Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.6K...

Hello all...it's an early Thursday morning we find ourselves living in and just like the price at fuel stations everywhere the Ray Stevens single, "Gas", also continues to rise. The latest unique play total on YouTube as of this writing is 11,604. It's been available for 4 months as a digital download and as an audio track on YouTube. The usual span for single releases is 3 months...so it's saying something 4 months into the track's availability that it continues to rise in play total on YouTube. If "Gas" had been a music video chances are it would've obtained more than 11,000 unique views within several hours...but with it being an audio track on a video hosting site the fact that the song's gotten over 11,600 plays, so far, is nothing to shrug off...particularly when there hasn't been much publicity outside of my sharing it in various blog entries. "Gas" is track three on Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore...and with it being October 7th we're one day away from the comedy album's release. I'll blog about this later on this morning but in the meantime here's the audio track of "Gas"...

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.5K...

Hello all...it's a balmy Saturday afternoon here and I just come over from YouTube and seen that the current Ray Stevens song, "Gas", has moved into the 11.5K range. An increase of 36 plays has moved it from 11,488 to 11,524 unique plays. Since YouTube doesn't count repeat plays from the same device you can double that number because a lot of us fans love playing Ray's songs multiple times...but because YouTube only counts the first play on a listening device and it doesn't count repeat plays 11,524 devices have accessed the audio clip of "Gas" since it's debut. I'm glad that YouTube doesn't add repeat plays from the same device to a video's total because, as a fan and one that pays attention to statistics and data, I don't want skewed or manipulated statistics. When I see an audio clip with 11,524 plays on YouTube it means that 11,524 people have accessed the song. There are other video hosting sites that don't do what YouTube does and so it's hard to tell how many people have actually heard a song or viewed a video on other video hosting sites. On those sites they'll provide a number for how many plays or how many views something has gotten but you don't know if the totals are accurate or manipulated in any way...that's why the strict nature of unique views on YouTube carries more weight and why YouTube totals get a lot of attention and notice.

"Gas", as you may know by now, will be on the upcoming comedy Ray Stevens album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, which will see a release this coming Friday October 8th. 

Ray Stevens: New Comedy Album in One Week!!

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! As I mentioned in my previous blog entry October 1st means we're one week from the release of the new comedy album from Ray titled Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I checked Amazon last night and they also have the comedy album available for Pre-order. They aren't offering an autographed copy of the CD, though. You can only get an autographed copy of the comedy album if you order through Ray's official website. This offer lasts until October 8th...the day of the album's release. If you want to get an autographed copy of the comedy album click this LINK and place an order. If you want to Pre-order and an autograph doesn't interest you then you can Pre-order on Amazon by clicking HERE. I'll caution you, though, when it comes to Amazon orders. The last several releases from Ray that have made an appearance on Amazon there have been availability issues. When the 4-CD box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, was released not too long ago, Amazon had it available for Pre-order and then on the day it went on sale it was listed as unavailable/Out of Stock. It remained listed as Out of Stock until just a couple of weeks ago! I had ordered my 4-CD box set on Ray's website but I think of those who chose to purchase on Amazon...and how long they had to wait before they received their box set.  

When Ray issued the "Gas" digital download it wasn't immediately available on Amazon...it wasn't available for purchase until midway through it's release day...and then, after the single was made available for purchase, customer's couldn't immediately submit a review because there hadn't been enough of a time lapse between purchase and review. I'd usually get an error message 'This product isn't available for reviews yet' or 'This product hadn't been released yet' even though it had been. If the things I just mentioned do not bother you, as a customer, and if you don't care if your CD is autographed or not, then go ahead and Pre-order on Amazon. If you want an autographed CD then Pre-order by October 8th at Ray's online store...which can be accessed in the first link I posted.

Don't you just love the banner above?? It's just a banner...it isn't a link to any Ray Stevens webpage. When you click the image you'll see just the image by itself. I find myself always explaining rectangular images because some people mistake them for links to websites, etc. Some bloggers may do that sort of thing and use a photo as a URL to another website but I don't. In the meantime...you're probably curious as to the photo, yes? Well, I decided to take a look at the New Releases list on Amazon...in the Country Music CD's. Late last night, well, early this morning, Amazon listed Ray's upcoming comedy album among the Top-100 at 88. Today, during the 2-3pm hour, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore rose to 64 on the New Releases Top-100. I'll check back later today and see if it's risen any higher or if it's holding the same area of the Top-100. Those rankings are based on activity surrounding Pre-orders. 

