Ray Stevens: Opry Country Classics May 11th

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens! I was seriously thinking about opening this blog entry with this kind of welcome: Hello all of you fans of Country Music Hall of Fame member, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member, Musicians Hall of Fame member, Georgia Music Hall of Fame member, Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame member, Cecil Scaife Visionary Award winner, 2-time Grammy winner, and 9-time Music City News Comedian of the Year recipient...legendary Ray Stevens!!! Now, of course, that's quite a lengthy introduction so now you know why I decided not to go that route. This particular blog entry, though, is more of a promotional piece for the upcoming Ray Stevens guest appearance on WSM radio's Opry Country Classics. The show's been a mainstay on WSM radio for well over 10 years and it's been hosted by Larry Gatlin during it's entirety. It's a recurring, seasonal series that typically airs during the late spring and into the summer and early fall months on WSM radio. The program is performed on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry inside the Opry House. The episode featuring Ray is set to air this coming Thursday May 11th at 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern. The line-up for Opry Country Classics is as follows: Larry Gatlin (host) and on this episode his two brothers, Steve and Rudy, are also going to appear. Carter Faith and William Michael Morgan are also scheduled to appear. Ray Stevens will be on hand as will Jeannie Seely. 

It's anyone's guess what Ray will sing...typically when he guest stars on the Opry or on Opry Country Classics he'll sing s couple of his signature songs that the general public is familiar with but sometimes he'll sing something brand new or something that he's been performing in concert but hasn't officially recorded yet. Ray recorded a duet with Jeannie Seely a couple of years ago...their rendition of Paul McCartney's song, "Dance Tonight". They've never performed it publicly...maybe they'll sing it together this coming Thursday night? If you've been reading some of my recent blog entries you'll know that Ray took part in a sing-a-long novelty called "Grits" released by Pat Boone. One of the other guest vocalists on the song were The Gatlin Brothers. Perhaps Larry will bring up the recent experience recording with Pat Boone? The show airs on WSM radio this coming Thursday night and you can listen to the radio station by clicking HERE. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-6, S-2

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! This is an overview of the most recent YouTube upload of CabaRay Nashville. Episode 6, Season 2 guest stars The Gatlin Brothers (Larry, Steve, and Rudy). 

This episode had a hyper feeling to it due to the Gatlin Brothers being the guests. Larry has a distinctive personality that invites unpredictability even if there's a certain level of scripting that takes place. Ray opens the show singing "Witchcraft", one of the songs on his Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!? album. Larry Gatlin appeared solo in an earlier episode and Ray jokes that he could only afford Larry as a guest but now that the show's become a hit he can afford the other two brothers. Larry speaks of their upbringing and their involvement with Slim Willet, a local music personality/singer who was working at KRBC radio at the time, who happened to write "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes". Larry shows a photo of him and his brothers, as children, on stage to convince some out there that may question as to whether the Gatlin Brothers have truly been in the entertainment business as long as often reported. Ray asks Larry about his association with the Fox television channel. Larry jokingly remarks that he's confused as to whether or not he should describe himself as a contributor or not. A contributor, Larry says, is someone that isn't paid. Steve Gatlin asks Ray if they're considered guests on the show or if they're going to be viewed as contributors which draws laughs as did practically everything the Gatlin Brothers spoke about. Larry insists that he and his brothers never, ever rehearse. He says they've been working for 50 plus years that they simply show up and do their thing. The trio sing "Houston". Just in case you're brand new to the Gatlin Brothers...the line-up as seen in the video screen below: Larry, Rudy, and Steve. In the trio's earlier years Rudy wore glasses. Steve often had a beard. Larry was always clean shaven but for the last decade or so he's had a goatee. 

The brothers then perform a very funny song about life on the road called "Ode to the Road". Ray leads into this performance by asking the brothers if they ever get road crazy. This sends Larry into a comical conversation about life on the road and how, after about 4 days, you start talking to yourself...and when the trio sing "Ode to the Road" I couldn't help but think of Ray. I imagine hearing Ray singing the song. It sounds like a Ray Stevens comedy song...and I can hear Ray's rendition in my mind...and it would be fun to hear him sing it in his style with lots of vocal overdubs and sound effects.

