Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! As we near the end of April 2023 let us look ahead to the month of May at the CabaRay showroom. Ray will be in concert one last time this month...this coming Saturday night, April 29th. Then, the following Saturday kicks off the new month of concerts. There will be four concerts from Ray Stevens during the month of May. Those dates are: May 6th, May 13th, May 20th, and May 27th. All concert dates are on a Saturday evening.
The CabaRay opens it's doors in the evening. My guess would be around 4:30pm Central time. The piano bar within the showroom opens at 5pm and if I recall correctly, when my brother and I went to the showroom a couple of years ago, we entered at some point after 4pm but that was back then...the policy may be different now. The piano bar, as mentioned, opens up at 5pm with John Jonethis. It's a fully equipped bar...a variety of drinks are available...and most people choose to remain in the piano bar until a few minutes before the Ray Stevens concert begins at 7:30pm. However, those who have purchased a dinner along with the concert, the dinner gets underway at 5:30pm. The staff already know where you're seated and so they'll bring the dinner you ordered to your table.
You purchase your dinner at the time of your ticket purchase...some fans, back when the CabaRay opened up and I think some may still think this, but, some fans might be under the impression that it's like a fast food place where you order what you want when you arrive but ordinarily that isn't the way it is. I know that fans can purchase concert tickets at the showroom's box office on the day of the concert...and maybe they allow those who purchase tickets on concert day the option to have a dinner included...so, in that situation, you can order a dinner on the day of the concert. However, most people choose to purchase CabaRay tickets weeks or months in advance and the dinner, should they choose that option, is already taken care of. If you love balcony seating be aware that dinner's are not offered up there but you can order beverages. You can read about the showroom and purchase concert tickets when you click HERE. The information is also in the official CabaRay showroom commercial. I've said it plenty of times over the last several years and I'll say it again. The CabaRay showroom is like a playground for Ray Stevens and his fans. It could very easily be described as Ray Stevens World. If you're a fan of Ray and haven't made the trip to west Nashville to see the CabaRay, yet, I'd recommend you do so. I know economics aren't that great so it's understandable if you're 3 or more States away from Tennessee...but if you're within a 100 or 200 mile radius of Nashville in either direction it'll be well worth your trip.
Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Did any of you happen to hear Ray Stevens on the Opry Country Classics radio show this past Thursday night? Ray made an appearance on August 25th. I knew of this upcoming appearance but I didn't have the time to put together a blog entry promoting the appearance. I thought that the episode would be put in the Archive section of WSM radio's website. There's a section of their webpage called Archives and it lists the various programs that are archived...and Opry Country Classics is one of those archived programs. However, the episode Ray guest starred on has yet to be added to the archives. I'll continue to check their archive section and include a link in a future blog entry. In the meantime, though, several online fans of Ray Stevens that I frequently message back and fourth with were able to hear the show Thursday night while I was away from the house at work. I was given a broad overview of Ray's performance. Opry Country Classics is hosted by Larry Gatlin. It's a seasonal program...meaning that it airs for a couple of months per year. It isn't a weekly series. The program features several guests and one spotlight artist. The spotlight artist is the headliner and so that artist comes on in the final segment and gets to perform more songs, and, given the show's name the spotlight artist will be someone with considerable longevity in the music business. Ray has made guest appearances on this series before and I've heard the previous appearances. Hopefully the latest show will become available on WSM radio's archive page and I'll be able to hear the show for myself and add in more detail. I was informed that Ray performed "Gitarzan", "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", and "Everything is Beautiful". There wasn't much talk of the CabaRay showroom or any new albums on the horizon according to the other Ray Stevens fans I was in contact with. Given that I haven't heard the performances, yet, I am unable to relate as to whether he changed anything such as lyrical emphasis or if he added or deleted lyrics. I was told that in between the songs he told some of his jokes but I'm unsure which ones...he tells numerous jokes which often lead into the next song he's going to do.
Since this is a re-cap of Ray's appearance on Opry Country Classics I'll close out this blog entry with Ray's marvelous salute to Tennessee. It's a song from 1983 titled "A Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee". It originally appeared on his 1983 album, Me, on the Mercury/Polygram label. Another reason I'm adding this video embed is to give the blog entry a bit more interaction instead of it being essay form and nothing else. I know you're going to love seeing this performance again...and if it's new to you you're going to fall in love with the song just as I did. After the performance you're hear Ray talk about the song and the debut of The Nashville Network. This performance is from the launch night of the cable channel in March 1983. The channel went off the air, as a country music outlet, in 1999.
Hello Ray Stevens fans!! A few days ago Ray uploaded a performance of "It's Me Again, Margaret" taken from a concert he gave at Casino Rama in 2015. The concert happened to be taped and performance clips from that concert have appeared on Ray's YouTube channel in the last couple of years. If you ever see Ray Stevens in person you'll know that he rarely performs songs on stage the way he recorded them in the studio and from concert to concert he adds or subtracts lyrics. I've often felt he does this to establish a connection to the people in the audience...he looks out into the audience and sometimes smiles throughout a performance and often during a comedy song he'll use facial expressions or engage in other kinds of non-verbal comedy...purely to entertain an audience. I wonder if he intentionally performs the way he does because he wants to make it look real and natural? There are plenty of recording artists who've remarked that they block out everything when they reach the stage and they focus on the performance. I think Ray focuses heavily on the songs while he's in the recording studio...working on making what he feels will be the best recording...but once he hits the concert stage he perhaps can't, or doesn't want, to pretend there's no audience sitting out there and so I imagine that he loves communicating with an audience and wouldn't have it any other way. He puts emphasis on different lyrics in each performance as if he's striving to allow his songs to evolve and change...rather than sound exactly as they did on a recording. He also does stand-up/one liners in between his songs.
