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: Upcoming April CabaRay concerts...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I'm a week late in promoting the April concerts at the CabaRay. I've been busy offline and have only been able to be online for a few visits each day to some social media sites and to check my e-mail. The April concerts began last week. Ray will be in concert at his CabaRay showroom six additional times this month. He'll be doing two concerts per week: April 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th, 25th, and 27th. As most of you know this is Ray's final season of concerts at his showroom and if you haven't visited the CabaRay and experienced what I call Ray Stevens World then you should make plans to attend a concert this year. You can find out all about the showroom and everything else when you click this LINK. 

We're at the half year point with Ray's comedy song/music video, "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene". Ray uploaded the music video to his YouTube and Facebook pages whereas Curb Records uploaded the audio track to various streaming music platforms. The publicity photo doesn't accompany the single since there actually isn't a physical CD single. The song is available as a digital download and can be viewed as a music video, too. The photo is simply used for publicity and as a reaction to the song's title. The video debuted on YouTube on October 5, 2023. The unique views that it's received in the last 6 months puts it at 606,793. The song is very funny and it's delivered in Ray's characteristic lighthearted fashion. As is the case with other Ray Stevens recordings that tackle something topical and in the news he delivers the performance from a common man's perspective. The lyrics in the topical comedy songs that he's recorded, off and on, since 2009 are rarely heavy handed. The idea behind delivering a soft touch is to basically get your point across without pounding somebody over the head about it. I don't know if Ray has performed this song in concert...one would think that he would...so if anybody out there has went to a Ray Stevens concert at the CabaRay recently or plans to go let us know if he performs "Since Bubba Changed His Name to Charlene".

Ray Stevens: Latest Media Information...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Over the course of the last several days there had been several new articles posted online focusing on the upcoming final concert season at the CabaRay showroom. The 2024 season gets underway next month...exactly one month from today. The first concert of the season is scheduled to happen on March 16, 2024. Now, in case you've been following his social media, then you're aware that Ray opened the CabaRay for a special Valentine's Day concert a couple of days ago. It was a one night event and, as previously mentioned, the full 2024 concert season gets underway on March 16th. Ray will perform at the CabaRay on Thursday and Saturday nights. The Thursday concerts are scattered throughout the season but the Saturday concerts will be an every week thing. There are some Thursday events at the CabaRay that center around The Indie Country Showdown. So, once you visit Ray's main CabaRay webpage and search for concert dates make sure the selection is for the Ray Stevens concert. I say that because I figure most of you are going to want to show up for a concert from Ray...but, if you prefer to show up for one of the Thursday nights that The Indie Country Showdown will be taking place you're perfectly free to make the choice. You can read all about the 2024 season of concerts by clicking HERE. 

In case you're wondering there isn't a CD single of "If Jesus Is a Stranger". This song and a couple of other releases have been appearing on various digital music sites with an accompanying photo. The photo's are used for publicity/promotional purposes only...there isn't a physical copy of a CD single.

The CabaRay final season was the subject of a story on local Nashville television station, WTVF, Channel 5. Well, at first, a transcript/printed copy of the report appeared online and then the televised report shown up on YouTube. I'm not going to provide a link to the TV station's webpage. I realize that with so many fans out there having various operating systems bringing them their online content that the TV station's webpage may react differently depending on what device a fan uses. So, then, I'm going to provide a link to the YouTube video. I'm including a link due to the fact that a lot of us like to see Ray on camera talking, or, listening to his voice on a radio program as he's being interviewed. The video is three minutes in length. The TV station doesn't allow embedded video content to be shared and so I'm going to provide a link.. click HERE. The link should take you to the YouTube video but just in case it doesn't you can always Google the phrase 'Ray Stevens + WTVF' and among the search results will be the recent video clip, as of this writing.