Ray closes the show singing "Rub It In". He mentions that it was written by Layng Martine, Jr. but doesn't mention that of his own involvement in the song. Layng wrote the song for Ray's publishing company. Layng recorded it, originally, in 1971 but then it was recorded by Billy 'Crash' Craddock. It became a million selling hit for Craddock...and with Ray as the song's publisher it was one of Ray's earliest music publishing successes (outside of his own recordings). Ray published dozens of songs written by Layng Martine, Jr. during the songwriter's early years. Ray recorded the song in 2008 for his Hurricane comedy album. As I began this overview I mentioned that this is one of the more hyper, riotous episodes of the series...when you watch it for yourselves you'll notice it right away.  

Ray Stevens: August 25th Opry Country Classics Re-Cap...

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.

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville on YouTube: E-13, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I just finished watching the Friday evening YouTube upload of Episode 13, Season 1 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. In this episode the special guest happens to be Billy Dean. Ray opened the show singing the comical "Little By Little" from his 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. If you're familiar with Ray's intro by Bill Cody in each episode you're probably familiar with that phrase. Bill usually says "and now...don't look, Ethel...but here we go again...". The song is comical but it also could be categorized as an inspirational song. 

Up next is a clip from Ray's Branson, Missouri years where he does a parody of "Secret Agent Man" in which he sings "Information Man" and incorporates an enlarged cordless phone to speak into. An operator gives Ray a lot of verbal grief and without warning Ray pulls out a gun and shoots the phone's receiver. After this clip ends Ray introduces Billy Dean. 

I first heard of Billy Dean in the early 1990s. His breakthrough song, "Only Here For a Little While", provided a little insight into the style of songs he would largely become known for...positive, uplifting story songs. Billy talks about his professional relationship with The Gatlin Brothers and how he and Larry Gatlin teamed up and wrote a song together called "An American with a Remington". Billy tells the story behind the song and how important gun ownership happens to be. Billy remarks that the song's video received more than 16 million views on Facebook within a week's time and the video upload on Larry Gatlin's social media pages as well as his own social media added to that total.  

Billy's follow-up performance is "Billy the Kid". Prior to the performance he explains the history behind the real Old West outlaw, Billy the Kid, and makes mention of the outlaw's rabid admirers and how his headstone had been vandalized so much in New Mexico that the cemetery has since placed prison bars over top of the headstone. Billy then remarks that the song's lyrics are actually about his own childhood and how, at that point in time, parents encouraged their kids to 'run out and play' rather than stay in their front or back yards. Billy says that, as a kid, he liked playing Cops and Robbers as well as Cowboys and Indians. "Billy the Kid", the song, details Billy Dean's nostalgic look back on his childhood and in adulthood he wonders whatever happened to his innocence and that he misses his childhood. In the screen cap below it captures Billy in a laughing mood as he and Ray discuss The Gatlin Brothers. 

As a trivial note, Ray once recorded a song which featured a Billy Dean co-writer credit called "Meanwhile". The song appears on Ray's 1993 Curb Records studio album, Classic Ray Stevens, but there's no discussion of that recording. Billy co-wrote it with radio personalities/songwriters Gerry House and Devon O'Day.

Ray closed the show singing the rousing iconic novelty song, "The Preacher and the Bear". Don Cusic gave a brief history of the song and mentioned Phil Harris popularizing it...and then Ray started into the song and given the religious overtone he was in character and even intentionally dropped a lot of letters off his words to give them a more southern twang...emulating the Phil Harris style. 

This happens to be the final episode of Season One of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. Ray produced 13 episodes of his TV series per season. It's my guess that Episode One, Season Two will air this coming Friday on YouTube.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube, E-2, S-1

Hello once again!! Last night episode 2, Season 1 of CabaRay Nashville was uploaded onto YouTube. Ray, a few weeks ago, revealed that he would be uploading full episodes of his television show onto YouTube every Friday evening. The uploads air at 6pm Central, 7pm Eastern. Yesterday the guest star happened to be Larry Gatlin. Ray opened the show singing "Such a Night" and within the episode were snippets of sketches from his Amazing Rolling Revue VHS. Larry spoke about his career and how in the very beginning his sister was part of the group. He related a story about how much trouble he has getting much sleep...but insists that regardless of how much sleep he may or may not get it has never impacted his performances or energy level. When I was listening to him speak about his sleeping habits I started to think of his commercial, with Mike Huckabee, for a sleep medicine that currently airs on several cable channels. Larry reflects on the time he and several people, in a boat, visited songwriter Mickey Newbury. Larry sings a portion of "An American Trilogy" and then sings "All the Gold in California". Now, don't let my overview satisfy you...a written overview is nothing like seeing the episode for yourselves...enjoy the fun...