"It's Me Again, Margaret" is a standard in Ray's career. It's been in his concerts ever since 1984 and in 1992 he made a music video of the song for the VHS, Comedy Video Classics. He performs the song, most of the time, while wearing a rumpled hat...but sometimes he doesn't. In some of the real early performances he didn't use a hat...but later on he began to use one...and probably seeing that it got laughs it became a fixture and it's turned into a beloved prop. I've seen performances where simply holding up the hat drew large applause...they knew from seeing the rumpled hat that the song was soon to be performed...it's the only song that I can think of that gathers anticipatory applause. I was in the audience at the CabaRay in 2018 and as if on cue once he began talking about the hat the audience began to applaud...and once the song was concluded there was thunderous applause and whistles.
Here now is Ray Stevens, from 2015, performing that beloved novelty, "It's Me Again, Margaret", but this is one of those rare performances where he's not using the rumpled hat...but it's still fun to watch..
Hello all...in this installment of my fan created Ray Stevens blog I'm going to embed a 1987 performance from Ray Stevens of "It's Me Again, Margaret". This novelty song was written by the late Paul Craft and had actually been recorded and released as a single by him in the mid '70s. The legendary songwriter wasn't well known outside of the songwriting community and therefore his own recordings aren't widely known as a result. Ray had previously recorded a Paul Craft song, "Honky Tonk Waltz", and that single became a Top-30 country hit for Ray in 1976. Ray's recording of "It's Me Again, Margaret" emerged from his 1984 comedy album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. It was the third single release from the 1984 album. "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye" was the first single release...but during the promotional stage word got around that "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" was getting a lot of unsolicited airplay (a phrase referring to disc jockeys playing a song on their own based on listener requests) and so that single received a lot of publicity and promotion...eventually becoming a Top-20 country hit early in 1985. The impact of the single's success bolstered sales of the album and it eventually hit the Top-10 on the Country Album chart in 1985 and was eventually certified Gold and then Platinum. "It's Me Again, Margaret" wasn't a big radio hit but it rode the wave of success that "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" and He Thinks He's Ray Stevens had set in motion.
Take a look at that comical photo of Ray over on the left side of the screen. You know from looking at the photo that he's performing "It's Me Again, Margaret". When it was announced last year that Ray was one of the newest members elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame I seriously wondered if the CMA would use that photo of Ray on the Hall of Fame plaque or use a photo similar. Ray's reputation for comedy and novelty songs propelled his recording of "It's Me Again, Margaret" into cult status...a song that people know about in spite of it not being a nationally known radio hit. It's one of those songs that hit locally...a geographical hit...meaning that it could be a big hit in a radio market in southwest Missouri but people in northwest Missouri may not even know the song exists. "It's Me Again, Margaret" was placed on 1987's Greatest Hits album as was "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". Those two songs are often paired up on compilation albums...you usually don't see one without the other. Curb Records knew how very popular "It's Me Again, Margaret" truly was with Ray Stevens fans that when they issued a 1990 compilation on Ray titled His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits they used a photo of Ray in a phone booth as Willard McBain calling up Margaret on a pay phone. Music videos were made for "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" and "It's Me Again, Margaret" in 1992...and "It's Me Again, Margaret" became an enormous hit for Ray all over again. The music video being so prominent in those television commercials and the fact that it had been a popular song for Ray since it debuted enabled the song to eventually become a beloved performance in Ray's concerts. Leave it to fabulous Ray Stevens to make a novelty song about an obscene phone caller a beloved classic...but that's exactly what he did. Whenever he appeared in concert and on television shows like Nashville Now there was usually a reference to "It's Me Again, Margaret" or Ralph Emery would ask Ray to perform the song if there was any extra time left.
In this 1987 episode you'll see that Ray was asked/requested to perform the song and when he finishes he walks back to the set...where other guests were seated...which indicates that Ray had already performed several songs and had been interviewed by Ralph already. Ralph's show at that time was still 90 minutes...and each guest would sing their first song, then go over and have their interview/conversation with Ralph, and then during the second part of the episode the guests would sing their second song of the episode. Whatever guest was well established or was considered a legend in the music business usually got to sing three songs. I think "It's Me Again, Margaret" was the third song Ray performed on this episode. I believe this episode is the same one where Ray sang "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?" and "Gourmet Restaurant". Those two Nashville Now performances are on YouTube. The video below was uploaded a little more than 4 hours ago and it's already obtained close to 1,500 unique views already. The video is a lot more clearer than the thumbnail image may indicate.
Hello one and all!! I was doing my usual on-line searches and came across a radio station website that had uploaded an audio interview of Ray Stevens from last year. The time stamp on the radio station page is November 9, 2020. I'm assuming it's more or less a lookback, of sorts, on the part of the radio station...re-posting an audio interview conducted with Ray last year. When you listen to the audio clip you'll hear Ray being introduced as a Country Music Hall of Fame member-elect. This phrase is used to describe those that have been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, informally, and then later in the year those members will formally be inducted at the Medallion Ceremony. Ray was formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 2019. The radio station goes by the name The Possum and it's located at 96.3 FM on the radio dial. Ray's audio interview is part of that radio station's 'Member Monday' feature. I hadn't done any research but it's probably referring to the Country Music Hall of Fame members and in that feature they either pay tribute to, or air audio clips of, whatever member of the Country Music Hall of Fame they decide.
