Ray Stevens sings "Get Crazy With Me"...

Well, hello all of you Ray Stevens fans!! It's the start of a brand new month...yes, it being April 1st usually means that some radio stations spotlight comedy/novelty songs. However, in this blog entry I'm spotlighting a love ballad, of sorts, from Ray Stevens titled "Get Crazy With Me". I have written about this song before as you could've probably guessed and I've written about the 1977 album it appears on, Feel the Music. That album is the one that featured Ray as the songwriter on 9 of the 10 tracks. The lone track that Ray didn't write, "Set The Children Free", is from the pen of Buddy Kalb. 

In the video upload you'll see Ralph Emery and Donna Fargo introduce Ray.. the performance is from an episode of Pop! Goes the Country. As a tie-in with Ray's song he appeared on the cover of Country Song Roundup magazine with an accompanying article/interview titled Get Crazy With Ray Stevens. I have a copy of that magazine but I don't have a photo of me showing it off. One day I'll probably get around to photographing it. In the meantime... Ray insists "Get Crazy With Me"... and so let's take a few minutes and listen to this obscure gem of a song.

Ray Stevens: Ronnie Milsap Tribute Concert...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! The news broke a couple of days ago but I am just now getting around to making it part of this blog.. what news? Well, this coming October 3rd at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee the legendary country soul performer, Ronnie Milsap, will perform his final Nashville concert. Ray is going to take part in the final concert performance. I have not seen any definitive information as to what all is going to take place. It's being billed as The Final Nashville Show a Tribute to Ronnie Milsap. So, some of the things I've seen online that are mostly assumptions, is that Ronnie will individually perform a lot of his songs with the large list of guest stars. I've also seen assumptions where the guests will sing a specific hit from Ronnie's career prior to him taking the stage to close out the evening. So, as of now, I don't exactly know which format will take place on October 3rd other than knowing that whichever one it is Ronnie will definitely be performing. As soon as I heard of Ray's involvement I began thinking of Ronnie's songs and what could possibly suit Ray or, better yet, which songs would fit him like a glove should the format of the guests singing Ronnie's hits be the one that's revealed. I thought of Ronnie's hits with the titles "Nobody Likes Sad Songs", "Cowboys and Clowns", "Houston Solution", "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me", and "Back On My Mind Again". I thought of those for a couple of reasons. Ray's songs are typically up-tempo and rarely, if ever, are the lyrics actually truly sad or mournful. In the songs that deal with lost love that he's recorded, for example, there's sadness or heartbreak in the lyrics but nothing painful. Another reason I thought of those songs is they're direct and not filled with a lot of vocal acrobatics like some of Ronnie's emotional ballads like: "Let's Take the Long Way Around the World", "It Was Almost Like a Song", "Stranger In My House", "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World", or "Inside". 

Ray and Ronnie both share a fondness and love of multiple music styles. Whereas Ray absorbed the music of country, gospel, and pop he also loved the rhythm and blues songs that were all over the place in his youth. In addition he also loved novelty songs. Ronnie, on the other hand, loved the bluesy/soulful sounds of various recording artists in addition to loving country music and early rock and roll. Ray, as you can see, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019. He is a member of various other Halls of Fame as is Ronnie Milsap, too. Ray is a few years older than Ronnie. They were both born in the month of January. Ray was born January 24, 1939 and Ronnie was born on January 16, 1943. Ronnie was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. The two of them performed together, very briefly, in a television movie in 1979. They sang "It's Only Temporary" and a screen cap closes out the blog entry. 

To recap... Ray Stevens will be among the guest stars on the final Nashville concert by Ronnie Milsap on October 3rd at Bridgestone Arena.

Ray Stevens: The Warner Brothers cassettes Have Arrived..

