasn't been a tradition but every so often on Easter I spotlight the 1990 Ray Stevens comedy album, Lend Me Your Ears. The reason I do will be quite obvious if you're familiar with the album's cover art. The album cover features a photo of Ray dressed as Marc Antony from the Julius Caesar play...holding a rabbit in front of the Parthenon replica in downtown Nashville. If you're familiar with your Shakespeare quotes then "...Friends, Romans, countrymen.. lend me your ears!!" should be one that leaps to mind right away.
As mentioned, this comedy album from Ray Stevens arrived in 1990. The album marked something of a new phase in Ray's career. He recently signed with Curb Records that year. Their first release on him was a compilation, His All Time Greatest Comic Hits, earlier in 1990. It has since become a Gold record (500,000 copies sold). This new phase began slowly but continued to build and I'm referring to the use of music videos in his career. Ray had previously released two music videos. "Santa Claus is Watching You" was the first in the mid 1980s followed in 1988 by "Surfin' U.S.S.R.". In 1990 he issued two separate music videos of songs from the 1990 album. "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Sittin' Up With the Dead" made their music video debut in 1990 and the following year found Ray Stevens in Branson, Missouri at his own music theatre. The addition of music video wasn't anything new to recording artists but when it come to Ray Stevens, who specializes in comedy/novelty songs filled with often zany lyrics and storylines, a music video is therefore a must-see. So, Ray began inserting music video performances into his stage shows and one thing led to another...resulting in the release, in 1992, of Comedy Video Classics on VHS. It spotlighted Ray's four previously issued music videos and another four brand new to fans. The VHS success, coupled with his successful concerts in Branson, meant that VHS/music video would take more of a front seat in Ray's career. Lend Me Your Ears and it's follow-up in 1991, Number One with a Bullet, were wonderful comedy albums but oddly enough both would become overshadowed by his VHS releases in 1992 and 1993. Those VHS tapes would get released through direct marketing, first, and then a year later they would get released to retail stores. This meant that Ray rode the success of several VHS tapes for at least 6 years. The VHS tapes released in the 1990s were big sellers for Ray at his Branson gift shop, through direct marketing, and in retail stores: Comedy Video Classics (1992), Amazing Rolling Revue (1992; not direct marketed), Ray Stevens Live! (1993), More Ray Stevens Live! (1993; not direct marketed) and Get Serious! (1995).
Lend Me Your Ears, however, was Ray's first studio album of the decade and given it's Easter Sunday I felt it appropriate to include a link to the YouTube playlist of the 1990 album. There are 10 songs.
In addition to the two that were turned into live action music videos there were a couple more that became limited animation music videos more than 10 years later. "Barbeque" and "This Ain't Exactly What I Had In Mind" become animated music videos. The album also features another song that fans of Ray have come to know: "Where Do My Socks Go?". Are you ready to hear Lend Me Your Ears?? All you have to do is click this LINK and it'll take you to the YouTube playlist!
Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! It's Easter Sunday and usually when it's Easter Sunday I post a blog entry referencing Ray's 1990 comedy album, Lend Me Your Ears. I may have posted an Easter-themed blog entry every year but I'd have to look in the archives...but I can't resist spotlighting this particular comedy album on Easter. Why? It's because the album photo has Ray holding a rabbit...and as a tie-in with the Easter Bunny I like spotlighting Lend Me Your Ears.