Here's the track-list for the upcoming comedy album in case you missed some of my earlier blog entries about this comedy album...

1. Hoochie Coochie Dancer

2. Coco Cabana Band

3. Gas

4. My Better Half

5. Moonshine

6. The Gambler and The Octopus

7. Soap Sally

8. Down in Mexico

9. Dis-Connected

10. The Quarantine Song

11. Old Dog

12. Red Hot Chili Cook-Off

13. Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore

14. Disorder Down on the Border  

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.4K...

I just took a look at the unique plays for the current novelty song from Ray Stevens, "Gas", and it's risen to 11,410 on YouTube. It's gotten 90 plays in four days to rise from 11,320 back on September 22nd to 11,410 today. "Gas" will be among the 14 songs on the upcoming Ray Stevens comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. As of this writing "Gas" remains the only promotional single from the album. A couple of other songs on the album, "Red Hot Chili Cook Off" and "The Quarantine Song", were both previously issued as music videos...in the case of "The Quarantine Song" it was issued as a single, too, but neither are considered official singles from the album since neither were explicitly promoted as being part of any upcoming album such as the upcoming Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. Now, in that way of looking at it the album can be said to contain 12 all new songs plus those 2 add-ons which give it 14 total. 

Ray Stevens: Comedy album Pre-order Autograph offer...

Yes, there's going to be plenty of time for me to write about this upcoming album once it's released but you know how it goes on this fan created blog page! I can't help myself from promoting and writing about the music of Ray Stevens...and so here I am blogging about Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore! I mainly decided to write another blog entry about the comedy album because I don't want the subject matter to slide too much down into the archives. We're just under 2 weeks from the album's release day, October 8th. I was asked by somebody on a social media site if I happened to know who wrote the songs on this album. I don't have this album yet...but I Pre-ordered the album on September 24th. If you Pre-order the album between September 24th and October 8th you'll get an autographed copy. I don't know if the autograph will be on the cover...or on the jewel case or where it'll be. When Ray released his 2015 comedy album my copy was autographed...the compact disc wasn't inside a jewel case, though. It was inside a cardboard carrying case. In order to get the autograph on the front of the album it was shipped with the carrying case unsealed. When they ship compact discs without an autograph they're sealed in the usual plastic wrap. So, my guess is, those who Pre-ordered the upcoming comedy album as I did will receive a copy of the album in a cardboard carrying case with his autograph on it. In addition to Ray's 2015 Here We Go Again! comedy album using a cardboard carrying case...the same was true for the compilation album Laughter is the Best Medicine and the sampler disc of songs from his 9-CD Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. However, all of his other compact discs are housed inside the standard hard plastic jewel case. 

This comedy album will feature 14 songs. In a couple of my previous blog entries I mentioned the amount of songs that will be on the album and in one blog entry I provided a track list. I'll find out who wrote what when the album is in my possession. A Pre-order doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the album before the October 8th release date. On the product page it has a disclaimer stating that the album ships on October 8th...the reason for the Pre-order is for those wanting an autographed copy of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I'll also purchase the digital download when it's released. I will also share numerous songs from the album in future blog entries...Curb Records usually uploads the audio tracks from albums that they release...and so I'll share audio tracks once they become available. I'm really, really intrigued by several of the song titles on the collection. I've included the track list once again and I've placed a symbol next to the song titles that have my curiosity raised...