Ray Stevens...an entertainer for more than 60 years...with a lengthy list of memorable and eye-catching recordings!! I'm sure some of these are your all-time favorites. He's recorded so many great songs over the decades: "Special Anniversary", "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right", "I'll Be in Atlanta", "Melt", "Cornball", "Make a Few Memories", "The Streak", "Everything is Beautiful", "Dear America", "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Misty", "Where The Sun Don't Shine", "Gitarzan", "Mama's in the Sky With Elvis", "Ahab the Arab", "The Dooright Family", "Sunset Strip", "Feel the Music", "Marion Michael Morrison", "Caribou Barbie", "One More Last Chance", "Dixie Hummingbird", "The Moonlight Special", "Sittin' Up With the Dead", "A Mama and a Papa", "Southern Air (duet with Jerry Clower and Minnie Pearl)", "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival", "Golden Age", "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me", "Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens", "Dream, Girl", "My Dad", "Thank You", "Have a Little Talk With Myself", "A Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee", "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues", "Party People", "Mama Sang Bass (duet with J.D. Sumner)", "Game Show Love", "Mr. Businessman", "Your Bozo's Back Again", "We the People", "Save Me From Myself", "Shriner's Convention", "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O.", "Honky Tonk Waltz", "Bionie and the Robotics", "Talking", "Obama Nation", "Kiss a Pig", "You're Magic", "Love Will Beat Your Brains Out", "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?", "Come to the U.S.A.", "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", "Obama Budget Plan", "Night Games", "Grandpa Voted Democrat", "Nashville", "Isn't It Lonely Together", "The Pirate Song", "America, Communicate With Me", and "The Quarantine Song"...and with those song titles I'm just scratching the surface when it comes to my all-time favorites!! I guess just about anything I've heard from Ray is an all-time favorite.
You can find the audio interview with Ray Stevens, from some point in 2019, when you click the radio station website HERE.
Hello all you Ray Stevens fans!! In case you hadn't heard by now there's a new section at the Ray Stevens on-line webstore. This new area is an on-line gift shop filled with CabaRay items. The items in the gift shop were exclusive to those who attended concerts but now the gift shop is being opened up to a wider on-line audience. Ray's calling it the Digital CabaRay Gift Shop. Here is a YouTube video clip promoting it's debut...
I purchased some items from this CabaRay on-line gift shop a couple of days ago. If you happen to be a frequent visitor of his official website, as I am, and had visited the webstore you would've seen the new addition of the CabaRay section a couple of days ago just prior to the grand launch yesterday. If you had clicked on the CabaRay section a couple of days ago you would've seen a page with only a couple of items available. I had already put in an order for the few items being offered...not knowing the CabaRay section would expand to include 46 items!! So, yes, I'll definitely be heading back there to grab a lot of trinkets and shirts and mugs, etc. etc.
Here's a LINK to the Digital CabaRay Gift Shop! Isn't that black T-shirt that reads 'Nashville, Tennessee...Everything is STILL Beautiful: Ray Stevens 1970 - Today' wonderful?? There's also a coaster and mouse pad that has the same expression and design. Some other marvelous items are all the CabaRay hats to choose from...T-shirts with catchphrases from Ray's novelty songs and images of Ray from music videos...there's even magnets with images of Ray on it. I'd been to the CabaRay in person only once and was in the gift shop. In person the CabaRay and it's gift shop is a Ray Stevens wonderland, you'll be like a kid in a candy store, but being able to purchase CabaRay items from the on-line gift shop is like an early Christmas gift.
Yes, being a somewhat obnoxious fan of Ray Stevens as I am, I'll be taking photos of myself in my Ray Stevens attire once it arrives in the mail and posting it in this fan created blog page. Now, I don't want to reveal everything that's inside the CabaRay on-line gift shop, so watch the video clip and then click the link at the top of the previous paragraph for more information!!!
It was right around this time eight years ago that Ray Stevens released his mammoth 9-CD collection, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. The official release date happened to be February 28, 2012. As you can see in the photo on the left I purchased my copy of the collection. In various interviews leading up to the release and in follow-up interviews after it became available Ray remarked that he worked on the project for two years. The box set contains Ray's versions of the most memorable novelty and comedy songs of all-time...each song appears in alphabetical order on 8 compact discs. A 9th CD is referred to as a bonus collection featuring songs pulled from Ray's contemporary projects. Now, given that Ray Stevens is himself a legendary performer of novelty songs, it makes sense that throughout the first 8 discs there are selections that Ray previously recorded for himself along side his versions of other artist's novelty songs. There are 12 songs on each disc. On Disc Two, for example, the song titles cover letters C through G. As you can see I noted which recording artist originally did the song...however, I should be more specific...it's a notation on the recording artist that made the song popular...and not necessarily a reflection on who originally recorded it. I should have used the phrase 'made popular by' instead of 'originally recorded by'...but anyway, here's the track list on disc two:
1. Chug a Lug (originally recorded by Roger Miller)
2. Cigareetes, Whusky, and Wild, Wild Women (originally recorded by Sons of the Pioneers)
3. Cocktails for Two (originally recorded by Spike Jones)
4. Convoy (originally recorded by C.W. McCall)
5. Dang Me (originally recorded by Roger Miller)
6. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor (originally recorded by Lonnie Donegan)
7. The Dooright Family (originally recorded by Ray Stevens, 1980)
8. Downtown Poker Club (originally recorded by Phil Harris)
9. Dropkick Me, Jesus (originally recorded by Bobby Bare)
10. Dry Bones (origins date back to 1928)
11. Freddie Feelgood (originally recorded by Ray Stevens, 1966)
12. Get a Job (originally recorded by The Silhouettes)
When the project was released there was a lot of confusion surrounding the content...on-line commentary on social media sites of the time period wondered if this was a collection of recordings that Ray gathered up of other performers and was spotlighting the original hit songs. A remark made on a CD review site 'warned' consumers that this is a collection of Ray Stevens recordings and not the originals made popular by the likes of Spike Jones, Roger Miller, The Big Bopper, etc. That reviewer was unhappy that Ray didn't feature the actual recordings of those songs but instead sang his own versions. Yes, as you can tell, that reviewer completely missed the point of this project altogether. That sort of confusion was short-lived thanks to the advertising of the project on social media outlets. One of the several video clips advertising the box set goes into detail about the making of the project and there's heavy emphasis placed on the fact that the songs on the box set are recordings by Ray Stevens and were done as a tribute to the greatest novelty songs of all time.