Ray Stevens: Music Country at 50

Earlier in the year I highlighted the 50th anniversary of Ray's 1973 album, Nashville. Off to the right is a cassette copy showing the record company, Barnaby, and the distributor, MGM, on the cover. When writing that blog entry I don't recall if I made mention of Ray's appearance on the summer replacement show of Dean Martin. The summer show, Dean Martin Presents Music Country, ran during the summer of 1973. Online data indicates that Ray appeared on this show in July 1973...and there's a magazine advertisement that was circulated at the time promoting Ray's upcoming appearance. The ad promoted not only the upcoming television appearance but also promoted the fact that Ray would be singing his current single, "Nashville". Dean's summer show aired on NBC-TV. Now, as we're several weeks away from 2023 turning to 2024, a question forms in my mind: is there any footage of Ray's performance of "Nashville" from Dean Martin's summer show? When you look up information about the July 1973 episodes of that particular series you don't get too much information beyond what seems to be a randomly selected list of guest stars. If I recall correctly the magazine advertisement stated something along the lines of: "Stop! Look! Listen...to Ray Stevens as he sings his new hit, Nashville, on Dean Martin Presents Music Country on NBC-TV". Now, that's going from memory, I'm sure it's not word for word accurate. I've touched on this several times over the years that I've had this fan created blog page up and running and it's the lack of Ray Stevens footage on video hosting sites. I should be more specific, though. The lack of footage from variety shows that we, as fans, know that he guest starred on in his career. Ray's official social media pages has a lot of footage, obviously, but even their library of appearances isn't complete. 

Now, not counting the footage from the 1973 Dean Martin summer show, there are dozens of television appearances from everything from Hee Haw and Pop! Goes the Country to telecasts of the Music City News Awards, Crook and Chase, Nashville Now, and locally produced television programs that still haven't become available online. There is a 1991 episode of Nashville Now, for example, that Ray guest hosted but it has never surfaced on the internet...not even a clip or two, let alone the full episode. Am I impatient? Do I feel ungrateful for the things that are online? No, I'm thrilled and grateful for what's out there on the internet at the moment, I'm just impatient. 

I'm a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens that yearns to see more and more footage. 

Ray Stevens: Upcoming November CabaRay concerts...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Due to my off-line activities I had been too busy to concentrate/focus on writing blog entries on a consistent basis this month due to extended time being spent where I work. We had a couple of weeks of mandatory overtime which left me with little time for some of my online activity such as writing content for this blog. Since we're nearing the end of October it's time to look ahead at the upcoming November concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom in west Nashville. Ray will be performing 5 concerts next month according to the calendar over there. The concerts will take place on November 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th, and the 29th. The 2023 CabaRay Christmas concert season at the CabaRay will take place beginning the 25th of November and running through the month of December will have a Christmas overtone. My guess is that Ray will begin to heavily promote any Christmas-related activities after Thanksgiving given that the first Christmas themed concert will take place the Saturday following Thanksgiving (November 25th). You can visit the CabaRay main page when you click HERE. 

Ray Stevens: Audio Diary 2

If you've read my previous blog entry I was debating with myself as to what to call this series of blog posts where I spotlight an audio track from a random Ray Stevens album. I've decided to go with the blog title Audio Diary, for now, until I come up with something different at some point. The inspiration for this series of blog posts stems from the abundance of online music sites that provide all kinds of songs and albums by Ray Stevens. I was mainly focusing on YouTube and Spotify since those two sites are the ones I frequent the most whenever I listen to Ray's songs. The audio track today is "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right" from his 1978 album, Be Your Own Best Friend. The smooth love ballad comes from the pen of Ray Stevens and like most of his Warner Brothers recordings it was out of print for nearly two decades until 1995 when, out of the blue, Warner Brothers issued three compilation albums of Ray's recordings for the label. Those compilations are titled Cornball, The Serious Side of Ray Stevens, and Do You Wanna Dance?. The cover photos come from an international publication of artwork. Ray's photo, depending on if you have cassette or CD copies, is either found in the inside fold out cover or on the back of the CD. To date, those 1995 compilation releases are the only showcase for his Warner Brothers recordings...the actual studio albums from the mid to late 1970's have yet to get a digital download release or even a compact disc re-issue. Here's the LINK to the audio track "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right". When you're browsing eBay or some other online store this is the album featuring the audio track spotlight, "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right"...the vinyl album titled Be Your Own Best Friend. 