1. Hoochie Coochie Dancer

2. Coco Cabana Band

3. Gas

4. My Better Half

5. Moonshine*

6. The Gambler and The Octopus*

7. Soap Sally*

8. Down in Mexico*

9. Dis-Connected*

10. The Quarantine Song

11. Old Dog

12. Red Hot Chili Cook Off

13. Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore*

14. Disorder Down at the Border*

My curiosity being raised specifically on the songs with eye catching titles suggesting there will be topical humor abundant...and topical subject matter is something Ray defended in a recent write-up about his current activities and the upcoming comedy album. I'm excited to hear what all of these songs are going to sound like and what the storylines happen to be!! I wonder if "Moonshine" will feature a classic country music arrangement or will it sound bluegrass? It may not even be about alcohol and it might be a comical love song about the moon's light. We'll find out when we hear it! 

I have a feeling that "Old Dog" is the same song that he performed as a duet with Tanya Tucker on an episode of CabaRay Nashville. Some of my online associates wondered if Tanya will be on the official recording...but there's no indication that she participated in the recording...considering that her name isn't listed on the back of the CD as a duet partner. She could make an uncredited appearance...but I highly doubt she did...my guess is Ray recorded the song solo...if it's even the same song that is! We're just assuming it'll be the same song he and Tanya performed on his television show. 

"My Better Half" following "Gas" had me thinking that it'll be a song about the President...since "Gas" is about him...but then again it could be a totally unrelated song. A number of months ago Ray posted photos of himself in the process of making what were music videos...photos surfaced of him in front of green screens. Now, when he shared those photos I went off-the-wall with excitement thinking there would be some brand new music videos in the not too distant future. Time has passed since those photos emerged...but thinking back to those photos, now, they seem to fit any number of songs on this upcoming comedy album!! 

"Soap Sally" has my mind thinking of all kinds of things...what in the world would a song with that title sound like or be about? We know from the title that it's possibly going to be about someone named Sally and the subject matter of soap...but beyond that I can't think of what the song's story will be about. Pre-order Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore HERE. The autograph offer only lasts for a limited time: September 24th through October 8th. 

Ray Stevens: The new Comedy Album available for Pre-order...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!!! Today is the day that Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore becomes available for Pre-order at Ray's website. I already placed my order. If you place a Pre-order starting today you'll receive an autographed copy of the CD. This autographed time frame runs from today until October 8th. I don't know if they'll extend the autograph time frame to beyond October 8th or not but for now it's a limited offer. My assumption is he may sign autographs at his CabaRay showroom after concerts, too, in case you miss out on the limited time offer in place now until October 8th. However, those are only my assumptions! It's best to simply Pre-order now to ensure you'll get an autographed copy of the album. You can Pre-order your copy of the comedy album HERE. When you click that link you'll see the message about the limited time autographs and a description of the album and of course the cover art (seen below) and the place order button. If you're not already a customer of his online store you'll have to register, just as you would any online store, and once you've been registered you'll be able to place your order. 

The upcoming comedy album has 14 songs on it. A few of the songs have previously been released as audio tracks and as music videos on YouTube. The oldest of the previously released happens to be "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off". The music video's gotten over 1.8 million unique views on YouTube since it's debut back in March 2013. "The Quarantine Song" will be on this comedy album. Ray released this, originally, last year. The music video's gotten more than 3.5 million unique views since debuting on YouTube in May 2020. The audio track, released by Curb Records in December 2020, has over 11,000 plays on YouTube. The final previously released song is "Gas", a comedy song from several months ago, which has over 11,000 plays on YouTube as well. Those three songs make their album debut with the release of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. In case you hadn't seen some of my recently published blog entries and aren't aware of the track list of this album let me say, as far as song titles go, this sounds as if it'll be one of his wildest comedy albums. Some of the songs on this album are: "Hoochie Coochie Dancer", "The Gambler and The Octopus", "Coco Cabana Band", "Soap Sally", and "Dis-Connected". In case you're wondering there is a song on there called "Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore"...it's track 13. When the track list was released I was surprised to find out that the album's title track was further down the list. If an album is named for one of the songs, usually, the title track is within the first 3 or 4 songs. So I was surprised to see it at 13...the next to last song. I don't know if it was placed there and then picked at a later date to be the album's title or if it's intentionally placed at 13 because of it fitting some sort of thematic pattern of the songs surrounding it. 

Ray is scheduled to make a guest appearance at The Grand Ole Opry on October 12th...an installment of what's known as the Tuesday Night Opry. I ask around frequently and based on what I've found out Ray will perform several songs during his guest appearance...including a couple of songs from Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore.