The comedy album came along in the summer of 1990 on Curb Records. The label, at this point in time, was partnered with Capitol Records and so Lend Me Your Ears has a Curb/Capitol imprint. Ray had signed with Curb in the latter half of 1989 and their first release on him happened to be a compilation, His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits, which was released early in 1990 on the Curb Records imprint. That compilation was eventually certified Gold for selling more than 500,000 copies. Lend Me Your Ears, meanwhile, shows Ray on the cover as Shakespearian character Marc Antony who spoke the phrase '...Friends, Romans, countrymen Lend Me Your Ears...' in the play, Julius Caesar. The album title has several different meanings, though. The first being a reference to the Shakespeare play. The second being the inclusion of a rabbit in the photo and the concept of Antony asking the rabbit to lend him his ears. Third, the album's title is a reference to the public in general. Ray's literally asking consumers to take a listen to the album. It's a great album title and the cover art is wonderful...the Parthenon in the background adds to the Greek mythology design. The Parthenon in the background is the replica that sits on the grounds of Nashville's Centennial Park. There used to be a website that featured Ray's day at the park during photo sessions for the album...you might be able to find those images if you search in-depth but they're not easily found if you do a simple image search. Some of the songs on this comedy album are: "Sittin' Up With the Dead", "Barbeque", "This Ain't Exactly What I Had in Mind", "Bwana and the Jungle Girl", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night".
This was Ray's first studio album for Curb Records. He's currently on Curb Records but there have been record label stops along the way from 1990 to 2021. I thought, for an Easter Sunday treat, it would be fun to list the various record labels Ray's recorded for throughout his entire career to date and provide an essay, of sorts, as well. I'm not including record labels, international or domestic, that have issued compilation albums on him. I'm only listing the record labels that he recorded singles or studio albums for.
Prep: 1957
Capitol: 1958-1959
NRC: 1959-1960
Mercury: 1961-1965
Monument: 1966-1970
Barnaby: 1970-1976
Warner Brothers: 1976-1979
RCA: 1979-1983
Mercury: 1983-1984
MCA: 1984-1989
Curb: 1990-1994
MCA: 1996-1998
Curb: 2001-2003
Clyde: 2004-2020
Curb: 2020-
As you look at the record label timeline it should be pointed out that in 1988 Ray started up his own record label, Clyde Records. The first release was a collection of songs by his daughter, Suzi. Clyde's biggest impact came with direct-mail in the early to mid 1990s. Ray issued his VHS tapes through his own record label and sold them through the mail and over television. Curb Records distributed two of his VHS tapes to retail stores (1992's Comedy Video Classics and 1993's Ray Stevens Live!) and MCA distributed one of the VHS tapes (1995's Get Serious!) in 1996. Ray released two albums while at MCA before later re-joining Curb in 2001. While at Curb they issued his Gold selling 9/11 novelty single, "Osama Yo' Mama", and the follow-up album in 2002, also called Osama Yo' Mama.
Curb Records, in the meantime, continued to distribute some of Ray's music video content. For example they released DVD's of some of Ray's limited animation music videos in 2006. A year earlier, 2005, Curb had re-issued Ray's 1990 and 1991 studio albums...plus they issued a single-only from Ray called "The New Battle of New Orleans". In 2006 they distributed a 3-CD collection called Box Set which Ray had previously released through his Clyde Records a year earlier. In 2009 Curb distributed Ray's salute to Frank Sinatra, Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!?. The CD had previously been released in 2008 on Ray's Clyde Records label. Curb Records continued to have a business relationship with Ray when it came to retail distribution of most of his mail-order Clyde Records projects.
Ray recorded two gospel albums in collaboration with Bill Gaither's record companies. 2014's Gospel Collection, Volume One was on the Spring House Records label and 2016's Just a Closer Walk With Thee was on the Green Hill Productions label. In 2015 Ray came up with a subsidiary record label, Player Records, under the Clyde Records umbrella. On this imprint Ray issued the Here We Go Again! comedy CD in 2015. The following year another subsidiary debuted called CabaRay Entertainment. On this imprint Ray issued the patriotic single, "Dear America", in the fall of 2016. This was followed by the Christmas collection, Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me. Ray, concentrating more on taping and producing his television show and the on-going construction of his CabaRay showroom, he didn't put out any albums during 2017 through mid 2020. The CabaRay showroom opened up in 2018. In 2019 Ray was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In the summer of 2020 Jeannie Seely released a duets album on Curb Records...among the duets was "Dance Tonight" which she recorded with Ray Stevens. This recording took place at some point in 2018/2019 during production of Jeannie's album and it became available in June of 2020. In the fall of 2020 Ray returned to Curb Records as a recording artist. Their first release on him happened to be a 50th anniversary newly recorded version of "Everything is Beautiful" as well as a production of an "Everything Is Beautiful" / "United We Stand" medley. These recordings became available in October. A music video of each recording hit YouTube. In December 2020 Curb Records issued a newly recorded version of Ray's video hit, "The Quarantine Song". The original recording, from the Larry's Country Diner television series, accompanied the YouTube video, which hit in May 2020. The Curb Records recording has more production.