The video hosting site, YouTube, was the avenue upon which Ray uploaded the advertising for the 9-CD Encyclopedia. The video hosting site had been very beneficial to Ray and so when it came time to begin promoting the collection there were a series of commercials uploaded onto YouTube and then shared throughout the internet. The longest commercial ran 4 minutes and the shortest at 45 seconds. The shortest commercial was designed, specifically, to air on television stations even though there's a video clip that runs 1 minute, 33 seconds meant for television airing, too. Here's that particular video clip, with voice over by Charlie Chase, advertising the collection:
One thing you have to keep in mind is that the above advertisement is from 2012 and it features the original sales price which I found incredibly reasonable with everything you'll be getting: 9 CDs and a thick booklet filled with all kinds of information and personal commentary from Ray on the songs he decided to record for the project. The longer commercial, at 4 minutes, is also from 2012 and it features Ray's longtime songwriting associate, Buddy Kalb, acting as host/emcee:
In this video clip from February 27, 2012 it shows footage of Ray inside the studio, at the piano, as he gives a brief synopsis of why he decided to take on the task of recording his versions of classic novelty songs:
Now, then...fast forward eight years later and we're here on February 23, 2020. The price of this 9-CD novelty fest has dropped...but something like that is to have been expected...the older something becomes the lesser the sales price (unless the item offered has become a rarity then it gets more expensive as time passes). Although I think the original sales price was reasonable it's being sold for a lot less nowadays. On December 7, 2019 the video clip featuring Charlie Chase's voice-over from 2012 was re-uploaded onto YouTube but with a reflection on the new sales price. In addition to the lower sales price it also includes free shipping and handling, a rarity for practically anything in mail order. If you don't have this collection then you should definitely think about purchasing it. In my opinion I feel all fans of Ray Stevens should own this but that's just my opinion.
Oh you can probably tell that I'm incredibly anxious to start watching the red carpet live stream from the Country Music Hall of Fame later today! Here I am more than 12 hours before the festivities get underway typing a fan created blog entry at a little past 2:30am...I'm writing this blog entry now because later today I'll be dividing my time between my usual Sunday routine this time of year (NFL viewing) and watching the live stream.
Based on the information at the Country Music Hall of Fame website the interactive party begins at 4:30pm Eastern and lasts an hour...concluding around 5:30pm Eastern. The medallion ceremony will take place inside the CMA Theater. This LINK will take you to the Hall of Fame's live streaming page. Once there you'll see a promo for an upcoming program in early November but below that is the live stream for the red carpet show later today. The event is officially titled The 2019 Medallion Ceremony Red Carpet Fan Experience.
If you're in the area or traveled to attend one of his concerts at the CabaRay showroom this past Friday or Saturday and don't have to be on the road back to your home's too quickly I'd suggest you hang around and attend the red carpet event later today...it's free to the public...but as a fan of Ray Stevens I'd encourage all of you in the Nashville area show up and applaud Ray's monumental career achievement. Here is a direct LINK to the upcoming live-stream podcast...the previous link is to the collection of live-streams both upcoming and past. Bill Cody will host the red carpet event and interview those going into the Hall of Fame...so, yes, this is your chance to see/hear Ray on the red carpet prior to being formally inducted. Of course if you plan on visiting Nashville in the future stop by and see Ray at his CabaRay showroom...this is in addition to visiting the other sites of Music City, U.S.A. Now, upon the conclusion of the medallion ceremony, the plaques are put on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame. When my brother and I visited Nashville in March of last year, in addition to going to the CabaRay, we visited the Hall of Fame and at that time the Class of 2017 plaques were still under the spotlight. The newest member's plaques are put on display after their formal induction whereas the other plaques are mounted on circular walls in no particular order. Once the year long display of the new member plaques end they're placed on the wall along with the rest of the plaques while the next class of new inductee's have their plaques put on display.
I've known a little bit about what goes on at the actual medallion ceremony by reading the Hall of Fame's webpage and seeing on-line footage of previous ceremonies. All members of the Hall of Fame (if able) attend the event...each one wears their medallion, too. Each new member is inducted by a current Hall of Fame member...the current member places a medallion around the new member and then their plaque is revealed. This is followed by an acceptance speech of some kind. In addition to the formalities of being inducted there are moments where fellow artists perform some of the songs associated with the inductee's and in producer Jerry Bradley's case I'm assuming Hall of Fame member Charley Pride, if able to attend, will sing a couple of his hits considering nearly all of his hits were produced by Jerry Bradley. This aspect had me wondering who would be brave enough to tackle some of Ray's songs?!? One of the great but overlooked facts of Ray's career is that he chooses songs or write songs that are uniquely his own...once you hear it you can't imagine someone else recording it...and so it had me thinking of the unintended comical possibilities of a George Strait, for example, crooning "It's Me Again, Margaret". Wouldn't we love to hear George Strait let go with a dirty laugh? No? Well...how about Vince Gill singing "The Streak"? Of course I'm exaggerating. I'm sure if any of Ray's hits are performed they'll stick with the non-comical songs like "Misty", "Everything is Beautiful", "Turn Your Radio On", or "Mr. Businessman"...but it would be neat if The Statler Brothers, also known for comedy, would perform a version of "Along Came Jones", which was a hit for Ray in 1969. Harold Reid could do a perfect enunciation of 'slow talkin' Jones...'.
When Ray received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame last year the presentation was performed by Ricky Skaggs. Now, last year, Ricky himself became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, so wouldn't it be neat if Ricky performed the formal induction of Ray Stevens into the Country Music Hall of Fame?! If you've read some of my mini-blog series leading up to this weekend you'll know that I'm also anxious to see the plaque and what's written on it...in addition to hearing what Ray has to say. It'll be a busy Sunday but I'm going to try and get some sleep, too. I've been awake since Saturday evening and if I don't try and sleep I'll be fighting to stay awake when the red carpet event begins later this afternoon at 4:30pm Eastern! I want to be wide awake for that!!