Ray Stevens: Larry Gatlin CabaRay Nashville performance...

In a recent blog entry I listed the episodes of Ray's television series, Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. The series airs in local syndication on PBS stations. It might be airing in your area...check the PBS affiliates in your area to be sure. If it isn't airing on what's called the main PBS station check their sub-channels. If you happen to have a PBS station found on Channel 24, for example, the sub-channels would be referred to as 24.1, 24.2, 24.3 on the on-screen program guide and sometimes they'll be found in the section of your on-screen program guide located with the other local stations in your area. There's been a lot of confusion over the years because many, if not all, of the main PBS stations have put Ray's show on their sub-channels and the existence of those sub-channels don't get a lot of publicity and it's left a lot of Ray's fans unable to find the show even though there's a possibility it's airing on a local PBS sub-channel but fans don't realize it.

My advice, as it's always been, is to thoroughly search the line-up's of your local PBS station and their sub-channels. All television stations offer a program guide on their website...so search for Ray's television show using the search guide. If it airs on your local PBS station then you'll receive information on air-date, whether it's airing on the main PBS channel or one of it's sub-channels, and the time it's airing. In this video clip we have Ray Stevens playing piano and singing harmony with Larry Gatlin on "All the Gold in California".

The video clip emerged a couple of days ago on May 2nd...it was Larry's 71st birthday. The performance is from the second episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville from November 2015...but at the time the series was called Ray Stevens Nashville and when it moved into local PBS syndication in January 2017 it received the slight change in title but the opening sequences were left intact as was the theme song, "Nashville".  

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville...The Gatlin Brothers

The guest stars on Episode Six of Season Two of Ray Stevens' CabaRay Nashville are none other than The Gatlin Brothers. In the show's opening performance Ray sings his version of "Witchcraft". He makes mention that it's from his salute to Sinatra on a CD called Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!?.

In introducing the guests Ray mentions that earlier he had Larry Gatlin on as a guest and remarked that he could only afford one of them but promised that should the series become something of a hit then he'd attempt to get all three brothers on the show. This promise was fulfilled as Larry, Steve, and Rudy appeared.



Ray asks the brothers about show preparation and if they rehearse, etc. and Larry explains that they're rehearsing at the moment and their entire act has been a work in progress from day one. Ray mentions that he sees Larry sometimes on the Fox News Channel and asks if he's a contributor to the channel. He says that he's a contributor rather than a regular and he makes the distinction between the two by saying contributors do not necessarily get paid for their contributions...leading Steve to ask Ray if their appearance on his show is considered a contribution and therefore free of charge.

The conversation turns to Slim Willet and the origins of "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" and how it became a monster hit for Perry Como among other artists. The conversation about Slim and Texas leads into a performance of "Houston". This is followed by the limited animation music video of "This Ain't Exactly What I Had in Mind"...a song that is very funny and filled with a lot of visual gags...a song that can be described as the Abbott and Costello movie, Africa Screams, set to music. I'm baffled as to why the recording had never become one of his most requested or at the very least more familiar to the on-line masses.

After the airing of the music video Ray is back with The Gatlin Brothers and they discuss Roger Miller and there are plenty of stories and remembrances of Roger as told by Larry and Ray. The Gatlin's perform a song called "Ode to the Road" which they subtitled 'Road Rage'. When they first started singing I thought it was going to be a joke performance...but it's a fully completed, humorous song. In doing research of my own I discovered video footage on YouTube of Larry performing it solo at some venue in what looks to be the mid to late '70s but it could be the early '80s. If you're a super fan of all things Gatlin take a look at the video over there and see for yourselves. Search: Ode to the Road + Larry Gatlin and it'll be among the first results.