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Lately I've been reacquainting myself with eBay purchasing. It had been more than a decade, it seems, since I last bought anything from there. The reason I'd stopped is, if I recall correctly, there was a time period where the only way to make purchases was through the PayPal system and I didn't want to do that. Anyway...about a month ago I began to not only browse eBay but have started to make purchases again. The first item I purchased, since it was at the right price and it was a Ray Stevens item, was a cassette copy of One More Last Chance. That cassette was released in 1981 on RCA Records. I have had the vinyl album for years but had never come across a cassette copy. When I seen it for sale on eBay, and knowing the obscure nature of a cassette copy, I bought it. The purchase/transaction went well and so I purchased an even more obscurity...a cassette copy of Ray's 1978 album on Warner Brothers, There Is Something On Your Mind. The vinyl album, which often comes up for sale and something I have in my collection, is rare enough but a cassette copy?? When I seen it listed I bought it!!

This is just one of three photos I took with my web-camera. The album is Ray's salute to vintage rhythm and blues songs that he says were an inspiration to him. The vinyl album features extensive commentary from Ray on both the front and back of the album cover but the cassette copy lacks this. There's a track list provided on the reverse side of the cassette cover as well as on the back of the cassette. I know of another fan of Ray Stevens that says that There Is Something On Your Mind was an album released only in Canada. The only thing I know is that there was absolutely no publicity for this album when it was released. I've searched archives of various music publications (Billboard, Record World, Cashbox) from around the time this album would've been originally released and I came across no publicity or even an album review. The album/cassette features 8 songs...maybe that's the reason it didn't get an album review back in 1978? However, don't let that fool you into thinking the album is less than half an hour because it isn't. The songs are lengthy...and by the time the album is finished you'd have thought you'd listened to an album of 11 or 12 songs. Why? Well, it's because there are four medley performances among the track list. There's the opening medley called "Dance Trilogy" which contains brief performances of "Do You Wanna Dance?", "When You Dance", and "Save the Last Dance For Me". This is followed by full performances of "Talk to Me" and "One Mint Julep". The fourth track on the cassette is the "Old Faithful Trilogy". That trilogy features brief performances of "Shake a Hand", "Since I Met You Baby", and "Always". The remaining four tracks are: "Money Honey", the "Banned in Boston Trilogy" which features "Sixty Minute Man", "Work With Me Annie", and "Annie Had a Baby"; the final two tracks are "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash" and "There is Something On Your Mind". I know, in the photo below, I should have my other hand resting on the side of my chin if I wanted to make an exact copy. I ordinarily don't use the camera's timer but in this instance I did...

 

The other Warner Brothers cassette can be seen here. The Feeling's Not Right Again was released in 1979. I have the vinyl album and if you do, too, you'll know that the back of the album also features a photo of Ray. The thing about cassette tape and 8-track releases is they lack imagery or commentary that might be featured on the back of a vinyl album. However, given the obscurity of cassette copies of Ray's albums from the '70s and early '80s I've decided, if they're at the right price, to purchase them on eBay just so I can have them in my personal collection. This is actually a compilation album and not a studio album. The album's cover art (both front and back) intentionally parodied the art work found on Barry Manilow's 1975 album, Trying To Get The Feeling. Ray's vinyl album copy went a step further with matching font style of Ray's name and album title but as you can see the cassette copy lack this. The only new song on the 1979 album is "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". Warner Brothers apparently didn't want to release an album on Ray titled Greatest Hits or The Best of Ray Stevens and so they put out The Feeling's Not Right Again and filled it with previously released songs from 1976, 1977, and 1978. The songs weren't randomly chosen, either. They were intentionally chosen for their MOR (Middle-of-the-Road) sound due to the inclusion of the new song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The album's title track, in case you're wondering, had been previously released on Ray's 1978 album, Be Your Own Best Friend. That album was released in the fall of 1978...and "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" began making it's impact in the spring of 1979. So, in an effort to build an album around that 1979 single release, The Feeling's Not Right Again emerged in the summer of 1979. 

Ray Stevens performs "Honky Tonk Waltz"...

The video quality is so-so in this upload but earlier today "Honky Tonk Waltz" was uploaded onto the social media sites of Ray Stevens. The performance, from a 1977 episode of Pop! Goes the Country, had been uploaded onto YouTube by other people going back at least 10 years but since this is an upload from Ray's official YouTube channel I'm going to embed it. I'm sure I embedded earlier uploads of the performance and if I have then this will be another upload to enjoy!!