Hello again! I didn't want to include this image in my previous fan created blog entry due to it perhaps clashing with the serious nature of celebrating Father's Day and so I'm putting together this blog entry to give some spotlight to an early 1990s photo of Ray Stevens that emerged the other day. Well, actually, it appeared on social media sites yesterday. It appeared on his Facebook page Saturday (June 15) with a time stamp of 2:53pm. It's a large photo of Ray, in character as Willard McBain, from the song "It's Me Again, Margaret". I should say, more specifically, from the music video of the song. The video's extremely popular and the song remains extremely popular in his stage shows. According to my own research over the years there were so many people who were introduced to the music/career of Ray Stevens through that one particular song when it was originally released as a single in the mid 1980s.
The telemarketing explosion of his Comedy Video Classics in 1992 built on the song's popularity with his audience. It's my belief that the exposure of the song by way of it's 1992 music video enabled him to capture even more fans...and then after the internet boom and the subsequent creation of video hosting sites (notably YouTube) it's given Ray's music videos even more exposure. The photo is large to say the least...so in an effort to have it appear presentable on this blog I resized it just a little bit.
The photo, given it's rectangular length, is always a challenge when it comes to the overall look of a blog when factoring in the text. The photo is actually longer than this but I resized the image. Those wanting to see the full length photo should visit his social media sites. I think this fan created blog page attracts viewers/readers that are very aware of Ray Stevens and his recordings but I also keep in mind that some people that may stumble upon this blog page might never have even heard of Ray before and so I try to approach my writing style from the perspective of somebody reading about Ray for the first time. If you happen to be one of those then check out the blog archive off to the right hand side of the page. I've been writing this fan created blog page since 2008. "It's Me Again, Margaret", from the pen of Paul Craft, tells the story of an obscene phone caller named Willard McBain. The song is done in what's sometimes referred to as sung narration...which describes a song that comes across as if it's being spoken but there's enough rhythmic cadence to the voice and there's music accompaniment to come across as if it's being sung as well. One of the masters in country music of the sung-narration performance is Tom T. Hall. The impact of Willard McBain in the career of Ray Stevens ranks right up there with other fictional characters from other Ray Stevens recordings: Ahab, Fatima, and Clyde from "Ahab the Arab"; "Harry the Hairy Ape"; wild motorcyclist "Speed Ball"; the amateur guitar rocker, "Gitarzan"; Ethel from "The Streak"; Coy and Bubba from "Shriner's Convention"; the raucous, religious "The Dooright Family"; Harv Newland and Sister Bertha from "Mississippi Squirrel Revival"; the intimidating "Blue Cyclone"; Arlow Druckert and Myrna Louise from "The People's Court"; Doris from "Smoky Mountain Rattlesnake Retreat"; etc. etc. Comedy Video Classics, from 1992, sold millions of copies and it was released through direct marketing and later on it began appearing in retail stores. The reason behind the music videos, well, I should say the reason Ray initially released the music videos in a VHS collection is because of their popularity with the audiences of his live stage show in Branson, Missouri at the time.
A jumbo-screen appeared over top of the stage and during several of his performances there would be video footage airing above...mostly to add a visual description for people to see as they were listening to the song. A decision was ultimately made to manufacture a VHS of those music videos...an original version of what became Comedy Video Classics was sold exclusively at his Branson, Missouri theatre. Eventually what we know as Comedy Video Classics became available through television ads in 1992 and the rest is history.
Trivia: Ray's theatre opened in Branson on June 15, 1991 (talk about timing...28
years ago yesterday) and he performed there regularly until 1993. He
made a return to the theatre in the mid 2000s, performing there in 2005
and 2006, before selling it to RFD-TV. In between 1993 and 2003 the theatre was utilized by an organization that presented a live stage show titled Country Tonite and according to Ray's memoir the organization, due to a decline in revenue during the 2003 season, asked Ray to take back the theater but they would continue to make payments on the remainder of their loan. In his 2014 memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville, he speaks of the Branson years. In Chapter 24 he relates his close calls with death, his Diabetes diagnosis, and his treatment for Prostate Cancer in 1999. Ray would later record "The PSA Song" not too long afterward. It's since been released on a CD titled Laughter is the Best Medicine.
The famous music video of "It's Me Again, Margaret" can be seen below. I've also included a video clip of him performing the song in the early '90s in Branson, Missouri. The performance is from his former theater and it's from the VHS, More Ray Stevens Live!. In 1993 he released two VHS tapes of a concert, taped in 1992, that was broken in two parts: Ray Stevens Live! and More Ray Stevens Live!. The first VHS was released through direct mail just as Comedy Video Classics had been. It was a million selling success and would later become a hit in retail stores in 1994. The second VHS featured material, obviously, that was cut from the first VHS. The second VHS features performances from his band as well as vocal performances of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Love Can Build a Bridge" by Janice Copeland and another segment featuring her as the character, Beulah, in a comical routine with Ray's brother, John. She performs "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" in her Beulah make-up. The irony is Ray was in the process of selling his theater around the time Ray Stevens Live! was making it's way into retail stores.
Hello one and all!! The news officially broke a couple of days ago but my job keeps me away from the computer throughout much of the week...all I have time to do is check some social sites and reply to any comments on some Facebook groups that I belong to and that's about it...I rarely have time to put together a halfway decent blog entry until the weekend but I've got some free time and so I'm posting about the brand new endeavor being undertaken by Ray Stevens.
He's launched a website that houses a lot of his television appearances over the last 40 plus years. The site is called raystevens.tv and it's a subscription based site. You can choose to sign up monthly which is $4.99 a month but you can also choose to sign up for a full year and that's $49.99 and I'm leaning toward the latter option. I'd prefer to sign up and not have to think about renewing my subscription for a full year. Anyway you can check out everything there is to behold...like all 8 episodes of his summer 1970 television show!!
Ray tells you all about the site in that video clip above. There is a longer video on the actual website and so you'll get to see 2 promotional videos altogether.