In an interview at the Musicians Hall of Fame, a video can be viewed on YouTube, Ray broke the news that he'd be releasing a large project in 2021 on Curb Records. The details, at the time, made mention of a project titled Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. A press release in January 2021 had more information. Curb Records would be issuing one digital download album per month beginning late February and running through May. Each month a new digital album would become available and then, in June, a box set would emerge with CD copies of those four digital albums. Great Country Ballads and Melancholy Fescue have already been digitally released. In an interview posted several days ago Ray gave even more information and said that once those four albums are issued in a box set in June he'll wait awhile and then start releasing even more new music!!
Happy Easter Sunday to all the Ray Stevens fans!! In Easter's past I once highlighted Ray's 1990 comedy album, Lend Me Your Ears, because the cover photo has Ray dressed up as Marc Antony, from Julius Caesar, holding a rabbit. This Easter, however, I'm going to lead things off with a gospel recording from Ray Stevens.
An audio clip of Ray's 1972 gospel recording, "Let Our Love Be a Light Unto the People", was uploaded onto Ray's social media pages earlier today. The song comes from the pen of John Ragsdale, Ray's brother, who recently passed away. The track originated on Ray's first gospel album, Turn Your Radio On.
In 2014 when Ray released his second gospel album, The Gospel Collection, he filled out the album with his renditions of gospel and inspirational songs. However, there was one original gospel song on the album from the pen of Don Cusic titled "If Jesus is a Stranger". Ray performed it on several television shows and one of those performances is located below...
The studio recording of "Turn Your Radio On" by Ray Stevens is a bit different than how he performs it in concert. Almost immediately after the single hit in the latter half of 1971 he was performing it with a slightly different vocal delivery with heavy emphasis on rhythm and blues. If you've never seen Ray perform the song in concert and are only familiar with the studio recording from the early '70s take a look at Ray performing the song in 2017 on an episode of the television series Mike Huckabee hosts on The Trinity Broadcasting Network. The Huckabee television series began in 2008 on the Fox News Channel and ended it's run in 2015. Huckabee ended the series due to his campaign for President. After the 2016 election Huckabee returned to television but on a different network, TBN, in the fall of 2017. The show was still in production prior to the COVID-19 partial lock downs.
This 2017 performance of "Turn Your Radio On" is a bit of a departure as Ray is usually playing a piano or a keyboard when he sings the song but here he's standing on stage belting out the song. Ray's trio of female harmony singers are on hand but his usual group of musicians aren't present on this appearance. Mike Huckabee is seen playing the guitar and it's his band that played behind the music guests.
A couple of blogs ago I wrote about John Ragsdale passing away. In the blog I mentioned a couple of songs that he wrote that Ray recorded. In the blog entry I mentioned "Talking" from Ray's 1970 album, Unreal, and I mentioned "Let Our Love Be a Light Unto the People" found on Ray's Turn Your Radio On album. However, I completely forgot that John co-wrote a 1982 Ray Stevens recording, "Country Boy, Country Club Girl". That song is on Ray's 1982 album, Don't Laugh Now. The co-writer of the song is Buddy Kalb...himself no stranger to the songwriter credits on many Ray Stevens albums. When I was looking at a Ray Stevens CD in my collection, Collector's Series, released by RCA Records, it has "Country Boy, Country Club Girl" on it. The songwriters are credited on that compilation and that's where I was reminded of John's co-write of that song.
