Ray Stevens: Health Update and CabaRay News...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens. I know that most of you have been up in the air wondering what the future will bring once the news broke in early July that Ray had a mild heart attack. At that time it was reported that he underwent a "minimally invasive procedure". Once the news broke it was announced that upcoming concerts at his incredible CabaRay showroom would be canceled as he recovers. There hadn't been much news to report for more than a month which is why I hadn't posted any updates here. That changed today when I went to his social media pages and learned that he's putting his CabaRay up for sale. Also, within the news statement published earlier today, we learned that in late July he underwent another surgical procedure. This time around it was a procedure where two stents were placed into his arteries to help blood flow/blockages. He recovered in a rehabilitation facility and once he was released to return home the news was released about the procedure and the future of the CabaRay showroom. There have been at least a dozen or more online articles posted sharing the same official statement about the CabaRay and the further surgical procedures. Ray said that he intends on performing concerts once he is able to do so and that he'll continue to record music. I don't know where he'll record music since he moved his recording studio to the CabaRay. I'm sure he'd be able to rent out studio space or even purchase a studio somewhere unless he's thinking about having a recording studio at his house? As far as concert performances go I don't know if these concerts he was referring to are being treated as make-up concerts for the ones that were canceled in July but once these as yet to be scheduled concerts are performed he plans on closing down the CabaRay and putting it up for sale. I went to a concert at the CabaRay in 2018. The concert I attended happened to be a few months after the showroom opened. While I was there with my brother we walked all over the place and saw a trophy case upstairs. A worker there told us that they have so much stuff in the storage building and they haven't had time, yet, to put everything on display. That meant that more trophies and awards he'd received over the decades weren't on display yet. I never did have the chance to attend another concert there. I didn't want to leave the place, actually. I nicknamed it Ray Stevens World. The photo of Ray I chose for this blog entry is from 2022. It was from the induction ceremony at the Musicians Hall of Fame. I hope everyone is keeping in mind that Ray is 86 this year.. the types of health issues he's recently been having are serious for any age bracket but especially someone who's in their 80's. Send get well wishes for Ray at his various social media pages. He has an official Facebook and X page plus you can send him get well wishes within the comment section of his various YouTube video uploads.  

Ray Stevens: My Review of 'Say Whut?'...

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! This is my official review of the latest album from Ray Stevens. Back on March 7th the legendary Ray Stevens released his latest and it's fabulous in my opinion. The album contains 11 recordings and it's titled Say Whut?. 

Now, most of you that follow Ray's career will be aware of that familiar photo. It's been used as a publicity photo several times over the last couple of years. Photos from that session have appeared on websites and when you open up the CD's case you'll see off to the left a photo of Ray on stage with a large push broom. There have been a couple of photos like this that have appeared online but this particular one ties into the overall theme of the album's title. Ray has a look on his face as if to say 'I'm cleaning up my own stage? Say Whut??'. Well, at least that's the thought that ran through my mind when I first saw the photo. As is the case with just about every Ray Stevens album he's his own producer and music arranger. He also published all of the songs. Compared with the five albums he released back in 2021 the list of musicians this time around on his 2025 album is sparse. Ray is credited as the piano/keyboard player plus he's credited with drums and bass. Now, it doesn't get too technical so I don't know if Ray was playing the actual drums and bass or if it was a programmed drum and bass played on a synthesizer. When the word, keys, is listed as an instrument it's safe to assume that it encompasses the piano, keyboard, organ, AND synthesizer. Longtime guitarist on Ray's albums and TV appearances, Jerry Kimbrough, is credited with rhythm and lead guitars. Tommy White is the steel guitar player. Nick Sibley is credited with the harmonica playing. 

The songwriters for this album are two. Buddy Kalb's songs are featured as are the songs of Nick Sibley. In the above paragraph I mentioned that Nick plays the harmonica on this album and that particular instrument is the main one heard on the album's sing-a-long opening track, "The Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club". This song, written by Nick Sibley, was issued as a single several months ago and so if you're a fan of Ray then you're obviously already familiar with this song about a woman that becomes a stripper and learns that the man in her life frequents the place. 

The album's title can also be taken as a reference to the woke culture of the last several years and there are several satirical/topical songs on here that deal with it. The first woke song in the track list is "If It Walks Like a Duck". In this one Ray tells the story of a man that has a duck on a leash but insists it's his emotional support animal and although it looks like a duck it all depends on what the duck believes he is. In this song the guy says that the duck believes he's a dog and therefor it's a dog...not a duck! The song points out the absurdity of wokeness. This is one of four songs on the album that Buddy Kalb contributed. He also wrote these three: "Everybody's on the Telephone", "Don't Be Woke", and the big online video hit, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". That particular video has over 800,000 unique views on YouTube...if you factor in the plays from other social media it's well over 1,000,000. 

Some may be asking if there are any non-comical recordings on here. There are a couple of songs on here that I'd call non-comical. One of them is a social commentary called "Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?". A performance video of this song appeared online a few years ago on an episode of Mike Huckabee's talk show. That's an example of how long a few of these songs, making their first appearances on an album, have been in the public. The song has a twist ending but it starts out with Ray singing about how adults are perfectly happy mowing lawns as a job rather than as something you do as a home owner, etc. but by the end of the song the message changes. It's a song, in case you hadn't heard it yet, that you'll need to pay close attention to in order to appreciate the sentiments. The other non-comical recording is truly unique and not what you'd likely find on a Ray Stevens album. It's a song called "A Boy Fell from a Tree". I love the music arrangement and how Ray delivers the lyrics. It's got a jazz feel to it if I'm correctly identifying the music style. A third non-comical recording is the pleasant sounding "Cupholders". Ray performed this song a few times on TV appearances but it's making it's album debut on Say Whut?.

The album is chock full of great recordings practically any one of the songs is a standout. See if you're thinking of the same thing as I was when listening to "Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here". That song is hilarious and some may not truly understand the satire behind it but as soon as I heard it I immediately thought of a few female pop singers whose names I'll not mention. The title of the song "I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet" will grab your attention and it's probably the only song that's ever been recorded where a wallet is dropped in the toilet instead of what's usually dropped there. Now, this isn't any kind of hint of what the song's about. It's quite a story and I'll close this review with a video embed from YouTube of that song. The album closer, "The More You Cry", is country to the core. The steel guitar of Tommy White is heard all throughout this hilarious tale of love loss, crying, and beer. 