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.3K...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! Oh there's a lot of excitement in the air as we get closer to the release of the upcoming comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I'm sure some of you saw the news that hit today...over on Ray's official website in the Store section there's a product page for the upcoming comedy album. The product page not only features a track list of the songs but there's a total of 14 songs that will be on the album. Also, here's even more news from Tuesday, the comedy album will go on pre-order this coming Friday!! Yes...this coming Friday (September 24th) Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore will be available for pre-order. The album will be available in CD format as well as digital download. That's not all...if you pre-order the comedy album at Ray's website from September 24th through October 8th you'll receive an autographed copy of the album. 

One of the comedy songs on that album is "Gas"...the audio track I've been periodically keeping track of on YouTube. The song's crossed into the 11.3K range...specifically 11,320...a pickup of 110 audio plays since September 16th. The opening paragraph of this blog entry is just a teaser of sorts...for as soon as I publish this blog entry I'll be composing a blog entry focusing entirely on the upcoming comedy album. "Gas", just in case you're wondering, is track three on the upcoming comedy album. 

Ray Stevens: Three Weeks and Counting...

It's me once more...and time has passed since the news broke yesterday about the release of Ray's upcoming comedy album. The reason why I refer to it as news that broke yesterday, even though a lot of us were aware of the upcoming album, yesterday was the first time that the comedy album was officially declared as an upcoming release to a wider audience. If you're one of the people signed up to receive Ray's free online newsletters, as I am, you were aware of the album's upcoming release and it's title. In the newsletter sent at the time (back on May 28th) the information contained therein stated that the audio track, "Gas", was going to be on an upcoming comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, in the fall. There wasn't anymore information given as to the release date of the album or the track list...other than "Gas" being one of the songs on it. As of this writing I don't know if the album's title is also a name of one of the songs...it sounds like a good title for a song. I'll contact Ray's people in an e-mail and ask if the album's title is also the name of one of the songs. They may not want to reveal anything...but I'll ask anyway.

All of this technical information, I hope, will become available in the days leading up to it's release. The comedy album will be released through Curb Records. In case you didn't know, Curb Records took over distribution of Ray's 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. If you search for that album on Amazon and look in the product details you'll see Curb Records listed instead of the record label Ray originally released it on. Curb Records also issued a single release of "The Quarantine Song". I'm assuming the song will be on Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, too, but no official announcement was made. I'm always anxious to see the song titles on any new Ray Stevens comedy album...he's recorded a lot of songs over the decades with eye-catching titles. This upcoming comedy album (release date October 8th) will be his first full-length comedy album in 6 years...going back to 2015's Here We Go Again!. As you know Ray's been busy the last 6 years...with his starring in a television show, CabaRay Nashville, and the construction and ultimate grand opening of the CabaRay in 2018. Then, of course, there was his 2016 Christmas album on his own label, CabaRay Entertainment, and the music he's recorded and released since re-joining Curb Records in 2020. He's coming off of a 4-CD box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, that I've written extensively about...also extensively writing about each of the four albums in that box set...but Here We Go Again! from 2015 was his last comedy album until the announcement of Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. Three weeks and counting...of course this time next Friday (September 24th) we'll be at 2 weeks and counting. Yes, I'll more than likely write a blog entry next Friday about it being 2 weeks and counting until Ray's comedy album become available...of course you all knew I would probably do that kind of thing.

Ray Stevens: New comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, in October...

Hello all fans of Ray Stevens!!! I've been away from the computer for a number of hours and while I was away I find out that the news broke that the upcoming Ray Stevens comedy album, that I made mention of in my previous blog entry, has taken over Ray's Facebook page. The album's promo banner is on his Facebook page and I obviously saved it to my online photo collection. I've shared the title of the album with you all before...the album is called Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. He visits a similar pose from his 1989 album, Beside Myself, and so look for people to make comparisons between the cover art of the 1989 album and the 2021 album as we get close to the album's release date (October 8th). The album's track list hasn't been released yet...but "Gas" is suppose to be one of the songs on the album. In a previous blog entry about the "Gas" audio track I mentioned that most recording artists ride a song for 2 and a half to 3 months. Now, it feels eerie, but I wrote that in a fairly recent blog entry never knowing that today would be the day that Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore would begin it's publicity phase...but yet here we are and we're turning another page in Ray's on-going career and I'm beginning to countdown the days until the release of the comedy album next month. Take a look at the promo image...