Me and Ray Stevens LP

The image off to the right is me and my vinyl copy of the 1976 Ray Stevens album, Just For the Record. I took this photo earlier this morning...the photo is actually larger than what it appears but I made it smaller for this blog entry so that the image wouldn't take up most of the text space. The album's title is in smaller print over top of Ray's name. The back of the album features the same photo of Ray. It's a photo that was apparently taken in the winter months...Ray's bundled up with a heavy scarf and a fisherman's hat. Publicity photo's from around the time of this album's release shown him wearing gloves, too. I don't know the story behind the photo session or how the name of the album came to be. It was his debut album for Warner Brothers...following a lengthy run with Barnaby Records (dating back to early 1970). Ray's debut single for Warner Brothers happened to be a newly arranged version of "You Are So Beautiful"...traditionally performed as a slow ballad but in Ray's rendition it's presented as an up-tempo sing-a-long in the vein of "Misty" but with an even more deliberate Bluegrass feel. It was a Top-20 hit on the country charts and it was followed by "Honky Tonk Waltz".



"Honky Tonk Waltz" deliberately combined two music/dance styles together...the main instrument being the mandolin. In the video Ray plays a guitar and the piano. In this era of his career he often appeared with a guitar on his back while seated at his piano. He has often remarked that he knows a few chords on the guitar but is in no way a guitar wizard...preferring to stick with his main instruments within the piano family. "Honky Tonk Waltz" hit the Country Top-30 midway through 1976. There were only two singles released from his 1976 album. It wouldn't be until 1995 that Warner Brothers began re-issuing Ray's recordings for their label...and they did so with three compilations: Cornball, The Serious Side of Ray Stevens, and Do You Wanna Dance?. This means that it wasn't until those three releases came along that a good dose of his Warner Brothers recordings were on the market. The label never issued any best-of collections on Ray until 1995 and they hadn't issued any since. It would be nice to have his studio albums for Warner Brothers become available in CD or have them become digitally available as Mp3's. It makes little sense to keep them unavailable. I have them on vinyl and I have those 1995 CD's but not everyone does...the late '70s Ray Stevens recordings need to become readily available again.

Sing a song of Ray Stevens, Volume Two...

One can never truly get enough Ray Stevens. In my previous blog entry, which came across more like a brief history on single releases, I mentioned that promo singles often featured the same song on both sides of the single. This is the A-side of "Love Me Longer", a wonderful recording from Ray originally found on his Losin' Streak album of 1973. The record company placed the Stereo recording on the A-side while on the B-side contained the Mono recording of the song. Mono recordings, as compared to Stereo, well, there's really no comparison. Once you hear two songs, the same recordings back to back, but one was released in Mono and one in Stereo, you'll prefer Stereo. To my ears, Mono recordings sound as if the artist is singing through a cardboard box. Their voice sounds compressed and lethargic. "Love Me Longer" didn't reach the country or pop chart, which was a shame, but as I remarked in other blogs the Losin' Streak album came between a string of albums from Ray that featured quite a few Top-40 pop and country hits. In addition to Losin' Streak in 1973 there was another release that same year from Ray titled Nashville. The Top-40 title track certainly brought attention to the LP...a year earlier he had issued the highly successful Turn Your Radio On LP. That album featured not only the hit title track, which reached the Top-20 on the country charts, but it also featured two Top-10 Easy-Listening hits from the latter half of 1971, "A Mama and a Papa" and "All My Trials". Following the releases of Nashville and Losin' Streak in 1973 Ray emerged with "The Streak" in early 1974...it went on to sell more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide. The album issued later on in 1974, built around "The Streak", was titled Boogity-Boogity and it featured a future single release, "The Moonlight Special", a hilarious spoof of a late night television show from the '70s titled The Midnight Special.

Ray Stevens, You're Magic...a look at song publishing...