1. Boom Boom Gentlemen's Club

2. If It Walks Like a Duck

3. Put Your Old Boyfriend's Name Right Here

4. I Dropped My Wallet in the Toilet

5. Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene

6. Cupholders

7. Where Are All The 12 Year Old's?

8. A Boy Fell From a Tree

9. Everybody's on the Telephone

10. Don't Be Woke

11. The More You Cry

Ray Stevens: Singing about Women, Part 5

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!!! As we wind down women's history month and as we wind down the examination of love songs and comedy songs that Ray has sung that fit the theme of this limited blog series during women's history month we begin with 1981 and the release of the fabulous album titled One More Last Chance. This album is chock full of love songs...everything from full-on passionate pleas of longing to heartache and heartbreak. It's a ballad heavy album and the title track features a neat combination of steel guitar and electric guitar trading solo's within the song. It starts out with an electric guitar but eventually you'll hear the steel guitar. "One More Last Chance" is a song about a broken relationship and how the guy realizes his mistakes/faults and begs forgiveness. The woman has apparently taken him back time and time again and given him one last chance each time but now, as he says, he wants her to give him just "One More Last Chance". The album's title track was the second single release from the album. The first single had actually hit several months before the album was released. Late in 1980 "Night Games" emerged. The bouncy song is like a page right out of any night club all over the country. In 1980, when the topic of bar rooms was brought up, what would immediately come to mind is the movie, Urban Cowboy, and the bar/nightclub featured in the movie was called Gilley's. The bar was a business venture between country singer Mickey Gilley and a businessman named Sherwood Cryer. It was located in Pasadena, Texas and was in operation from 1970 until it literally burned to the ground in 1990. The album cover shows Ray in the clothing that most, if not all, country music and aspiring country music singers as well as fans were wearing in the aftermath of the 1980 movie. The bar and movie popularized the mechanical bull, too. 

"Night Games", as mentioned, fits into that era as we hear about a single's bar where we're told the story of two strangers hoping to find romance. The thing that happens, however, is the two have a one night stand and they wake up to find they're not compatible and feel just as strange to one another as the moment they met the night before. Elsewhere on the album is his up-tempo rendition of "Pretend" plus we have a big ballad titled "Certain Songs". Heartbreak is the subject in the ballad "Just About Love". A tale of a couple with opposite personalities and backgrounds is told in "Melissa". We're not told why the woman is no longer in the relationship, however, but from Ray's singing we're informed that he's missing her. In a ballad-heavy album "Pretend" is the only song that's really super charged up-tempo. "Night Games" is a bouncy sing-a-long whereas "Let's Do It Right This Time" and "One More Last Chance" are a combination between ballad and mid-tempo. 

In 1982, from the Don't Laugh Now album, Ray returns to a more balanced approach of up-tempo and ballad recordings. The album kicks off with the rocking "Such a Night". The retro feel of the music arrangement might be the reason the album's title is written in a '50s neon design.

The album, produced by Ray Stevens and Bob Montgomery, is fun to listen to as are so many of Ray's albums. "Such a Night", "Take That Girl Away", "Oh, Leo Lady", and practically the entire album is devoted to love songs as well. The two songs that were issued as single releases were "Written Down in My Heart", a ballad, and the gospel-flavored "Where The Sun Don't Shine". The cleverest song, "Oh, Leo Lady", takes the sound of yodeling as in oh-lee-oh-lady-hoo but transform it into a love song using astrology. In the song Ray sings about being in love with a Leo in spite of his horoscope saying that a Leo isn't part of his destiny. It's the only song, that I'm aware of, that uses astrology as a backdrop and incorporates Leo, Gemini, Pisces, Jupiter, Scorpio, etc. into the lyrics. The album's title track is a slow ballad that visits the theme of unrequited love. In the song Ray sings about a guy that's in love with a woman and he tells her how much he loves her and for how long he's had feelings for her. He asks that she "Don't Laugh Now" given how she's always seen him as a friend and nothing more. "Country Boy, Country Club Girl" is a song about two people from different backgrounds finding one another. He's a country kid who worked as a lifeguard inside a ritzy country club. He falls for a woman named Mary Lou Pickett. Her father happened to own a mill in town and he raised his family in an eight column house.

In 1983 Ray left the RCA label (signed with them in the latter half of 1979) and signed what turned out to be a one album deal with Mercury Records. He'd been on that label in his past. He recorded for them from 1961 until 1965. The results of the newest partnership began showing up in the latter half of 1983. A series of single releases emerged as well as the album, Me. 

In hindsight there wasn't a lot of publicity surrounding the album. The album contains 10 songs and it features a combination of up-tempo, mid-tempo, and ballads. In recent years through social media several songs from the album have been discovered by fans...one, in particular, is the fun "Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee". The song should have been used for Nashville tourism or Tennessee Tourism but it never was. The single releases happened to be "Love Will Beat Your Brains Out", "Mary Lou Nights", and "My Dad". The latter, written by Dale Gonyea, is a salute to fathers. Although it has the eye catching title of "Love Will Beat Your Brains Out" it's a serious recording about mental stress and the anguish that being in love, or losing love, will bring. "Game Show Love" is my all-time favorite from the album. Through the incorporation of game show titles and catch-phrases we hear a song about how a woman was never serious about a relationship and all she did was string him along. The opening line in the song's chorus: 'love, is just a game to you...'. In "Yolanda" we hear a song about a guy's desire for a Spanish woman and in spite of his not being able to speak the language he nevertheless can't get her off of his mind. Have you ever heard a song about an anniversary of a break-up? In "Special Anniversary", a phrase we don't hear until the end of the song, Ray sings about seeing a woman that he used to love and wonders if his running into her is just a coincidence given that it had been exactly one year since the two broke up. It was a fantastic album and much, if not all, of the brief publicity for the album and it's songs arrived in the first couple of months in 1984. However, the Me album was ultimately overlooked and overshadowed by some big changes that took place in Ray's career in 1984. Seen below is Ray performing "My Dad" from an episode of his CabaRay Nashville television series.