Keep in mind that the image above is only a photo...it isn't a link. Once a link becomes available to either Pre-Order or to download I'll share that link in a future blog entry. However, isn't that cover art fantastic? It's the kind of album cover I've been patiently awaiting for a number of years. Ray's gotten away from wild poses and eye catching cover art on most of his albums in the last 10 years or so...this is a step in that direction. Some may think back to Beside Myself...but on that album's cover art clown Ray was grinning and on here clown Ray is making a frown with a tear drop painted below the eye. Anyone want to guess what will be on this album? Will it be a collection of songs that are funny but society would find them not funny anymore? Will it be a collection of all-new, original songs? "Gas" is an original song (from the pen of Barry Smith) but will the other recordings be brand new? Will it be a collection of songs that didn't make it onto his 9-CD Encyclopedia project in 2012 and so he decided to put them on this release? I'm just as anxious and filled with a lot of questions as you all are!! The announcement and promo on his Facebook page about Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore excites me to no end. Let the countdown begin!!

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.2K...

It feels as if we're moving quickly through the month of September...here we are on September 16th...and here I am with a Ray Stevens blog entry which will focus on "Gas" once again. I've contemplated whether or not to continue tracking the unique plays of the audio track on YouTube but I feel drawn to continue doing so because, after all, this is a fan created blog page all about Ray Stevens, and secondly, "Gas" was promoted back in June of this year as the first single from an upcoming comedy album. In the music industry a single release is usually promoted for at least 2 and a half or maybe 3 months. I've often read magazine articles where recording artists refer to this as "riding a song". A performer may say something like "I rode that song for 2 months..." or "we rode that song for all it was worth...a solid half a year...". 

A couple of weeks ago marked the third month since "Gas" became available. In was released as an audio track early in June and as of this writing it's received 11,210 audio plays on YouTube. If this were the old days of radio play, "Gas" would be considered a recurrent. I'm continuing to remain on the lookout for any new releases or any bit of information about what's in store next...the "Gas" song looks as if it'll remain the only thing to come from Ray's upcoming comedy album prior to it's release. Now, after it's release, I hope a new song will emerge! 

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11.1K

Hello all you Ray Stevens fans!! I took a look at the unique views/plays of the Ray Stevens audio track, "Gas", over on YouTube. The audio track has 11,128 plays as of this writing. In my previous blog entry about the audio clip it has just gotten into the 11,000 play range...and based on my incremental reporting it's now at 11,128. I wrote down the play totals back on September 8th and it was 11,055 and so the audio track's received 73 plays during the last couple of days. Now, over the course of the last 6 days going back to September 5th when the play count was 10,992...the audio track has gained 136 plays. If everything remains on schedule "Gas" should be part of a comedy album released next month. There hasn't been any publicity for this comedy album for several months...back in June was the last time anything was written about the upcoming comedy album...and at the time the news release stated an October release. I've been anticipating this comedy album ever since I learned of it...and perhaps by the end of this month or early next month we'll have heard more and more about it. Until then...enjoy the first release from this upcoming comedy album...a song called "Gas"...

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 11K...

As we move into Labor Day 2021 (September 6th) I'm here to report that the current Ray Stevens novelty song, "Gas", has moved past 11,000 unique views on YouTube. Well, specifically speaking, it's an audio track so I should refer to it as YouTube audio plays. A gain of 17 plays enabled "Gas" to reach 11,009. Now, keep in mind, all of this discovery is happening with the most limited publicity one could imagine. I think I'm the only person that frequently posts links to the audio track on social media...there has never been any kind of grand publicity campaign for the single. I either post a link to the YouTube audio track or I post a link to the "Gas" product page over on Amazon. To see the audio track gain more than 11,000 plays, well, in other words, to witness the audio track go from less than 100 YouTube plays in the beginning to more than 11,000 YouTube plays now, it's been a fun journey. I'll continue to periodically monitor the YouTube play of "Gas". I've witnessed it cross into the 10,000 level and now it's pushed into the 11,000 level...and I'm sure I'll make note of it reaching 12,000 and 13,000 etc. in the months ahead. Keep in mind that Ray is scheduled to have a new comedy album released in October...and "Gas" is suppose to be one of the songs on that upcoming album...and I've often wondered if Ray will put out another song prior to the album's release date or if he and Curb Records will ride "Gas" until the day the new comedy album emerges.  