One of the things about the late '70s period in the career of Ray Stevens is just how mellow and laid back his vocalizations mostly were. Look no further than 1978's "You're Magic" from the album, Be Your Own Best Friend. In a lighter than air vocal performance, Ray delivers the correct vocal accompaniment. Obviously, after hearing the song as many times as I have, I couldn't imagine it performed any other way. The writer of the song is Layng Martine, Jr., a songwriter-singer whose supplied Ray with other songs...the most notable being Ray's 1974 Top-20 Easy-Listening hit, "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", which also hit the Country Top-40. Layng worked as a writer for Ray's publishing company for a number of years and for a period of time Ray was the producer/arranger/publisher of Layng's own recordings on Barnaby Records.

Ray's publishing company reaped the benefits of "Rub It In", a song that Layng wrote and released as a single in the early '70s. The much more widely known version, by Billy 'Crash' Craddock, hit #1. The publisher of a song typically remains the same no matter who records it and yes, before you can ask, on the single from Craddock, in the upper left hand portion of the label it reads Publisher: Ahab Music Co., Inc. (BMI). Ray recorded "Rub It In", too, but much later, in 2008! Ray was also the publisher of "Way Down", another composition from Layng, in which Elvis hit with in 1977. On the RCA single of "Way Down", on the lower left hand side of the label underneath the vocal accompaniment credits, it reads Ray Stevens Music, BMI. Sammy Kershaw singles "Cadillac Style" and "I Can't Reach Her Anymore" were also published by Ray's company. But speaking of the late '70s... 

One of the things that I happen to love about the episodes of Pop! Goes the Country that have made it to DVD is it mostly spotlights the woefully obscure late '70s period of Ray's career. The Ray Stevens music from the late '70s is worthy of more attention than it often gets. Now, picking up on what I briefly mentioned in my previous blog entry, Ray Stevens made quite a few guest appearances on Pop! Goes the Country. I've spotlighted the DVD collections that are available from Classic Country DVD and provided links. In late February/early March 2010 I wrote several blog entries about the DVDs that I ordered from the company. Search the archives located on the right hand side of the page if interested in reading my commentary at the time. Given that Ray Stevens appeared on quite a few episodes it's remained baffling, at least to me, why only 5 of his episodes have been spotlighted on a collection that has 24 volumes (as of now). I'm sure Ray isn't the only artist that isn't heavily represented but since this is a Ray Stevens fan-created blog page he's the artist I'm focusing on. I'm grateful for the episodes that have been featured on the DVDs but hopefully my commentary is seen as a hint that I'd love to see more and more of the Ray Stevens episodes surface on DVD in the near future.

I don't have any information on which artists appeared on every single episode but I'll guess and say that Ray Stevens is one of those artists that easily made at least 15 appearances over the course of the program's 7 and a half year run (September 1974- January 1982). The series was syndicated and it aired on the weekends, typically in the late afternoon, in many television markets. This program, along with Hee Haw, Nashville on the Road, and The Porter Wagoner Show, is responsible for expanding the national coverage of country music at a time when country music's exposure was confined mostly to the southern states and a few outlets in the Midwest and Texas. I'm speaking of both television coverage and radio programming. Country music radio in the '70s was relegated to a couple hundred scattered throughout those same geographical locales. Compare a couple hundred to more than a thousand country radio stations today...all over the United States...instead of in just a handful of states.

Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley, 39...

In this particular trip into Nostalgia Valley we visit primarily the final years that Ray Stevens was on the Barnaby Records label. Ray joined the label in 1970 and remained on their roster on into early 1976. The label went through a series of distributors, both nationally and internationally, in the form of CBS, MGM, Janus, and GRT to name a few. Ray had become the top artist for Barnaby Records and in 1975 he recorded his last studio album for the label, Misty. On this particular album Ray does his versions of several pop standards with a few newly written songs added in. The new songs, referred to as original songs since they appear on a covers project, are "Take Care of Business" and "Sunshine". The former was written by Layng Martine, Jr. and is said that the title may have been inspired by a phrase in Ray's 1968 hit, "Mr. Businessman". The two songs are extremely different, though, in terms of storyline. "Sunshine" was written by Ray...and it features an uptempo arrangement similarly heard on the album's title, "Misty". The rest of the album contains Ray's versions of pop standards.

