Ray Stevens: Temporary Exhibit at CMHOF...

Hello one and all...about an hour ago it was revealed that a brand new exhibit is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame centering around Ray Stevens. He previously had a temporary exhibit on display surrounding his 1970 single, "Everything is Beautiful", but some other items associated with his music were also on display. That temporary display/exhibit was unveiled in September of 2017...it was still on display in March 2018 when I made my first and, to date, only trip to Nashville but since that time it's been removed from exhibition. I had my picture taken next to that display and I've posted it several times in blog's past. The 2017 exhibit was in recognition of Ray's 60th year as a professional recording artist. My previous blog entry discusses Ray's earliest years as a regional entertainer in Albany, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia in the mid 1950s.

This newest temporary exhibit centers around Ray's 1984 comedy album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens, and it features the Napoleon costume Ray wore during the photo session for the album. There's also his two Grammy Awards...which were also part of the 2017-2018 exhibit. In addition there's the toy squirrel from his Branson, Missouri theater...upon the conclusion of a performance of "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" a small squirrel toy would be let loose off stage and it would roll out onto the main stage at top speed and it would start chasing after Ray. An image of the display was posted on one of Ray's social media pages and you can see that image when you click HERE. That link will take you to Twitter. He also posted the image on his Facebook page.

He gets much more interaction on Facebook and I think that has to do with the fact that it's message friendly...on Twitter you're limited to so many characters that you're unable to fully express your thoughts without posting several Tweets in a row...but yet Twitter wasn't designed, I don't think, to be used as a 'message board' in the traditional sense...it's meant to be used as a  messaging service composed of acronyms, abbreviations, and brisk dialogue. You can also see the display by clicking HERE. That link will take you to the photo that was posted on Facebook. If you're planning on going to the Country Music Hall of Fame soon be on the lookout for Ray's newest exhibit and be sure to look for his plaque inside the Rotunda. The staff/caretakers rearrange the plaques every so often and if you've visited there recently to see his Hall of Fame plaque, the next time you visit, the plaque more than likely will be on display somewhere else on the Rotunda wall. A message on Ray's Facebook page stated that this newest exhibit will only be on display through the end of March of this year...so it's a very temporary exhibit indeed.

Ray Stevens: The Road to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Part Thirteen...

When we left off in Part Twelve I mentioned the happenings in the career of Ray Stevens in the early part of 1985. MCA Records had issued "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" as a single late in 1984 due to overwhelming demand from disc jockeys. The single, from the pen of Buddy Kalb and his wife, Carlene, would go on to reach the Top-20 on the Country chart by the spring of 1985 which resulted in larger sales for the album it appeared on, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens.

The album features mostly all comedy and the on the album's cover Ray appears as Napoleon. The title of the album is based on the slang phrase 'he thinks he's Napoleon' but in this case we have Napoleon who thinks he's Ray Stevens. This wasn't the first comical looking album cover from Ray but it was the first in a series of eye catching art work tied into mostly historical imagery. On the back of the album it shows Napoleon Ray being chased by doctors with their intention of returning him to the asylum. As mentioned it's an all comedy album pretty much. One of the highlights of the album, though not released as a single, was his very funny version of the theme song heard on "The Monkees" television series. In the song Ray performs as an Austrian duo, Wolfgang and Fritzi. Elsewhere on the album is "Joggin'"; an ode to a pet dog named "Fred"; a bluesy version of "Furthermore", the original from Ray emerged in the early '60s as a fast-paced narrative; "Erik the Awful" is wonderful and then there's the most satirically clever song on the album, "Happy Hour".

The album was released in the latter half of 1984 coinciding with the rush release of "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" as a single. If you recall I mentioned in Part Twelve that the original debut single from the forthcoming album was "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye" but after MCA went ahead and released the album as scheduled without the benefit of a hit single various disc jockeys took it upon themselves to play the album cut, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", rather than the official single release, "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye". He Thinks He's Ray Stevens would eventually climb all the way up and into the Top-10 on the Country album chart and eventually the album would be certified Platinum for a million in sales. A third single release from the album, "It's Me Again, Margaret", hit in the spring of 1985 backed with "Joggin'" which had originally appeared as the B-side of "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye". "It's Me Again, Margaret", in spite of it's surprisingly low peak position on the Country singles chart, has become one of Ray's most popular recordings...based almost entirely on the natural talents of Ray Stevens and how he delivered the song. It's long become a very memorable performance in Ray's stage shows which helped it become a beloved, integral part of his concerts. It's one of the examples of how Ray is able to have a very popular 'hit' song without it ever becoming some sort of high ranking 'radio hit'. I don't want to get into the weeds of detailing the differences in types of hit songs but there are recordings from artists that become what I refer to as word-of-mouth hits and then there's the recordings from artists that become radio hits.