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.9K...

Here on this August 31st night I report that the current Ray Stevens novelty song, "Gas", has gained more unique views to stretch into 10.9K territory. The specific total is 10,906 unique views. The pattern lately is every 5 to 6 days there seems to be an accumulation of 100 unique views or more. The audio track reached 10,700 on August 21st, then it rose to 10,805 on August 27th, and today on August 31st "Gas" has reached 10,906 unique views. I'll keep tracking the progress of the audio track until a new single release becomes available...whether that follow-up will be audio-only or it's released as a music video remains to be seen. We know that Ray is to release a new comedy album in October...so presumably there will be another song to emerge before the release of the new album. Anyway, as I stated, I'll continue to track the unique view totals of "Gas" on YouTube until the next release comes along. Now, based upon the numerical pattern, I suspect that the "Gas" audio track will reach the 11,000 mark by the end of the week.

Ray Stevens: Gas at 10.8K

Hello fans of Ray Stevens! "Gas", the current novelty song from Ray Stevens, has pushed into the 10,800 area in online play on YouTube. As of this writing the audio track, "Gas", has 10,813 online plays. The audio track reached 10,700 YouTube plays on August 21st and it's increased by 113 YouTube plays since that time. People are either finding the song on their own or they're discovering the song in this blog. As of this writing "Gas" remains the only single from Ray's forthcoming album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, which is due out in October. The audio track hit YouTube on June 3rd...next Friday the single will be at the 3 month mark. In the past most record companies usually promoted a single for at least 3 months before moving on to the next single release. 

Now, of course, I'm speaking of the era in which record companies sent their music to radio stations. Today we're listening to music in a lot of different ways...and once it's put online it's typically there for years and years...and so with that business model a single can take as long as it needs in order to 'breakthrough'. Ray, for as long as I've been a fan, continues to conduct his career in the traditional way...so perhaps he or Curb Records will release a new online single the further we get into September...just prior to the release of the comedy album in October...but then again they may just wait until release day to issue a new song to coincide with the release of the album. Whatever they end up doing I know that I'm excited about purchasing the new album in October!! It's going to be Ray's first comedy album in 6 years...and "Gas" will be among the songs on it... 

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.7K

Earlier this morning I took a look at the unique views/YouTube plays for the current novelty song from Ray Stevens, "Gas". When I checked the totals earlier today it had 10,695 plays. That was a 30 play increase from the day before. Now, just a few minutes ago, I decided to check the totals and it's sitting with exactly 10,700 plays.

As far as I know, given that there's been no news releases to the contrary, everything that's scheduled to take place in Ray's calendar of events will continue to proceed. His comedy album is still expected to be released in October, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore, and in less than 2 weeks from now (September 4th) he's expected to re-open his CabaRay showroom in West Nashville. I came across a blurb while searching the internet for Ray Stevens stories and I hesitate to make mention of it because it's well in advance and things are always subject to change...but on October 6th, according to the Opry website, Ray Stevens is scheduled to make a guest appearance on the Wednesday Night Opry. 