"Misty", one of Ray's biggest airplay hits, became a single in 1975 and it reached the Top-10 on the country chart. It would also reach the Top-20 on the pop chart and in early 1976 it won a Grammy in the Best Arrangement of the Year category. It's become what is known as a signature song and is performed in his concerts to this day. Although the album's award winning Top-10 title track easily became the biggest hit of the project that isn't to say the other recordings weren't as great. The second single from the album was his fancy, doo-wop take on "Indian Love Call" and it's unlike anything you'll ever hear. It reached the country Top-40 but it didn't have the staying power of "Misty" and it's become what is known as an obscure hit. Barnaby released two more singles from this album as 1975 came to a close and 1976 opened up. "Young Love", a former smash hit from Sonny James as well as Tab Hunter, became the third single release from Misty. It featured a dramatically different arrangement from the light and bouncy sing-a-long that the general public was accustomed to. Ray turned the song into a slow love ballad. Although the single missed the radio-friendly Top-40 it nevertheless charted a section below, in the country Top-50. As you can see from the single's picture sleeve, the b-side is Ray's version of "Deep Purple". For me, "Deep Purple" is one of the masterpieces of the album...not taking anything away from the vocal acrobatics of "Indian Love Call" or any of the other recordings on the album. Try singing any number of these songs the way Ray Stevens did...it's nearly impossible. "Deep Purple" is one of those songs that I think would be nearly impossible to replicate by others. When the song begins I often think of Rudy Valle for some reason...but then the arrangement shifts and the vocalization from Ray leaps into a different range and it's become a full-on, upbeat pop song. Those who've heard Ray's version no doubt are aware of the glorious note that he puts onto the performance toward the end of the recording...and as an avid listener and as a fan you can't wait to hear it. Do you want to know another song from the album that you can't wait to hear? "Lady of Spain"!! Ray puts a lot into this recording, too. Traditionally performed as a love ballad, Ray changes things with the arrangement and urgent vocal delivery...singing like a man possessed for the Spanish woman he craves...and the Fats Domino vocalization that Ray uses is another treat you can't wait to hear again and again. "Mockingbird Hill" found it's way onto a single release in 1976. Ray used a lot of tra-la's and tweedle-de's during the song's chorus and it sounds nothing like the original recording from years earlier. The single didn't reach the charts but several compilation albums from the late '70s and early '80s from independent labels featured the song on their releases.

Fans can see Ray perform "Misty", "Indian Love Call" and several other songs by purchasing a Pop! Goes the Country DVD from an on-line store that I've written about in previous blog entries. The DVD features a 1975 episode and he performs "Misty", "Indian Love Call", and "Twilight Time". The latter song is not featured on the Misty album. You can purchase the DVD at This Web Page. That's the product page for the Volume Four DVD...it includes a video embed of Ray and other artists featured in that volume. Now, for those new to that site, several other DVD volumes feature appearances from Ray Stevens. Volume Four, as mentioned, features a 1975 episode. Volume Nine features a Ray Stevens episode from 1977. Volume Fifteen features a Ray Stevens episode from 1979...he debuts "Shriner's Convention" on this episode...months before it was released as a single in early 1980. Volume Seventeen features a Ray Stevens episode from 1982. On that episode, hosted by Tom T. Hall, Ray opens up the show with an alternate version of "You've Got the Music Inside" but the remainder of his performances are in medley form, trading off with Tom T. Hall, as the two sing bits and pieces of their songs at the request of the audience. The two close the show singing a duet, "It's Hard To Be Humble". In the just released Volume Twenty-Four, it features a Ray Stevens episode from 1978. The item description states that Ray performs "Gitarzan", "Everything is Beautiful", and "Sweet Dreams". Since I don't own that DVD, yet, I obviously don't know whether or not the songs are performed in full length or in medley form. Once you see any of the episodes starring Ray Stevens you'll notice a lot of the memorable moments come not only from his performances but also from the interview segments with Ralph Emery and later, Tom T. Hall.