He had previously uploaded sketches and select performances from his summer 1970 television show on his YouTube channel but once you become a member of his raystevens.tv site you'll have access to complete episodes of the summer show. You'll also be able to view every episode of his CabaRay Nashville television program...from episode one (guest starring Steve Wariner) to the most recent with Gary Morris (last Saturday). This is wonderful for me, particularly, because I'll be able to see a lot of the RFD episodes that the local PBS station didn't air and I'll get to see the 2 episodes that the local PBS station is going to pre-empt for a pledge drive later this month. You'll have a lot of fun exploring the site and seeing all of the video content you'll get access to once you subscribe!! There's a clip of him performing "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day", for example, that I can't wait to see. Elsewhere there's footage from his 1991 appearance on Hee Haw where he sang "Barbecue" and "Where Do My Socks Go?".
Don't forget to click raystevens.tv for all the details!!!
Hello one and all to the latest fan created blog entry chronicling the legendary Ray Stevens!! In this blog entry I've embedded a 1985 television program called Music City, U.S.A. that ran on The Nashville Network in it's early years. Each episode featured a different host and this time it's Ray Stevens...promoting songs from his then-current album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. In the clip above you'll see glimpses of routines and sketches that foreshadowed Ray's future as a comedy music video king. Longtime fans and those that have only discovered his music recently are sure to smile as you watch and listen to Ray perform these songs. Ray has a special guest on this episode...Kathy Twitty...one of Conway's daughters. That's her in the still shot on the video capture.
Ray performs "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Erik the Awful", "Misty", and "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". In the performance of "Erik the Awful" there's a mishap with a prop...but being a pro, Ray smirks at the blooper, laughs a bit, and continues on. To add further hilarity, Ray continues to use the prop in his performance...knowing full well how silly it looks...but that's all part of the fun. After the performance and a bigger laugh as he looked at the band, Ray commented that he does have a serious side...and given that he performed 2 songs from his 1984 LP I assumed he'd perform his bluesy arrangement of "Furthermore" (track 10 on the LP) but he performed "Misty" instead. He closed the program singing "Mississippi Squirrel Revival".
Fast-forwarding from 1985 to 2014...this is the latest upload of Rayality TV...there are some scenes that take place at The Encore retirement home and there's a presentation of the "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off" music video...
In this second installment, a certain Ray Stevens single from early 1985 became one of his biggest selling singles of the decade. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" became one of those kinds of hit songs that are forced off an album, according to an interview with songwriter Buddy Kalb. The LP containing the song, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens, wasn't released until November 1984 and by that time 2 singles had already been released from the LP: the uptempo novelty love song "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye" and another single that I'll be writing about later. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" became the third single release and ultimately became the bigger radio hit...even though the LP's second single release has matched the Mississippi Squirrel for durability and popularity in the long and varied career of Ray Stevens. By the way, in case you missed it, you can read the first blog entry in this short series of Ray Stevens '80s SinglesHERE. This song deals with a squirrel that causes miracles at a rural church in Pascagoula.
The music video's been seen on-line by more than 3.4 million people since it's summer 2009 upload on You Tube. Millions had seen the music video during it's original release back in 1992 when it was part of Ray's million selling home video project, Comedy Video Classics, and briefly part of the music video rotation on The Nashville Network...but of course it's been seen by millions upon millions of people since 2009 thanks to the internet...
The LP's second single, "It's Me Again, Margaret", has also become closely identified with Ray ever since it's release late in 1984 (in spite of the fact that it never made the 'Top 40' of any music chart). That particular single, about an obscene phone caller, has delighted fans of Ray Stevens for decades and never a concert goes by without a performance. It's long been a visual song...and a music video seemed a perfect choice years later. Ray sings about Willard McBain, a man that has a fixation on a woman named Margaret...every chance he gets he calls her up and asks her personal questions. This song became a music video in 1992 as part of Ray's award winning Comedy Video Classics. The video arrived on You Tube in 2009 and since then more than 700,000 people have seen it. In performance Ray often mimics a telephone dialing up Margaret's number (as you'll see in the video) but for even more comedic effect, in concert, he has the 'phone' ring almost endlessly...building and building the anticipation before finally making a connection to Margaret and delivering the line that the audience is waiting to hear... "It's Me AGAIN, Margaret...hehehehheheheeee!!!". Just like the "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" video, Ray's friends and his brother, John, make appearances in "It's Me Again, Margaret".
Welcome to 1990...the start of a new decade in the career of Ray Stevens. Ironically enough the new decade brought about a few changes and one of the changes was a new record label home. After having been with the MCA family for 5 years (1984-1989), Ray joined the Curb Records label in 1990. Another irony was the label's first project with it's newest roster addition happened to be a compilation titled His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. I assume given Ray's longevity in the music industry the label wanted it's first commercial release on Ray to feature material a general audience would more than likely be familiar with. This latest compilation more or less collected nine recordings from both Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits, Volume Two which had been released in 1987 by MCA. There was one recording on this 1990 project that didn't appear on either 1987 compilation and that was 1970's "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues". It's anyone's guess why that particular hit single wasn't included on any of the 1987 compilations from MCA but whatever the reasons it found it's way onto the 1990 compilation. It is this very project that introduced me to that 1970 hit single from Ray. The collection also features "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?", "The Streak", "Shriner's Convention" and others.
As you can tell from the picture and as you can see on the cover photo, one of the songs on the 1990 collection is 1984's "It's Me Again, Margaret". The image used on the cover is the actual publicity photo of the single that appeared in country music publications of the time period. Ray appears in character as an obscene phone caller forever on the quest to bring irritation and harassment to his victim, Margaret. I wrote about this single in previous blog entries and so this time around I'll make mention of the inclusion of "In the Mood". This recording appeared on 1987's Greatest Hits, Volume Two as well as other compilation projects down through the years. The performance, released as The Henhouse Five Plus Too, features a band of chickens who cluck out "In the Mood" backed primarily by a saxophone and a few other instruments. The recording was a Top-40 pop and country hit in America while it also reached the Top-40 in Canada and the United Kingdom early in 1977. The single was released under Ray's name overseas whereas in America it was released as The Henhouse Five Plus Too. Also on this collection, "Ahab the Arab" is the 1969 re-recording he did on Monument Records. The original recording from 1962 is most often featured on compilation releases from labels associated with Mercury Records, the label Ray originally recorded the song for. There have been multiple recordings of this song and it all depends on the record label when it comes to which version you're going to receive.