In the video clip above you'll hear a brief remark taken from this segment of the episode where they're discussing Roger.

Ray closes the show performing "Rub It In". This is a song that goes back a long way in the career of Ray Stevens. Oh yes the recording by Billy 'Crash' Craddock was a huge hit but the public at large doesn't realize that Ray published the song. It had originally been recorded by the song's writer...a man named Layng Martine...who happened to write for Ray's publishing company. Layng's recording was not a commercial hit but it became a monster hit for Craddock. Ray benefited from the success of the recording by virtue of being the song's publisher and during the mid to late '80s and into the early '90s Ray received publisher royalties due to the Glade Plug-In commercials using a parody of the song for their jingle. The parody was "plug it in, plug it in". Ray ultimately recorded the song and placed it on his Hurricane CD back in 2008.

On the next episode of Ray Stevens' CabaRay Nashville the special guest happened to be Collin Raye. Stay tuned for my recap of that episode!

Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville successfully Recorded...

Hello once more...last week I wrote a post about my lack of experience setting up the DVR recording options and that the episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville that I thought would be taped didn't turn out as planned. As I had guessed all I had to do was change it's default setting from "record new episodes" to "record all episodes" and that did the trick. Obviously by having the episode recorded I loved having the opportunity to go back several hours later and watch the episode all over again. In case you missed it the April 1st airing guest starred Larry Gatlin. Ray opened the show singing "Such a Night" and later performed "It's Me Again, Margaret". In case you hadn't seen this episode yet keep your eyes open for Don Cusic. Interestingly Ray didn't do a live vocal impression of the telephone dial during "It's Me Again, Margaret" but instead had his recorded sound effect piped in through the sound system. In a segment referred to as the Video Jukebox Ray presented his music video of "Freddie Feelgood and His Funky Little Five Piece Band".

Larry Gatlin spoke about his career and his brothers, plus he did his impression of Mel Tillis in addition to mentioning Mickey Newbury (a noted songwriter). He sang a couple of lines of a song from the pen of Newbury, "American Trilogy", before launching into "All the Gold in California".  Throughout the episode there happened to be comical inserts of vintage comedy bits featuring Ray as Sickmind Fraud, a parody of Sigmund Freud.

Prior to and after the episode PBS aired commercials for The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the more broader Musicians Hall of Fame. Ray was elected a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 (the same year he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame!). Also promoted, of course, was Ray's website. In addition to the publicity for the Halls of Fame and Ray's website he appears before and after the episode seated at his piano for exclusive footage introducing/closing the presentation. This footage is exclusive to it's PBS airings given that he asks viewers to stay tuned to their local PBS station. It's a syndicated series...airing on scattered PBS stations across the country and on whatever day and time a station chooses to air it. Those wraparound segments of Ray at his piano reminded me of the PBS airings of classic episodes of Lawrence Welk's program. Former cast members/associates of that series often appeared before and after the episode to talk about the show, etc.

Saturday night (April 1, 2017) happened to be the first time I'd been able to see a complete episode of Ray's television program. Over the years the thing that's been consistent from those that had previously seen the episodes on RFD-TV is their sentiment that "the episodes are too short" or "it needs to be an hour long". After finally being able to see an episode I agree...it did feel as if the half hour flew by...but only time will tell if he expands it to an hour. My overall reaction: it's sort of an informal formality...it's a top flight, formal program lacking the stuffiness or pompousness often associated with formality. That's the best way of describing my feel of the series...and I've had that opinion of the series solely based on the clips I'd seen on his YouTube channel...so to finally see an episode in it's entirety only helps to reinforce my earlier opinion. I can't wait to see the next episode on April 8th!!

Here are a couple of articles about the upcoming CabaRay Nashville venue...set to open at some point later this year. Once it opens, it's already been announced, that future episodes of his television series are going to be taped there.

The first article features comments from Ray's longtime business and songwriting partner, Buddy Kalb, plus comments from Bill Cody (WSM radio personality and the announcer of Ray's television series) and several others. The second article features comments from Ray himself. Each article appeared in the March 31st issue...so they're still "hot off the presses" as the saying goes.

Nashville Ledger Buddy Kalb

Nashville Ledger Ray Stevens