The songs listed below are on the 1975 Misty album:

1. Misty
2. Indian Love Call
3. Over the Rainbow
4. Oh Lonesome Me
5. Mockingbird Hill
6. Cow-Cow Boogie
7. Young Love
8. Take Care of Business
9. Sunshine
10. Deep Purple
11. Lady of Spain

We're All Crazy for Ray Stevens...

As if it needed to be said...we're all crazy for Ray Stevens!! I'm one of the hundreds of thousands of people who wishes to be in Branson, Missouri seeing his acclaimed performance at the Welk Resort Theatre. Obviously with it being so far away I'm living the experience through the write-up's and pictures that have popped up...and I'm especially going to get my order in right away as soon as a DVD goes on sale of his concert. The news broke a few days ago that Ray will be taping some performances at the Welk Theatre and earlier today the news broke that the taping would take place during the October 8th and 9th performances. This means that those who are in attendance during those days will have a good chance of being caught on tape whenever the camera pans over the audience. The story that broke the news that Ray would be taping portions of his concerts is located here...

Ray Stevens Enthusiastic Branson Crowds

The last time concert footage of Ray in Branson surfaced in video form was back in 2005 when he participated in a fundraiser/telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims. The program was officially titled Branson Cares Telethon for Hurricane Katrina Victims and it aired regionally on September 18, 2005 but it also had satellite coverage as well and so millions of people saw the telethon. He performed "Everything Is Beautiful" after delivering commentary about the devastation of hurricane's to the geographic locale that he considered part of his youth and upbringing. The video clip of his introduction and his performance of the song is available on You Tube but it wasn't uploaded by Ray's people.

Prior to this you'd have to go back to 1993 when Ray Stevens Live! and More Ray Stevens Live! were brand new. Those two home videos are part of that home video boom that was happening for Ray in the early and mid 1990's. Ray Stevens Live! would eventually sell a million copies and remain on the Billboard Video Chart for months on end.

Let's Discuss Ray Stevens, Part Two...

I often love to celebrate the music of Ray Stevens...I shouldn't say often...as most people have come to realize after having read just one of my blogs that I always celebrate the music of Ray Stevens. There is usually an era of his career that I find myself highlighting and spotlighting the most and it's typically the late '70s and early '80s. I do this because I feel that particular point in his career is woefully under-rated, under-appreciated, and under-reported. This is the time period between 1976 and 1983 where Ray recorded a wonderful series of albums for both Warner Brothers, 1976-1979, and RCA, 1980-1982...adding in one album from 1983 for Mercury. I happen to love the material he recorded during this era...but I also happen to love all the other material as well from the various time periods in his career. However, because this late '70s and early '80s period of Ray's career is marked by love ballads and mellow pop-country songs with an occasional comedy song thrown in, there are some who disregard this era. It's something I'll never understand, though. Those who have issues with Ray's material from this era must not be listening to the same songs because these songs are Grade A, U.S. choice material. I'll name off some of the songs from this era...chances are once you hear them, if you haven't already, you'll love them as much as I do: "Cornball", "One and Only You", "You Are So Beautiful", "Can't Stop Dancing", "Once in Awhile", "Honky Tonk Waltz", "Save Me From Myself", "Get Crazy With Me", "Road Widow", "Feel the Music", "Dixie Hummingbird", "Junkie For You", "Set The Children Free", "You're Magic", "L'amour", "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right", and several more!! Anyway, this callous disregard for Ray's late '70s and early '80s work brings me to another point I want to bring up...

A lot of modern-day critics and even some from the past always collectively accuse those such as myself, for example, as being "revisionists" or they say that we're unwilling to bring up any negative or seemingly negative aspect of whatever it happens to be that we're discussing. The bottom line is when you're a fan of a singer chances are you're going to support that person...meaning that whatever it is that comes along in their career you're more or less going to be an ardent supporter. In my opinion that's the definition of being a fan...it doesn't mean that you're being a revisionist or purposely ignoring any criticisms that the singer may get from others. As a fan you learn to zero in on the positives and shrug off the negatives. It's not that you ignore the criticisms...some of the critics are brutal and go over the top in their harsh remarks...but shrugging them off is the best way to go.