His two 1969 hit singles for Monument are included, "Gitarzan" and "Along Came Jones". His Top-20 country hit from 1985, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", is track six. This collection would become a Gold album within a few years of it's release. The main reason for this, in my opinion, was due to the previous compilations no longer being available in wide distribution and so this 1990 project made up for the lack of classic Ray Stevens hits that weren't readily available anymore. I'm also of the opinion that the inclusion of "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues" played a role in the sales of this album. The song hadn't been featured on any major compilation release by any of the labels that Ray recorded for during the 1980's. It's obscurity on American released Ray Stevens compilation albums perhaps caused the curious to purchase the collection just to hear that particular song!? The song's been a fixture on overseas compilation projects released on Ray Stevens considering that it hit the Top-5 in the United Kingdom in 1971 and charted on other international music surveys throughout early to mid 1971.
Ray's debut studio album for Curb Records would follow this compilation in the summer of 1990.
In this Extra feature of the Golden LP Series we take a look at a series compilation album releases on Ray Stevens in 1987. This first compilation was a little bit different than others in that it was promoted heavily for a compilation project and it only featured two contemporary recordings from Ray with the rest of the material dated pre-1981. The interesting thing about this compilation is that it wasn't the only one issued on Ray in 1987...there were a few other compilation releases later in the year and I'll discuss those in a follow-up Extra feature.
Starting things off is Greatest Hits. This collection features 10 recordings and as you can see it shows Ray and an uncredited woman as Bonnie and Clyde. This is one of the cassette tapes that I grew up listening to and it's where I was introduced to 10 of Ray's most popular songs. The compilation, from MCA, features liner notes written by Ronnie Pugh from the Country Music Foundation and as mentioned the majority of the recordings all come from a pre-1981 time period. The project kicks things off with Ray's 1974 multi-week #1 smash pop hit "The Streak" which had by now sold more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide. Selection two happened to be the longer version of "Shriner's Convention". This recording reached the country Top-10 in 1980 and the label he recorded it for, RCA, had released two recordings of different lengths. There was the long version and then there was the short version. The long version appears more on the MCA compilation projects while the shorter version appears more often in the compilation releases from other labels. Each recording is longer than your average country music single but once you hear the long and short versions you'll be able to notice a few omitted lyrics as well as a rushed vocal performance in the shorter version. Track three is the more contemporary "It's Me Again, Margaret", one of two hit recordings from Ray's MCA debut in 1984. You can read about that LP in this Blog Entry.
Side One closes out with two non-comical performances in 1971's "Turn Your Radio On" and his Grammy winning 1975 hit "Misty". As you turn to Side Two things get started with the second contemporary single from Ray, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", the second hit single from his MCA debut LP. The rest of Side Two are comprised of classics in his career. "Gitarzan", his million selling Top-10 pop hit from 1969, is track seven and it's followed by his 1969 re-recording of "Ahab the Arab" which has often been featured on many other compilation projects instead of the 1962 original recording which appears almost exclusively on projects associated with Mercury Records (the label Ray recorded the single for originally).
Selection nine, "Along Came Jones", also comes from 1969 and it reached the Top-30 on the pop chart. Those three 1969 recordings are from the Monument label, more specifically the Gitarzan album. The album's closing track, "Everything Is Beautiful", comes from 1970. It sold more than 3,000,000 copies during the early '70s and hit #1 on the pop chart and it became an international hit single along the way.
Considering that this LP features 10 of the most popular, most recognizable, and the most commercially successful singles of his career it was inevitable that the LP would go on to sell 500,000 copies and continue to sell another half a million+ during the latter half of the '80s. This particular LP was certified Platinum for sales of more than 1,000,000 copies. His first two studio albums for MCA, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens and I Have Returned, were certified Platinum and Gold respectively around the same time Greatest Hits was receiving it's sales awards.
This studio album is the one that set in motion a new direction, of sorts, for Ray Stevens. Released in 1984, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens was the first all-comedy studio album from Ray since 1980. This new LP was on the MCA label, his new home. MCA and their publicity department, combined with creative ideas from Ray and his associates, enabled this particular LP to become what the music industry likes to call a surprising success. First of all the LP was issued in the latter part of 1984 and it reached the charts in the middle of December 1984. It continued to climb the Country Album chart, as well as the Pop Album chart, throughout early 1985. The LP reached the Top-5 on the Country Album chart and it charted in the middle of the Pop Album chart. The Pop Album chart has 200 positions by the way...100 more positions than the Pop Singles chart. Even more impressive, as far as a comedy/novelty LP is concerned, it spent nearly 40 weeks on the Country Album chart.
The single releases from this LP didn't necessarily create a flurry of activity on the charts but two of the three single releases have become signature songs for Ray and are included in practically every concert he's done from 1985 onward. "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye", the lead-off song, was one of the three single releases from the LP. It didn't reach the charts but it was a funny story of two lovers who go from lust to hatred due to the woman's adultery. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", a comical tale of how a squirrel causes all sorts of chaos and miracles within a southern church in Pascagoula, Mississippi hit the Singles chart in December 1984, a week before He Thinks He's Ray Stevens entered the Album chart. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" became the hit that the LP was looking for. Research shows that the publicity for the single was heavy and it paid off because, as mentioned, the LP and single became commercial successes during the first half of 1985. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" was written by Buddy Kalb and his wife, Carlene. It would eventually climb into the Top-20 on the Country Singles chart and become one of the biggest single releases of the year in terms of sales. The follow-up single, "It's Me Again, Margaret", has become one of Ray's most beloved performances although it peaked in the Top-80 on the Country Singles chart. The song is about an obscene phone caller who gets enjoyment out of calling up a woman named Margaret and asking her all kinds of personal questions. Ray, to be authentic, used a kind of naughty laughter throughout his performance as the prank caller. This laugh became one of the biggest hits of the performance and he's often asked to do "that laugh" whenever he's giving an interview. The single was publicized and promoted visually as print ads appeared in various magazines showing Ray playing the part of the obscene phone caller inside a phone booth. The publicity photo would eventually be used several years later when a compilation of his comical hits were released by another record label. "It's Me Again, Margaret" and "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" would both be turned into music videos several years later...more on that as we get there.