The success of He Thinks He's Ray Stevens and it's two main singles, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" and "It's Me Again, Margaret", not only enabled Ray to benefit from a newfound marketing plan of country comedy but it increased his demand for personal appearances (concerts) and television. He had been doing television guest appearances at a steady pace since the mid 1970s and had added commercials for Farm Best and later, Flav-O-Rich, to his television exposure but by the early 1980s country music had a new outlet: The Nashville Network. This cable channel launched in 1983 and by 1985 it had become part of everyone's basic cable package. A lot of artists within country music both past and present as well as recording artists marketed country finally had their own national television channel. In year's past the only national exposure for country music artists were on off-network syndicated television programs which aired on the weekends or once a year awards shows such as those from the CMA and  ACM. As you could imagine Ray Stevens was one of the most visible recording artists during the early years of TNN (the famed acronym for The Nashville Network) and it didn't hurt that the nightly television program, Nashville Now, was hosted by one of Ray's longtime friends, Ralph Emery. The exposure that Ray was getting from his increased television appearances in addition to this newfound fame as a country comedian cemented the direction that his career would be taking for the foreseeable future. MCA released "The Haircut Song" in the fall of 1985...nearly a month before the release of Ray's second album for the label, I Have Returned. The novelty song became a hit (reaching the Country Top-50).

The single told the story of how risky it is to get a haircut while on the road...indicating that it's best to have a trusted barber because you'll never know the kind of haircut you'll end up receiving at the hands of a different, untested barber. The single release, for airplay consideration, is shorter than the recording that appears on the album. The album recording is 6 minutes, 11 seconds and the single release is 3 minutes, 59 seconds...might as well say 4 minutes. The single release edits out the visit to the barbershop in Los Angeles. In the full length recording Ray visits a barbershop in Butte, Montana and then a barbershop in Los Angeles and lastly a barbershop in an unidentified area in the Southern United States. The song is based on a stand-up comedy routine from Mike Nuen and with his permission Ray and Buddy Kalb turned the routine into a zany comedy song. Mike is credited as one of the writers due to the 'strange haircut' concept being his but Ray and Buddy actually wrote the song. The B-side is "Punk Country Love" from the pens of Ray Stevens, Buddy Kalb, and his wife, Carlene. After MCA released I Have Returned it mirrored the same kind of slow climb up the Country Album chart as He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. On the cover of the 1985 album Ray is dressed as Douglas MacArthur with his crew behind him depicting a famous image of the real MacArthur wading through the waters during WWII before proclaiming 'I have returned' once he reached the shore. On the back of this album it shows MacArthur (Ray) and his crew on a modern-day beach...visually wondering if they're where they're suppose to be. The album crawled and climbed it's way into the Top-10. Ray made his very first music video in 1985 for his re-recording of "Santa Claus is Watching You". It's not only a re-recording of his early 1960s single but it's nearly an entirely different song altogether. In the original the song it's definitely aimed at children while this 1985 version keeps the song's title and hook lines but the new lyrics reflect a love story where a jealous man warns his wife to remain faithful to him because Santa's watching and she won't get anything for Christmas if she makes his naughty list. MCA released it as a single and it came with a picture sleeve. It's one of Ray's most rarest commercial singles...and finding a copy with it's picture sleeve is even more rare.

In the latter half of 1985 Ray issued "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone" as a single. In fact it was issued as a single about a month after "Santa Claus is Watching You" and so both singles were more or less competing against one another in December of 1985. This very funny story of a couple of buddies that go to the local wrestling matches but end up in a lot of trouble benefited greatly from the resurgence of wrestling on a national level. WrestleMania, a kind of Fan Fair/CMA Music Fest of the wrestling world, began in 1985. The pay-per-view event aired in the spring of 1985...so by the time I Have Returned and "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone" emerged wrestling was one of the top societal interests with millions of fans hooked on the entertainment. Ray's recording, like "It's Me Again, Margaret", had previously been recorded. In Margaret's case the writer of the song, Paul Craft, originally recorded the song in 1974 and charted with it but it was not a very big sensation. The Cyclone had been recorded by one of it's writers, Glen Sutton, in 1978 as a B-side of "The Football Card". Ray's recording of "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone" appears in two parts on the album whereas the single release received major editing for obvious reasons. The single became a chart hit in early 1986...appearing in the Top-30 on the Country Single Sales chart in addition to it's appearance on the main Country Singles chart. The irony is while the single shown sufficient signs of sales and peaked within the Top-30 of Billboard's Country Single Sales chart the airplay didn't match the popularity of the single and so on the main singles chart it peaked outside the Top-40. This wasn't the first nor the last time that a Ray Stevens single became a hit with the public but was not embraced by radio. Ray's comedy album, I Have Returned, continued it's climb up the charts and for the week ending March 15, 1986 it was sitting at number one on the Country Album chart.