Ray left Mercury Records and signed with MCA Records. Although the entire terms of the recording contract will never be public it was reported in country music media that he was signed as a comedy act. It was the first time in his career where he shifted his full attention to comedy and the first time he fully embraced being marketed as a comedy performer. His first five albums for the label were all comedy and the first four were huge record sellers. The 1984 debut, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens, contained what became an immediate classic... "It's Me Again, Margaret". This comedy song, in case you hadn't heard it, is about a prank caller named Willard McBain who calls up his victim, Margaret. In a series of phone calls he embarrasses the woman until she finally gets the police involved. They eavesdrop and hear Willard's latest verbal assault and he's arrested. There were some other songs on that album dealing with women. "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day" is a nutty comedy song about a pair of alcoholics. She's sobered up and left him which is why Happy Hour is a sad time for him. "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye" is the album's opening track. This is a very funny song, if you listen to it carefully, but it's performed seriously with an up-tempo bluegrass flavored arrangement. 

This concludes my look at love songs (both non-comical and comical) from Ray Stevens. Now, don't let this overview lead you to think he's not recorded much more than what I've covered in this 5-part series. He's recorded more since 1984. In 1985, for example, there was "Punk Country Love" and then there was "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?" in 1986. In 1987 there was "The Flies of Texas", which in spite of it's title, is a love song about a guy who thinks he's marrying into money only to learn that his potential father-in-law owns a fleet of garbage trucks. "The Three Legged Man" tells the wild story of a guy who steals a woman away from another man. The other man happens to have a wooden leg and he steals it, too. So, now, he's a guy with three legs with a woman who has two legs and they're being chased by a one legged man.  

Ray Stevens: Evergreen and more things like that...

Well, I couldn't let Saint Patrick's Day go by without at least composing a blog entry spotlighting not only this photo of Ray Stevens in green but shining the light on a music pot of gold...an audio pot of gold. A collection of recordings by Ray Stevens that capture the spirit of what most people over the many decades have come to identify Saint Patrick's Day with: drinking alcohol and throwing parties. The holiday is synonymous with the color, green. The Irish connection and the lore of leprechauns, shamrocks, pots of gold, and luck. Ray has never officially recorded Irish ballads or traditional Irish music. I haven't done any detailed research to find out why Saint Patrick's Day went from celebrating an actual Irish Saint named Patrick to a day that's long been tied to alcohol (public intoxication) and wild partying. Nevertheless, there are those who are authentically Irish who have no issue with the fun and craziness that surrounds the Irish holiday but there are those of Irish heritage that do not appreciate the 'image' of the Irish as intoxicated fools continuing to show up every year on March 17th. Some protest the stereotypical imagery associated with the holiday (shamrocks, leprechaun costumes, orange wigs and beards) but I believe the protests are coming from a loud vocal minority considering the holiday comes and goes each and every year with celebrations of Irish heritage (food, drinks, music, clothing) on the day marking the death of Saint Patrick (March 17th). My family's heritage (on my dad's side) is Irish-Scottish and I don't find anything offensive about how people choose to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. Whether you simply want to wear green, or, drink alcohol, or listen to various recording artist's do a rendition of "Danny Boy", no matter how you choose to celebrate, well, it's perfectly fine with me. 

What Ray Stevens songs do you think are in my personally selected pot of gold? I have a couple of songs in mind and the first one I'm spotlighting is Ray's rendition of "The Bricklayer's Song". Ray recorded this in 1993 on stage at his Branson, Missouri theater. It appears on his comedy album that year, Classic Ray Stevens. The song tells the story of an Irishman and his wild misadventures with a rope, a pulley, and a barrel of bricks. 

Ray performed "The Bricklayer's Song" on an episode of his CabaRay Nashville television series but the performance isn't isolated as a stand alone upload on YouTube (so far) and I've forgotten which episode contains that performance. There are nearly 80 half hour episodes of the series so far. I could go through my notes and check which episode he performed it on...hey, I just went and looked...Ray performed the song on the episode guest starring Leroy Van Dyke. If you visit YouTube and search 'Ray Stevens + Leroy Van Dyke', the full episode will appear in the search results. Along the same amusing lines as that song but this time the setting is a brewery we hear the story of Clancy who works at a brewery in Milwaukee. We're told he's worked there for years and loves his job...working overtime and even weekends. Clancy met his end, however, in the most unfortunate of ways. You will hear all about it in Ray's 1987 recording of "The Day That Clancy Drowned", from the pen of Sheb Wooley.

Have you ever heard the Ray Stevens recording of "Little Brown Jug"? He recorded it for his massive box set in 2012 titled The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. The song originated in 1869 but became closely linked to Glenn Miller in 1939. The Prohibition Era in the United States (roughly 1920 - 1933) naturally caused a lot of songs/imagery of alcohol to become popular due to the Government imposed ban on all things alcohol related. Oh yes, bootlegging became fashionable even if it was against the law. This recording from Ray features modern instrumentation but it captures the spirit of the previous recordings of decades ago...and with practically everything Ray records there's a lot put into the production and his vocal performance gives the song it's essential cheery overtone...

One of the recordings from Ray Stevens that I think about on Saint Patrick's Day is his 1984 recording of "Happy Hour is the Saddest Time of the Day". It's a song on his comedy album that year, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. He performed it on a country music television show that year and during the performance he applies make-up in time with the music and eventually appears on camera, right in front of our eyes, as a sad clown which masks the hilarious, clever lyrics. The screen cap from the performance shows him in the clown make-up but it's fun to watch the performance and hear him sing about loss love and how happy hour brings sorrow instead of happiness... 

Ray Stevens: Singing about Women, Part 2

Hello once again Ray Stevens fans!! We're on the eve of the annual tradition of setting our clocks ahead one hour at 2am. I don't if the State you live in participates in the clock changes (spring forward/fall back) or not but it's something we've done for decades. One of the main points of this limited blog series was to spotlight some of the songs Ray Stevens has recorded that deal with women. I originally wanted to pinpoint songs that feature a woman's name in the title but then I figured I'd also toss in some notice to songs that are about women, in general, and therefore those would fall into the love song category.