Guest appearance you ask? Yes, as hard as it may be for some to believe, Ray isn't a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He has made guest appearances on the Opry many, many times over the decades but he isn't a member of the Opry. A basic explanation as to why some country recording artists aren't Opry members goes back to a decades long rule that had to do with the number of appearances a member had to make per year. A long held rule stipulated that members had to play at least 25 to 30 Saturday nights per year at the Opry; and with 52 weeks in a year, that meant that a recording artist who happened to be an Opry member, well, that recording artist would only get the chance to play a venue that paid more for a Saturday night appearance 22 to 27 times a year because the rest of their Saturday nights would be spent taking in a basic union scale performance fee at the Opry. That appearance requirement no longer is enforced...it hadn't been enforced for more than 30 years, I guess, but that's a big reason why a lot of recording artists that had legendary careers in country music weren't members of the Grand Ole Opry. Also, the Grand Ole Opry isn't limited to just Saturday night anymore. The Friday Night Opry came along in 1979...and this was followed in the next couple of decades by the Tuesday Night Opry and the Wednesday Night Opry. The Saturday night broadcast is the only one referred to as The Grand Ole Opry but all of the Opry broadcasts take place on the same stage...either at the Opry House or downtown at The Ryman Auditorium.  

When Ray appears at the Opry I'm going to go ahead and speculate that he'll be promoting the comedy album during this October appearance...since that album is scheduled to be released in October...but it's hard to tell what he'll perform. There's the 4-CD box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, that could also receive publicity with this October performance. Will Ray sing "Gas" at the Opry or will he sing some new comedy song that none of us have heard? Will he sing any of the songs from the 4-CD box set, too? Will he decide not to sing anything new and instead unleash a classic like "It's Me Again, Margaret" or "Everything is Beautiful" on the Opry audience? The closer we get to that October 6th date I'll blog about it more.  

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.6K

Never fear, Ray Stevens fans, I am here reporting on the latest numbers for "Gas"...the audio track on YouTube that Ray and Curb Records uploaded. It's hard to believe that the novelty song is already more than two months old...it was uploaded on June 4th. Thousands of people have heard "Gas", so far, but I remain the only person online that's blogging about it on a consistent basis. As of this writing "Gas" has reached 10,612 people and personally I think that's pretty good for an audio track that hasn't gotten nearly the amount of promotion and publicity that a major record label, such as Curb Records, could provide. It's mystifying why there hasn't been much publicity surrounding the song...and yet more than ten thousand people have discovered it through YouTube. By saying what I just did I'm more or less curious why the song hasn't been promoted much on country music websites...earlier in the year several websites publicized his digital album releases but the same attention, or the same publicity, whichever word you choose to use, hasn't found it's way to "Gas"...yet...   

Keep in mind that "Gas" will be part of an upcoming comedy album from Ray Stevens in October called Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I don't know if "Gas" will be issued as a music video prior to the comedy album's release or if the audio track will remain the chosen method of pre-album publicity. We don't know if there will be a different comedy song released just prior to the comedy album in October. If you had never heard "Gas" you'll love it...and if you've already heard it...listen to it again or share it with your online friends and family.   

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.5K

Well, here we are on a steamy Friday the 13th and in this blog entry, as you can tell by it's title, the Ray Stevens comedy song, "Gas", has moved into the 10,500 play total. The unique views for the "Gas" audio track is 10,521. This is a pick-up of 103 plays over the last 4 days; back when I posted a previous blog entry "Gas" was sitting with 10,418 audio plays. Everything seems to be on schedule...the comedy album that "Gas" will appear on is still slated to be released in October. The name of the soon to be released comedy album is titled, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. I'm wondering if the title of the album will also be the name of one of the songs...it's hard to tell. Ray has named his albums after song titles a lot of time...most of those have been with the non-comedy albums he's released...while most of his comedy albums use phrases associated with historical figures or catchphrases. The cover art of the comedy albums are almost always tied into the album's title...giving consumers a visual. I can't wait to see the cover art for the upcoming comedy album...in the meantime the audio of "Gas" is featured below... 

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.4K

Well, here we are at the start of a brand new week...yes, it's 4pm but it's my first time to be online after doing some offline errands (going to the store; checking my mailbox at the post office; etc.). The current novelty song from Ray Stevens, "Gas", has gained even more organic views on YouTube. In a previous blog entry I spotlighted the video reaching more than 10,300 and in this blog entry I'm reporting that "Gas" continues to climb in play total...now it has 10,418 YouTube plays. As of this writing the comedy song is still scheduled to be on an upcoming Ray Stevens comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. This comedy release is scheduled for October...and it looks as if it'll continue to remain an October release. I hadn't seen any sort of social media posts to indicate that the album would be released ahead of schedule and so, for now, it'll remain an October release. We also don't know if Ray will release another song from this upcoming comedy album in the days leading up to it's release or if "Gas" will remain the only single until after Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore gets released. I'm anxious to discover the songs that'll be on that collection. The October comedy album will be his first all-comedy album since 2015. 