There is an audio track of that song on YouTube but it isn't affiliated with Ray's channel. It was uploaded onto YouTube on April 8, 2013. I'm going to embed that 1982 audio recording so you can hear it...perhaps it'll be new to you and maybe entice you to seek out Ray's other early '80s recordings for RCA. Ray's recorded output from the late '70s to early '80s is under-rated, obscure, and often under-appreciated because the majority of his recordings during that time period were not zany, bizarre, comical, novelty songs...his recordings were straight, serious ballads.
There's not been too many recordings from Ray Stevens that specifically dealt with Easter but there's a few that incorporate the Easter bunny and Easter eggs into the lyrics. A masterpiece that Ray wrote, well, one of the masterpieces, is a clever song combining all the holidays into one celebration in a song titled "Greatest Little Christmas Ever Wuz". Obviously the song's title is associated with Christmas...but in that particular recording, as mentioned, Ray tells of how a wonderful holiday can be enjoyed when all the holidays are combined on one single day of the year. The song itself is a tale of a couple who've broken up and the man comes up with what he feels is a surefire way to get her to return. The song has a unique history...it first appeared on an MCA various artists album from 1985 called Tennessee Christmas. Ray brought it back in 1997 for his comical Christmas Through a Different Window CD.
In 1987, toward the end of the "Gourmet Restaurant" song, Ray mentions chocolate eggs and chocolate bunny rabbits, candy closely associated with Easter. In 1990 during the fade-out of a song titled "Where Do My Socks Go?" Ray wonders if the Easter Bunny is the culprit and warns people about getting eggs with rather questionable content inside on Easter. Interestingly, Ray's 1990 album titled Lend Me Your Ears features a rabbit on the album's cover...but this isn't a reference to Easter but more of a visual joke on part of an often-quoted phrase delivered in the Julius Caesar play. Other than those three recordings I couldn't come up with any other song from Ray that specifically mentions Easter, the Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs, etc. etc.
For those who want to hear those songs and a whole lot more look for the following Mp3's at Amazon...
1. Crackin' Up; 1987 MCA Records
2. Lend Me Your Ears; 1990 Curb Records
Christmas Through a Different Window can easily be purchased at Ray's web-store.
Ray has released religious music down through the years...his only traditional gospel album continues to be 1972's Turn Your Radio On. That one album spawned a series of re-issues over the last 40 years typically using the same album title but incorporating a different picture of Ray each time. One of the re-issues from the early '90s was called The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens and they used a small clean-shaven image of Ray. Another re-issue several years later in 1996, Great Gospel Songs, used a fairly recent picture. One of my favorite pictures of Ray was used on the 1982 re-issue. His own label, Clyde Records, issued a 2-volume set of gospel recordings titled A Brighter Day in 1992. This collection put together not only the recordings from Turn Your Radio On but selected recordings from Ray through the years with a gospel/inspirational overtone like "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", "Set the Children Free", and others. A fairly recent compilation, A Funny Thing Happened in Church Today, goes in the opposite direction...it shines the light on some of the comical songs Ray recorded with a gospel flavor or a church setting. Songs include "The Dooright Family", "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", "Mama Sang Bass", and the 2009 recording, "The Right Reverend Road Hog McGraw" from One for the Road...but it also contains non-comical favorites like "Turn Your Radio On", "When The Saints Go Marching In", and "Everything Is Beautiful". "When the Saints Go Marching In" comes from his stellar salute to Louisiana on the CD titled New Orleans Moon from 2007.
Those Clyde Records releases can be found at Ray's web-store. Simply visit the link I provided above or go to Ray's web-page below and click "Store" and browse around. You'll definitely find things that have never been offered in retail stores!