Although a casual music listener probably wouldn't think of love songs or deep, romantic ballads when they hear the name, Ray Stevens, but he's recorded and written a lot of love songs. Some of those love songs actually do involve a lot of mature, straightforward lyrics. The issue has almost always been that music listeners can't separate the funny man from the serious one and once he gained a reputation for comedy/novelty it was almost written in stone in the ears and minds of music listeners and music critics that Ray shouldn't be taken seriously. We all know that Ray was able to overcome the novelty/comedy image throughout much of the 1970s and into the early 1980s. His recordings were very well done, immaculately produced, and arranged. Ray is his own music producer and music arranger and those talents continue to show up on his most recent recordings, too. I decided to use that particular pose of Ray because I feel it captures him deep in the performance. His eyes are open so you can't say he's lost in the feeling but it's a capture that captures a side of Ray Stevens that gets overlooked. So, then, in my second part of this mini-blog series devoted to women's history month we begin with a song Ray wrote and recorded in the late 1960s. The song originally appeared on his 1969 album, Have a Little Talk With Myself. "The Little Woman" celebrates the joy of domestic living and the pride one has in living a modest lifestyle. It also, as you'll find out when listening to the song, demonstrates the strength of a marriage. In the song's storyline Ray is approached by a woman who has perhaps a one night stand on her mind but he gently turns her down and states how much he loves his wife who's waiting on him at home. Ray explored this theme of domestic tranquility in a previous recording a year earlier in 1968 on the song, "The Great Escape". In that one he criticizes the hectic pace of working in the city and all that's one his mind is making the escape back to the tranquil suburbs and returning to his wife and their subdivided house. In the embed below it's the audio track of "The Little Woman".

In 1970 one of Ray's albums, Unreal, featured numerous love songs. One of them, in particular, dealt with the sad side of love. "Islands" tells the story of a couple who've drifted off into their own separate worlds. The woman has left the guy and the song is something of a lover's plea for her to return. Sad love songs tend to outnumber positive love songs on that 1970 album. A couple of other sad ones are "Night People", "Imitation of Life", and the war ballad "Loving You on Paper". The album had it's share of positive and inspiring songs, though, such as "Come Around", "Can We Get To That?", and "America, Communicate With Me". In the video clip below you'll hear Ray perform "Loving You On Paper" from a May 1971 episode of the BBC music series, In Concert.

In Ray's 1973 album, Nashville, there are all kinds of love songs on it. First off is the title track. "Nashville" isn't necessarily about a woman but it's a love song directed at the city of Nashville, Tennessee. In several interviews Ray mentioned that he wrote the song while touring Australia and was homesick. He missed being in Nashville and being with his family. Ray's take on "Never Ending Song of Love" is fabulous as is the love ballad "Love Me Longer". The album features the original recording of "You've Got the Music Inside" which he would re-record five years later. In the latter recording from 1978 he gave it a softer music arrangement to mirror his softer vocal performance. 

As was the case in 1970 with the release of two albums Ray released two albums in 1973, too: Nashville and Losin' Streak. Some of the love songs on Losin' Streak were a re-recorded version of "Just One of Life's Little Tragedies" (originally recorded by Ray in 1963), "Idaho Wine", a mid-tempo recording of "Easy Loving", and a bluesy rendition of "Bye Bye Love". The Losin' Streak album isn't officially uploaded onto YouTube and neither is Have a Little Talk With Myself but if you manually search for songs from either of those two albums you'll come across the audio tracks. I'll follow up with part three later on this week.  

Ray Stevens: February 12th Bill Cody radio appearance

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I felt like doing a visual promo for one of the four CD's in Ray's 2021 box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. As you can see it's the bluegrass CD titled Melancholy Fescue. It had been awhile since I had given some attention to that particular 2021 release. The main focal point of this blog entry, however, centers around a radio appearance from Ray Stevens on February 12 last week. It was the day after the Super Bowl as you'll hear when you listen to the interview. Bill Cody hosts a morning radio program on 650 WSM radio and it has a simulcast on television. There wasn't any sort of alert that Ray would be a guest on Bill's radio program and so I wasn't able to write any kind of blog entry promoting the appearance. I found out yesterday and I shared the YouTube link to several people that I know of who are as much a fan of Ray Stevens as I happen to be. As is the case with almost every interview that features Ray it's an up-tempo, light conversation filled with jokes or whimsical phrases. When you listen to the interview you'll discover that there will be some major activity taking place in Ray's career come the summer of 2024. There are actually two breaking news releases in the interview. The first is the completed production of a music video with the resident pianist at Ray's CabaRay showroom, John Jonethis. Ray didn't reveal when the video would be released. He says he'll be in the video but he didn't say whether he'd be a vocalist for John's performance or if he'd simply appear in the video in a non-singing role. 

The second breaking news announcement during the interview was the upcoming production of all-new episodes of CabaRay Nashville!! Ray revealed starting July of this year he'll be taping all kinds of footage for 26 new episodes of the half hour television series. The program had been on hiatus/out of production since 2018. There were 78 half hour episodes produced, initially, of Ray's half hour television series. The series first aired in the latter half of 2015 on RFD-TV and then in first-run syndication on local PBS stations. The first 26 half hour episodes aired on RFD-TV, titled Ray Stevens' Nashville, and then 52 half hour episodes aired in PBS syndication often on Saturday or Sunday afternoon or, in some markets, evening time-slots week, as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. 

The PBS airings were scattered all over the local landscape and it was difficult for a lot of fans to see the program due to it not airing in national syndication. The show would air in local television markets on PBS meaning that fans in one State were able to see the program whereas fans in another State might've not had any PBS affiliate airing the show. The final handful of episodes were taped early in 2018 at the CabaRay showroom. Ray eventually brought all of the episodes to his YouTube channel and he premiered an episode every week on the channel. These YouTube airings were, for many fans, the first time they'd seen the PBS episodes given how scattered the airings/availability had been. Since the episodes of his TV show are part of his YouTube channel there's no reason why any fan with internet access hasn't watched all the episodes by now.  

Now, with the announcement that there will be 26 additional episodes produced, that'll bring the overall total number of episodes to 104. It wasn't revealed if these additional episodes will air on television or if they'll air on his YouTube channel once a week. There's a lot of information we still don't know but isn't it fun knowing that Ray will be producing episodes of the TV show again? 