This achievement shocked most industry insiders and music critics alike...the idea of a 'comedy album' claiming such a position angered some even though it's sales enabled it to claim that position. It's an illustration of a music industry out of touch with Ray's popularity...a statement like that isn't meant to be an indictment on everyone within the music industry but there are plenty of glaring examples from Ray's career where popularity with record buyers didn't resonate with those in charge of programming radio playlists. The album became Ray's second in a row to receive certification for it's sales. I Have Returned was certified Gold for half a million copies sold. In June of 1986 the fan voted Music City News Country Awards took place. This event, by this time, had taken place annually since the late 1960s and was beginning to receive national exposure thanks to cable TV's expansion. The fan voted awards were the centerpiece of the annual Fan Fair event in Nashville. Ray was nominated and won in the category of Comedian of the Year at the June 1986 awards. He appeared on the cover of Music City News the same year and it was his first win at this awards program and he dominated this Comedian category for nearly a decade. This fan voted awards show soon became a very popular televised event and it allowed Ray to gain even more national exposure to perhaps compensate for the lack of support from radio. Ray's third album for MCA arrived a couple of months after his Comedian of the Year honor...and like the two albums before it...this third album was all-comedy and featured eye catching cover art. I will pick things up in Part Fourteen!

Ray Stevens performs on 1985's Music City, USA...

Hello one and all to the latest fan created blog entry chronicling the legendary Ray Stevens!! In this blog entry I've embedded a 1985 television program called Music City, U.S.A. that ran on The Nashville Network in it's early years. Each episode featured a different host and this time it's Ray Stevens...promoting songs from his then-current album, He Thinks He's Ray Stevens. In the clip above you'll see glimpses of routines and sketches that foreshadowed Ray's future as a comedy music video king. Longtime fans and those that have only discovered his music recently are sure to smile as you watch and listen to Ray perform these songs. Ray has a special guest on this episode...Kathy Twitty...one of Conway's daughters. That's her in the still shot on the video capture.

Ray performs "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Erik the Awful", "Misty", and "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". In the performance of "Erik the Awful" there's a mishap with a prop...but being a pro, Ray smirks at the blooper, laughs a bit, and continues on. To add further hilarity, Ray continues to use the prop in his performance...knowing full well how silly it looks...but that's all part of the fun. After the performance and a bigger laugh as he looked at the band, Ray commented that he does have a serious side...and given that he performed 2 songs from his 1984 LP I assumed he'd perform his bluesy arrangement of "Furthermore" (track 10 on the LP) but he performed "Misty" instead. He closed the program singing "Mississippi Squirrel Revival".

Fast-forwarding from 1985 to 2014...this is the latest upload of Rayality TV...there are some scenes that take place at The Encore retirement home and there's a presentation of the "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off" music video...

Furthermore, I'm a huge fan of Ray Stevens...

Released in 1962, "Furthermore" is a love ballad from Ray Stevens about a break-up and it deals with denial from the man's perspective. The topic can be found on any number of pop and country songs from that era...even today many country and soft-rock songs are built around relationships of some kind or another. The trick, or the object of the game, is to come up with new or clever ways of saying the kinds of feelings that have been expressed in countless love songs for more than 70 years. This particular recording features some vocal effects from Ray as he starts the song off in a falsetto voice which evolves into full-blown scat singing. It's a bit of a tongue twister at the same time...Ray's hyper vocals of running a lot of words together within musical beats was something of a trademark of his during this era of his career. This song is not a comedy song...and it isn't a novelty song, neither. It's a genuine love ballad with a unique twist in delivery. The song appeared on Ray's debut album for Mercury Records in 1962, 1837 Seconds of Humor. The album's biggest draw for those familiar with Ray was, of course, "Ahab the Arab" and a full-length depiction of Ahab on his camel, Clyde, was illustrated on the front of the album. Due to the album rightfully showing awareness of that particular single I decided to post an image of the actual "Furthermore" single from 1962. The single reached the Hot 100 but it didn't reach the radio-oriented Top-40. It's B-side is a comical song titled "Saturday Night at the Movies".

"Furthermore" got an update with a new arrangement and some additional lyrics in 1984 (with some of the original lyrics taken out). This updated version debuted on He Thinks He's Ray Stevens, the 1984 comedy album Ray Stevens released on MCA Records. The album would eventually be certified Gold and Platinum. In this re-recording Ray removes the hyper-speech and replaces the early '60s pop/teen-idol sound with a more matured vocal delivery with heavy emphasis on blues...complete with a lonesome sounding harmonica in the background. Given that this bluesy, serious song closes out one of Ray's most popular comedy albums it's hard to tell if some people out there mistake the song as something that's meant to be funny. I remember when I was around the age of 10 or 11 in the mid 1980's and was just getting familiar with the songs of Ray Stevens (by way of my grandparents) and they'd play the cassette tape of He Thinks He's Ray Stevens a lot...whenever it got to the last song and that harmonica would start playing I'd get upset because it meant that it was the last song on the tape...and I wanted to hear more and more and more of Ray Stevens!!