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.3K...

It wasn't too long ago that I'd written a blog entry spotlighting the Ray Stevens novelty, "Gas", and how it continues to gather unique plays on YouTube organically. The single debuted on YouTube on June 4th and here we are two months later and "Gas" is nearing 10,300 unique plays. In fact, as of this writing, "Gas" is sitting at 10,298...and I'm hoping that by the time I'm finished writing this blog entry that at least two people somewhere out there will have clicked the audio track to bring the YouTube play count to 10,300. You may be asking yourselves how can I compose this blog entry before "Gas" pushes past 10,300?? Why am I saying that it's at 10.3K?? Think of this particular blog entry being like the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and how they certify Gold or Platinum. Often times the RIAA will certify an album Gold if it's close to 500,000 copies sold...the same holds true for Platinum at 1,000,000 in sales. If an album is near Gold sales status then a record company will request an RIAA certification. Since "Gas" is nearing 10,300 I'm going to make the safe assumption that it won't be long until it crosses that unique play total and so I'm officially declaring that the "Gas" audio track has 10,300 unique plays. As I've said in other blog entries I've been keeping periodic update on the YouTube numbers for this audio track. When I wrote about "Gas" getting 10.2K in a previous blog entry the unique plays were 10,216 at that time. The numbers, actually, rose steady on August 2nd which was the day "Gas" obtained 10.2K (10,213). Later on the number jumped to 10,233 and earlier today "Gas" had 10,283 unique plays...now it's knocking on the door of 10,300 with 10,298! 

***WISH COMES TRUE!!!***

Well, let me say that "Gas" has indeed reached 10,300 YouTube plays!! It's sitting at exactly 10,300 as I type this. I've made a screen cap and am including it below...

If you'll notice the two release dates. "Gas" was uploaded onto YouTube by Curb Records near midnight on June 3rd before the digital download became available for purchase on June 4th. Now, of course, after having written a lot about "Gas" you know I'll be closing the blog entry with the audio track...

Ray Stevens: "Gas" at 10.2K

Isn't it wonderful to be a fan of Ray Stevens!! Yes, as you can see, I decided to start off this blog entry with the image of his Country Music Hall of Fame plaque. I have this in the pictorial time-line but I realize most may not have the time or want to go looking through the time-line and so that's why I decided to feature it in this blog entry. In case this is news to you...Ray Stevens was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019. He went in the same year as country music duo Brooks and Dunn; and retired record producer, Jerry Bradley. As a fan of Ray Stevens his election to the Country Music Hall of Fame, in my opinion, was long overdue. Currently he's enjoying online success with his YouTube content as well as his 4-CD box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. One of those online successes is his novelty song, "Gas". There isn't an actual music video for this song but the audio track on YouTube continues to generate unique views/plays on a daily basis. When I last composed a blog entry about "Gas", back on July 31st, it had 10,143 plays. Since that time the audio track has gained 90 additional plays to bring itself to 10,233 YouTube plays as of August 3rd. The audio track has never been pushed/promoted on Ray's social media. When the novelty single became available in June what shown up on his social media were links to purchase the single. Curb Records, at the same time, uploaded the audio onto YouTube. The audio that I've been sharing on this blog is the audio track Curb Records uploaded. In my way of thinking "Gas" could reach even more people if the audio were to appear in it's entirety on Ray's Facebook or YouTube page. The play that it's getting on YouTube is from organic searches and discovery from suggested video that appear on the right hand side of the screen while people are viewing other Ray Stevens content on YouTube. However, having said all that, I'm thrilled to see "Gas" with more than 10,000 YouTube plays...audio content usually pales in comparison to video content (obviously!)...and so it's a testament to Ray's following that audio content can rack up more than 10,000 unique views.