In the interview with Bill Cody you'll want to start the video clip at the 37 minute, 11 second mark which is where Ray's portion of the show begins. Now, of course, you can listen to the entire video upload with Bill's other guests, too, but if you're just wanting to hear Ray's portion of the show it begins at 37 minutes, 11 seconds. 

Ray Stevens: Half a million unique views for "Bubba..."

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! We welcome in the month of February with some exciting news. Ray's current music video, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", has officially reached the half a million unique views plateau. As of this writing the unique views are sitting at 502,346. Although I hadn't been writing any blog entries displaying the progress of the music video's unique views I would often check in and take note of whatever the latest numbers shown. A couple of months ago on November 16, 2023 to be specific the music video had reached 369,028 unique views. The video was uploaded onto YouTube on October 5, 2023 and so more than a month after it had made it's debut it was already well over 300,000. I checked the numbers during early December 2023 and it was sitting at 455,431 unique views on December 9th. Several days ago on January 22, 2024 the unique views count was sitting at 491,691 and so I had a feeling that the music video would reach half a million at some point and it officially reached that plateau late last night. I took note of it and it was sitting at 501,601 unique views right around this time Wednesday night. As pointed out at the top of this blog entry it's now sitting at 502,346. 

As of this writing this song only exists as a music video and as a digital download. An image of Ray with his hand covering his mouth, to convey a shocked expression, is being used as a promo picture for the digital download. There isn't a CD hardcopy available for those of you out there that might be curious/wondering. In fact, as of this writing, there hasn't been any information on any future comedy albums...and if any would be released I'm sure that this song will be among the track list. 

Ray Stevens: Festive Feast Fun

Hello all of you Ray Stevens fans!! We're getting closer to Thanksgiving 2023...as I write this blog entry we're a little more than a half an hour away from the 22nd and then it'll be one more day until one of my favorite holidays of the year. Ever since I began this fan created blog I've often posted holiday-themed blog posts whenever we get near a major holiday. This year it's no different. We're nearing Thanksgiving and as in time's past I'm here to spotlight several audio tracks from Ray Stevens which go a long way at explaining why we're so thankful for his brand of music. It's not all comedy songs yet that's what a general public knows him for. The menu for our Thanksgiving will be what we usually have: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stove top stuffing, homemade macaroni, chicken and noodles, pumpkin pies, dinner rolls, and some other items. 

One of the audio tracks I'm sharing in this blog entry is a 1975 recording by Ray of "Lady of Spain". If you have not heard his rendition of the pop standard then prepare to be entertained as Ray gives us a vocal impression of Fats Domino. When you listen you're going to hear Ray call out the name, Norman. The person he's referring to is the saxophone player, Norman Ray. 

Now, after listening to that great rendition, wasn't it festive and fun?? As you can see from the video embed, "Lady of Spain" is from Ray's 1975 'Misty' album. That entire album, well, most of it, contains Ray's rendition pop music standards. The two original songs on that album were "Sunshine" and a song from the pen of Layng Martine, Jr. called "Take Care of Business". The album has other festive, up-tempo tracks, too: "Deep Purple", the previously mentioned "Sunshine", "Cow-Cow Boogie", and the title track, "Misty". 

A year later, 1976, Ray found himself on the Warner Brothers label. He had been on the Barnaby Records label since 1970. Ray's first album release for Warner Brothers, 'Just for the Record', emerged months into 1976 and the lead-off single from that album was his up-tempo rendition of "You Are So Beautiful". Elsewhere on the album is another up-tempo, festive and fun track titled "Can't Stop Dancin'". That particular song would get covered by the pop music duo, Captain and Tennille. The duo gave the song a different arrangement and it sounds a bit different than how Ray recorded it. 

One of the up-tempo romps from a series of comedy albums Ray recorded for MCA Records in the mid to late 1980s came along in 1988 in the form of "Language, Nudity, Violence, and Sex". As you may be able to guess from the song's title it's about the warnings that accompany movies that get shown on cable television. In this particular time period consumers were growing their entertainment options...cable television, once referred to as pay-TV, was becoming more and more accessible as part of a person's basic cable service. Satellite television was also a big thing...how many people remember driving around in their cars and seeing certain houses, usually in the wealthier side of town, with a huge dish antenna sitting in the front or back yard? The song on Ray's 1988 album satirizes cable/satellite television and delivers a comical point of view from a newly subscribed customer. The album from 1988 is titled I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like. Listen for a veiled reference to Dr. Ruth within the recording. 

Ray Stevens: Audio Diary 7

2023

Hello all of you fans of Ray Stevens!! I know that most of you have probably heard what I call the recent recordings from Ray. The  recordings, to date, have not appeared on any album yet. As mentioned in some of my other blog entries the recent recordings have either become available as stand alone digital downloads or as audio tracks on several streaming sites but there hasn't been a full album released where those songs can call a home. The image you see of Ray is strictly for promotional/publicity purposes. If any compact disc release is forthcoming I doubt that particular pose will grace the album cover but it may be included should a CD be released with a fold out. In this day and age you have to always wonder if a CD will be released considering how a massive amount of people get their music through online streaming and it's only a small amount of people that prefer compact disc purchasing. The recent recordings from Ray are: "Where Are All The Twelve Year Olds?", "You're the Cup Holder of My Life", "The More You Cry", and "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". In this seventh installment of the Audio Diary series of blog posts I'm going to include the audio tracks of a couple of those recent recordings. I won't be including any video embeds, though. In this particular blog entry I'm going to share clickable links to the YouTube audio tracks. Why? Well, the reason for that is I don't want to have three video embeds stacked on top of one another. Some will  probably say to themselves: "oh, wow, he doesn't want three video embeds stacked on top of each other but he'll stack three links on top of one another...". True, that's what I'm going to do, because visually I think it looks more better using links. The two audio track I'm including are shown below...

Where Are All The Twelve Year Olds? 

You're The Cup Holder of My Life 

Those audio tracks come from Ray's appearance on Larry's Country Diner on RFD-TV. There's an audio of his performance of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" from Larry's show, too, but when it comes to that particular recording I prefer to promote the official music video. I won't be posting it here since this blog entry is meant to focus on audio-only but in a future blog entry I'll be embedding the video and providing some updated unique video totals. I'm also going to include my review of the song...a review I posted over on Amazon but it hasn't been posted to their site yet. 