The rest of the songs on this album run the gamut of humor...some of it silly, some of it satiric, but all of it fun. "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day" tells about a couple of alcoholics who've ended their relationship. Sprinkled throughout the lyrics are various references to alcoholic drinks with punch lines centering around the effects of having too much to drink. One of the national fads in 1984 was jogging...and on this LP we have "Joggin", a cute story of a jogger who gets extremely excited over jogging and how much of a health food junkie he is. Heard in the background are panting and exhalations of the jogger as he's going about his routine. This particular jogger, though, has several run-in's with bad luck...not only does he have to watch out for clothes lines but a dog comes into the picture as well. "Ned Nostril" is a comical tale of a kid whose born with a bigger nose than normal and we're told it grows to incredible length as the boy gets older. Ray vocally performs the song as Johnny Cash while musically it mimics the sound heard on a lot of Cash's recordings. "Erik the Awful" is hilarious...it's filled with all sorts of satirical comments that go by so fast that you'll have to listen to the song many times to catch all the comical remarks. It's about a Viking and his group of marauders. One of the more hilarious performances is his cover of "The Monkees" theme song. In Ray's version the song is performed by two men from a beer garden in the Alps. Ray opens the song doing an impression of a generic rock and roll DJ which is followed by a Monkees-like vocal group but as the accordion and other instruments play away in the background it gives way to the two lead singers who proceed to do a cover of "The Monkees" theme song. Within the performance the two bicker back and fourth and ad-lib.
The success of Ray's debut LP for MCA paved the way for the follow-up in the fall of 1985...it, too, would be an all-comedy release. Suddenly Ray Stevens found himself grouped in with country comedians. Although the general public had thought of Ray as a novelty artist for the longest time there was never really any intentional marketing of Ray as a comedy or novelty act until the mid 1980's. Knowing the potential success, all parties involved started marketing Ray in a country comedy direction. One of the more important visual publicity efforts from my point of view was to get him booked on the biggest country music driven TV programs and that's why, in my opinion, Ray appeared on numerous programs on The Nashville Network during much of the mid and late '80s as well as the syndicated program, Hee Haw, where up until the mid '80s he hadn't appeared on too frequently. After 1984 he began appearing annually on that show, sometimes 3 or 4 times a season. Nashville Now, the show hosted by Ralph Emery on The Nashville Network, turned out to be the program that Ray appeared on the most. Ray and Ralph's friendship had gone back to the 1960's...with Ray making at least one appearance on practically every radio and TV show that Ralph hosted. All of this publicity and marketing in a country comedy direction was soon to be rewarded as Ray returned in the fall of 1985 with a brand new comedy LP.
Chances are you've not heard the 1967 recording from Ray Stevens titled "Answer Me, My Love". This song was written by Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman, and Gerhard Winkler. It was available as a single-only on Monument Records from 1967 through 1996...when it was placed as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Ray's 1968 album, Even Stevens. The reissue was on the Varese Sarabande label. It was on that CD reissue where I heard that 1967 recording for the first time. I was also introduced to a couple of his earliest Monument recordings by way of that 1996 reissue. "Party People" became an instant favorite from the moment I heard it. The recording comes from 1966 and it's writer is Joe South, one of the singer-songwriters that worked with Ray and a few others in the Atlanta, Georgia area in the late '50s and early '60s.
Who were those 'few others'?
None other than Jerry Reed, Billy Joe Royal, Freddy Weller, and Tommy Roe just to name a few. This group of singer-songwriter-performers were connected through their association with Bill Lowery and they all made numerous appearances on Lowery's various radio programs. The Georgia Jubilee radio program was a frequent stop. If you look at the publishing rights for Ray's recordings from those early years (specifically the recordings made between 1957 and 1963) you'll notice Lowery Music published pretty much all of Ray's recordings from that time period. His publishing company was affiliated with BMI.
Eventually Ray would start his own publishing company, Ahab Music Company, BMI.
In 1977 and going forward the recordings that were written by Ray or written by a member of his staff would be published under the title of Ray Stevens Music, BMI. On a few occasions there are songs recorded by Ray that have multiple publisher rights if various writers from various publishing houses collaborated on the writing of a song. Ray's recording from 1993 titled "If 10 Percent is Good Enough for Jesus", for example, has three publishers: Lowery Music, BMI; Brother Bill's Music, ASCAP; and Star Drop Music, BMI. The song was written by Hal Coleman, Ken Gibbons, and Roger Searcy.
When you discover the role that a song publisher plays in the music industry you'll soon discover another aspect of Ray's career...and one that doesn't get as much notice for, perhaps, obvious reasons (it's been said that the topic of music publishing might bore a general audience.). Ray usually attends the annual BMI Country Awards in Nashville and other functions at the BMI building.
Sometimes publishing rights can be bought by other companies. I imagine this happens if the current publisher of a song wants to make some money or just wants to do something else for a living. Sony owns the publishing rights to the Lowery published songs that Ray recorded for Mercury in the early '60s. The official name is Sony ATV Songs LLC, BMI and that is why you won't see the original publisher, Lowery Music, credited.
Roy Acuff and Fred Rose once had a publishing company called Acuff-Rose. They published/owned an impressive array of songs...and one in particular is "It's Me Again, Margaret". A writer named Paul Craft wrote the song...and he recorded it first...and those who really know their Ray Stevens music will recognize Craft as the writer of another song recorded by Ray, 1976's "Honky Tonk Waltz". Craft also wrote "Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life", a huge hit for Bobby Bare and recently recorded by Ray for the 9-CD Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music box set.