Ray Stevens: "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" music video...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!!! I just got onto my computer a few moments ago and headed over to Ray's social media pages and discovered that less than an hour ago he released an official music video of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". I watched it and will share it in this blog entry. Ray uses the familiar green screen/blue screen technology with quick edits in the background as he sings along and reacts to the lyrics. As of this writing I don't know who's playing Bubba. 

When you watch the video you'll see a pose or two from Ray that look similar to the promo photo that appears accompanying the digital single of the song. The song itself made it's debut on the next to last episode of the RFD-TV series, Larry's Country Diner. Video footage of Ray performing the song appeared on YouTube as did an audio recording from that episode. Then, several months later, a digital single emerged of the song, released by Ray's CabaRay Entertainment label. Now we have an official music video using Ray's gentle humor to address one of the topical issues raging across the country. 

The music video's gotten over 700 unique views in an hour's time. Now, one of the questions that I think may accompany the video will be the question of who's playing the role of Bubba. I don't know if it's someone who works at Ray's concerts or if it's some relative of one of Ray's band members. Ray doesn't tour anymore.. he performs shows at his CabaRay.. and so he technically doesn't have what they call a roadie but he still needs people to make sure the equipment (instruments, sound, etc. etc.) is working correctly. So, Bubba may be part of the crew that does that sort of thing at the CabaRay. However, it could also be someone they hired just for this music video. So, now, here's the official music video from Ray Stevens of "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene".

Ray Stevens: The July 20th Bill Cody Interview...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! While I was sick with left lung Pneumonia the legendary Ray Stevens participated in an interview with WSM radio's Bill Cody. The interview aired on the July 20th episode of Bill's program titled Coffee, Country, and Cody. Charlie Mattos is Bill's on-air assistant/producer and perhaps an unofficial co-host...and they're joined by entertainment journalist, Kelly Sutton.

The interview is very, very engaging with Ray in top form cracking jokes and coming up with expressions throughout the interview that are unique to him. Bill opened the show with a snippet of Ray performing "Nashville", a single Ray released in 1973. Bill asks Ray where all he's done a show. Ray responded that when he was younger, and it's something he specifically said he'd never do at his current age, but he boarded a plane and flew practically all over the globe...landing in one airport, seeing some of the sights of the city he was in, and then boarding a different flight for some place else...and it ultimately culminated in a tour overseas. The places he visited and the weeks away from his home inspired him to write "Nashville". Ray offered the remark that he feels Tasmania is Australia's version of Las Vegas. 

Ray and Bill speak of the CabaRay showroom and Bill asks Ray if he's ever returned to 17th and Grand Avenue since moving his operations to the CabaRay. Ray commented that he hadn't gone back to the area since officially tagging his CabaRay as his new base of operations (the facility includes his offices, a video production studio, and an audio recording studio). Well, technically, the music video studio is actually the CabaRay stage. If Ray shoots a music video or tapes a commercial for online play the production staff incorporates green screen technology... a green screen will be placed in the background while Ray tapes his part on stage at the CabaRay... and they put in the backgrounds to the videos in post production. 

Bill mentions Ray's history with Music Row real estate. Ray comments that he got interested in real estate due to Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins. At one point in time Ray probably owned 40 percent of the land and, or, the buildings throughout the Music Row section of Nashville. I remember a writer for a music magazine half-jokingly refer to Ray as the Landlord of Music Row. When Bill asked about the unique spelling of his showroom Ray credited his late brother, John Ragsdale, with coming up with spelling it CabaRay rather than the more affluent, Cabaret. Ray tells the origins of "Everything is Beautiful" and Bill brings up the recent death of Jerry Bradley. 

Ray went into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019 and one of the fellow inductee's was Jerry Bradley. Ray spoke of how his 1980 comedy album, Shriner's Convention, featured art work on both the front and back of the cover and that it was Jerry Bradley's idea to have the song depicted in comic book form on the back of the cover and have an illustrated drawing of Ray in character as Coy on a motorcycle with hotel waitress, Charlene, on the front of the album cover. When you look on the back of the 1980 album you'll see Jerry credited with cover concept. Bill brings up Ralph Emery. Ray commented about how Ralph was one of the longest running members of the Nashville Breakfast Club, an informal gathering featuring Ray and numerous people having breakfast in various places around Nashville. It's not a weekly ritual, at least, I don't think it is...but I know that Ray once remarked that it was something of a tradition and that it began by accident in the mid 1980s sometime. 

All in all it's a great interview but rather than go by my overview and opinion you can listen to the entire interview for yourselves by clicking the YouTube link HERE. The interview is just under 20 minutes.

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube Bundle, Part Four...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! This is part four in my periodic blog entry series where I provide links to numerous episodes of CabaRay Nashville. In the previous installment I left off at Season 5, Episode 1 guest starring Ray Hildebrand. In this installment I'm going to feature five episodes...one of the episodes is from Season 4 and the other four are from Season 5. In case you're wondering there are still several local PBS stations that air episodes of Ray's program...but for slightly over a year now he's been airing the program once a week on his official YouTube channel. Each "season" consists of 13 half hour episodes. If you do the math, we're up to Season 5, Episode 6, meaning that 58 half hour episodes have aired each week on YouTube so far.

Season One: 13 episodes

Season Two: 13 episodes

Season Three: 13 episodes

Season Four: 13 episodes

Season Five: 6 episodes (as of this writing)

Here are the five half hour episodes featured in this installment of the YouTube bundle...

John Berry

Paul Overstreet

Dailey and Vincent

Jenny Gill

Tracy Lawrence

If you search the archives of this blog you'll find my reviews of each episode of Ray's TV series. When Ray decided to start uploading episodes of the show each week on his YouTube channel last year I, at first, began writing new reviews of the episodes but then I figured that it would be better to every so often write a blog entry and provide links to several episodes at once. The main reason I decided to do the bundle blog posts is because the show is airing on YouTube...available for all to see. In years past the show was only available on local PBS syndication and not everybody was able to see the show and so I felt the reviews I wrote helped those that weren't able to see the program. Now, since it's being uploaded each week on YouTube, everybody with an online connection can see it. 

Ray Stevens; April 2023

Ray Stevens: "Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene" update...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! You more than likely aren't going to hear much about it from what they call the mainstream media but Ray has quietly racked up 2.2 million plays of his performance on Larry's Country Diner of "Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". The statistics come from the social media platform, Facebook. The Larry's Country Diner page over there has a video page and Ray's performance is by far the most watched. It was uploaded to Larry's page back on June 8. The song is a combination of satire, social commentary, comedy...with common sense battling a forced, bizarre alternate universe that the country finds itself in. The audio recording of "Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene", on YouTube, has racked up more than 32,000 unique views since it was uploaded. The full episode of Larry's Country Diner guest starring Ray Stevens, as of this writing, has more than 83,000 unique views. I'm not going to embed the video performance...rather, I'll embed the audio from the TV appearance...

As of now there still isn't any word on when the new songs Ray performed on that episode will become available on an album. Given the way music is heard/discovered there might not even be a future album.. the songs could simply exist as audio tracks on sites like YouTube, Spotify, etc. I hope that isn't the case...yes, I'm old fashioned and love full albums of songs being released on an actual CD rather than simply visiting some online music site and listening that way. Sure, the online way is convenient but I like officially released hardcopy discs as back-up just in case of internet glitches or some music site goes offline. I bet people don't think of that...if a site that contains all your music vanishes from the internet it'll all be gone...so it's always smart to have the music on a CD that a record company has issued. If a record company doesn't offer a CD then download the songs onto a blank CD, of course. The idea of having your favorite songs stored away in some online file, either it be on a computer or a cell phone, is mystifying to me. I know you'll love the song...another great one from legendary Ray Stevens!

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube Bundle, Part Three...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! In this third part of my occasional blog series spotlighting select episodes of CabaRay Nashville I'm going to embed several episodes...well, provide the links to them, and I'll close the blog entry with an embed of one of the videos. CabaRay Nashville is the television show Ray Stevens hosted for several years and is now airing once a week on his YouTube channel. 

It's a half hour series featuring Ray, of course, and usually a special guest. There have been episodes where there's more than one special guest. It's a music-driven talk show. In the YouTube airings of the series Ray opens the show with a song and it's followed by Ray welcoming the audience/viewers to the show which is followed by a super quick edit (on TV this is where the first wave of commercials would air) to where Ray introduces the episode's guest. 

The guest talks with Ray at the red piano. After the interview portion has concluded Ray has the guest sing. This is usually followed by a taped sketch from one of Ray's vast amount of comedy video recordings or it's followed by the guest walking back over to Ray's red piano for more discussion. The guest ultimately sings a second song which is followed by another edit mark (where commercials would air if it were on television). Ray then is seen centerstage or seated behind the red piano where he sings the episode's closing song. The closing performance is followed by a one-liner from Ray...often intentionally a bad joke. The show always ends with Ray dancing with an audience member to the melody of "Everything is Beautiful". Here are some of the select episodes from the past several weeks...

Don McLean

Jeannie Seely

Felix Cavaliere

Gary Morris

Ray Hildebrand

The episode I'm embedding is the one that spotlights the musicians featured on the CabaRay Nashville television show. Ray refers to them as the A Team, a nod to the famed team of musicians that played on the recording sessions in Nashville throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The episode giving spotlight to the musicians and back-up singers happened to be the final episode of Season Four. The first episode of Season Five is featured above this paragraph...the episode guest starring Ray Hildebrand. If you don't recognize the name then think of the pop song "Hey Paula". The male lead singer of that song was Ray Hildebrand and the female lead singer was Jill Jackson. The two of them were billed as Paul and Paula. 

Ray Stevens: My random YouTube Unique Views Update...

Hello to all of the fans of Ray Stevens!! Every so often I get the inspiration to just randomly post a blog entry about the YouTube viral videos of Ray Stevens. Oh yes we all know it's 2023 and the phrase 'viral video' has become something of a cliché since the creation of YouTube more than 10 years ago. Nevertheless it's still a phrase that's prominently used in the online world to describe a video that's gotten a large amount of unique views in a short amount of time but 'going viral' also means, in my interpretation of the phrase, that the video or the performer has cut through the heavy competition in such a way that attention toward the video/performer seems effortless. As of April 30, 2023 the Top-10 video uploads on Ray's YouTube channel (based on unique view totals) are as follows: "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" leads the pack with 21,000,000 unique views. The numbers I'm using come from Ray's YouTube channel. The totals are not written out to the exact number. I could click on each upload and get the exact unique view total but I'm not going to do that for the sake of time. I'll provide a complete Top-10 list further down but one thing that's on my mind are these reaction videos that have seemingly taken over the YouTube landscape over the last half a year or so. Maybe they've been around longer than that but earlier today I did a YouTube search for Ray and seen that a few more of those reaction videos were uploaded. In my way of thinking they can be both helpful and not so helpful. They can be helpful for the free publicity they generate but they can also not be so helpful if those viewing the videos fail to understand the point of the video or fail to understand that it's perfectly fine to laugh and be entertained with deliberate silliness. Some people, and this may sound a bit odd, but some people who will watch a comedy video clip on YouTube are way too serious in their own lives to appreciate humor or get the humor. There are some people that'll watch a comedy video and miss the point but yet find it funny for entirely different reasons. As a long time fan of Ray I hope that people who discover him through those reaction videos get the point of the visual gags or get the humor that's sprinkled throughout the lyrics. 

Here are the Top-10 Ray Stevens video uploads on YouTube based on rounded unique view totals and we do have a couple of ties... at number 10 and number 6 so, to break the ties, I looked up the specific numbers for each video and have included those:

10: "Mr. President - Mr. President" 3,884,870

9: "Sittin' Up with the Dead" 3,824,559

8: "The Quarantine Song" (from Larry's Country Diner) 4.1 Million

7: "Santa Claus is Watching You" 5.4 Million

6: "Obama Budget Plan" 5,721,255

5: "We The People" 5,794,749

4: "It's Me Again, Margaret" 6.5 Million

3: "Come to the U.S.A." 10 Million

2: "The Streak" 16 Million

1: "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" 21 Million

Ray Stevens: Upcoming CabaRay concerts in May

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.

Ray Stevens: The Encyclopedia on YouTube...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I may have mentioned this earlier this year but 2022, hard to believe, marks the 10th anniversary of the Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. Ray released this 9-CD box set in 2012 and it's chock full of his versions of novelty songs of the last 60+ years. He also re-recorded some of his own comedy songs but the majority of the recordings on here are Ray's take on other novelty songs like "Mother-in-Law", "King Tut", "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", "Little Brown Jug", "Huggin' and Chalkin'", and many, many, more. I don't know if it's because 2022 is the 10th anniversary but Curb Records has uploaded dozens of songs from the Encyclopedia onto YouTube. This is a big deal because, until now, the only way to hear a large amount of Ray's phenomenal recordings of classic novelty songs was to have the 9-CD box set. In 2012 Ray promoted the collection in a series of TV appearances and he made a few online advertisements. I wrote numerous blog entries in 2012 promoting the box set, too. The collection remains a masterpiece and a salute to the novelty song. If you have this box set then you're already familiar with the songs and the booklet. In the booklet you'll read Ray's commentary on all of the songs he recorded for the Encyclopedia plus a lot of facts surrounding the times and places each song made it's impact. Don Cusic was also one of Ray's collaborators. When you watch some episodes of Ray's CabaRay Nashville television show you'll see segments featuring Don Cusic introducing facts surrounding the box set. On the show Don is wearing a graduate uniform and is known as Professor Cusic. Here are a few of the songs Curb Records uploaded from the Encyclopedia onto YouTube...

"Searchin'" is just one of several recordings originated or popularized by The Coasters. I'm excited to finally promote individual audio tracks from the Encyclopedia so you all can hear how great they are. In "Searchin'", Ray is at his Coasters best...several times inserting throaty vocalizations which were like a hallmark of their overall sound. Here we go...

Now, wasn't that fabulous??? It's like Ray is in another world whenever he's covering songs originated by The Coasters or any other rhythm and blues vocal group. If you're familiar with the song, "Cigareets and Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women", then you'll love Ray's rendition of it. It was popularized, originally, by Red Ingle and I've also heard a recording of it by Buck Owens. Now, speaking of Buck, this Ray Stevens rendition will have you thinking of Hee Haw...

 Now, this one is just plain fun...his take on "Mother-in-Law"... 

Most remember Nervous Norvous from the many plays he got on the novelty song broadcasts of Doctor Demento...a song by the name of "Transfusion". A novelty song about a guy that can't get enough blood transfusions and we're left to wonder if the guy gets into car wrecks on purpose just to get another shot of the red stuff. I hope you love hearing these audio tracks from Ray's 2012 Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. There is so much more to hear over on YouTube. Do a search for Ray Stevens + Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music on YouTube and the results will showcase what Curb Records uploaded. Here's Ray's version of "Transfusion"...

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 audio track: "Popeye and Olive Oyl"

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! 2022 is the 60th anniversary of the very first studio album from Ray Stevens. I've made mention of that before but I wanted to feature an audio clip from from that 1962 album which Ray posted on his social media pages recently. The album is titled 1,837 Seconds of Humor and was released on the Mercury Records label. Ray wrote all of the songs on the album...it's the album that features "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills", "Scratch My Back", "A Hermit Named Dave", and "Ahab the Arab" among others. Ahab was such a hit that the album's cover focuses on that song and has the song's title in large letters...overshadowing the album's actual title. Elsewhere on the album is the equally funny "Saturday Night at the Movies" and the song I'm featuring, "Popeye and Olive Oyl". Now, unlike 1960's novelty "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon", 1962's "Popeye and Olive Oyl" wasn't met with any type of lawsuit threats from copyright owners. It's my guess that Mercury Records got permission to use the Popeye characters in a song whereas NRC, the label Ray recorded for in 1960, didn't get permission to use Sgt. Preston's name and characters in a recording. Ray's "Popeye and Olive Oyl" novelty, performed mostly as a fast-talking recitation instead of being sung, plays like a typical adventure between Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto...and spinach saves the day. The recognizable Popeye theme and the accompanying Sailor's Hornpipe music is heard in the recording, too. Ray treats us to a falsetto voice with cries of help from Olive... 

Ray Stevens: Upcoming September CabaRay concerts...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! We've begun a new month and you know what that means! It's time to take a look at the upcoming CabaRay concerts for the month of September. Ray will be in concert at the CabaRay every Saturday evening this month: September 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th. Since the month just started it's hard to tell if there will be any additional dates added. Sometimes there's a Thursday evening concert that pops up unexpectedly...so keep alerted for any kind of additional concert announcements. If you purchase the dinner option along with your concert you'll be served Chicken Breast au jus or a Grilled Pork Chop with apple chutney. The vegetable selection is said to be seasonal...you'll also receive a salad and rolls. The choice of beverage is coffee, tea, or pop. Some people have mistakenly thought that it's like a fast food restaurant and you can order hamburgers and French fries or other fast food...but the CabaRay dinner is closely associated with what's known as fine dining. If the CabaRay showroom is all new to you then pay close attention because the details about the showroom, Piano Bar, and gift shop can get confusing. The showroom opens at 5pm and most people gather inside the Piano Bar. If you purchased a dinner then you'll be allowed to enter the main concert area at 5:30pm. Your dinner is usually served within half an hour. If you only purchased tickets to see the concert only then you'll be allowed to enter the main concert area at 6:30pm. Some people choose to stay in the Piano Bar until around 7pm and then they make their way into the main concert area. The Ray Stevens concert begins at 7:30pm. In addition to the Piano Bar there is also a gift shop that opens up about an hour after the Piano Bar. It's open after the concert, too, as is the Piano Bar. Inside the gift shop you'll find all kinds of Ray Stevens items for sale. There's T-shirts, ball caps, CD's, DVD's, stuffed animals (squirrels, monkeys, camels), an assortment of trinkets like keychains, shot glasses, water bottles, magnets, and there's also copies of his 2014 memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville. The items in the gift shop can also be purchased online at Ray's official website. There's a Store section and a tab for the CabaRay items. To purchase tickets to see the legendary Ray Stevens...a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Atlanta Music Hall of Fame, and a Nashville Cat honoree...simply click HERE.