1978

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: "Nashville" is Golden

Hello Ray Stevens fans! Earlier this year I wrote a blog entry spotlighting the 50th anniversary of the 1973 album, Losin' Streak. Those of you familiar with Ray's career probably know that he released two albums in 1973. Losin' Streak arrived in the second half of the year whereas in the first half he gave us, Nashville. The Nashville album wasn't as big of a surprise if you happened to have been a long time fan of Ray when the album was released or had seen him in concert. Ray had been living in Nashville since 1962 and was well known up and down Music Row. He was an active session musician throughout the bulk of the 1960s and had formed long lasting friendships with record producers and musicians throughout Nashville as well as in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. His most publicized friendship was with RCA's Chet Atkins but Ray was also a friend to several other record producers/music executives including Ken Nelson (Prep/Capitol Records), Shelby Singleton (Mercury Records), Fred Foster (Monument Records), Jerry Kennedy (Mercury Records), and of course Bill Lowery, the man largely responsible for Ray getting into the recording industry in Georgia back in the late 1950s. Those people along with Andy Williams, Ralph Emery, Mike Sheppard, and scores of people behind the scenes that most of us may never know about were vital to the career of Ray Stevens. Ray, given his position in the music industry, also personally knew a whole host of other record producers and executives that had little to do with his own career but nevertheless the music industry back then guaranteed that singer-songwriter-musicians-publishers, such as Ray Stevens, would run into all types of movers and shakers in Music City. 

Ray's session musician workload began to diminish by 1970 and in several interviews Ray makes it clear that it was his own decision to decrease both the session work and his music arranging for other recording artists because his own career demanded more of his time and attention. 

In 1973 Ray opened up his first recording studio...and Nashville holds the distinction of being the first Ray Stevens studio album to be recorded at a studio he owned. It was called The Ray Stevens Sound Laboratory. Now, just so you won't be confused, that was a name that he used, professionally, for his first recording studio and then when he opened up his second studio the following year he kept that name. He used that studio title on up into the late 1970s. His 1977 studio album, Feel the Music, was the last one that credited the recording studio as The Ray Stevens Sound Laboratory. The albums released beginning in 1978 onward credited it as The Ray Stevens Studio. 

The Nashville album came at a time when country music and pop music, to some people's ears, couldn't be distinguished from one another. Now, if you go back and listen to 1973 country and 1973 pop you can clearly tell the difference...but not in the ears of some. The pop influence in country eventually led to the creation of a syndicated TV series, Pop! Goes the Country. Ray had been charting pop and Adult-Contemporary, on and off, since 1961...but in 1969 one of his singles, "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", crossed over to the country chart and this was followed by another appearance on the country chart with "Have a Little Talk With Myself". Then, later in 1970, his mega number one hit, "Everything is Beautiful", reached the country Top-40...and then in 1971 he hit the country charts with his gospel single, "Turn Your Radio On". He made his debut as a guest on the country music show, Hee Haw, in 1972...appearing on the show twice that year. I meticulously make mention of all of these things to reinforce my earlier comment that 'pop singer' Ray Stevens releasing Nashville in 1973 wasn't as big of a surprise as it may have seemed. 

He had been selling music/albums to country audiences and had wide appeal within the umbrella of country music even though, as far as country radio was concerned, his appeal with country audiences fell on deaf ears to them most of the time. No one will convince me that Ray Stevens wasn't attracting country fans during the hey-day of his 'pop' stardom in the early and mid 1970s...his appearances on numerous country music television programs of that era attest to his familiarity with the country audience. As far as chart statistics are concerned I blame country radio for not supporting his music as much as they could have or should have. They supported "Nashville", the single, and it made it's way into the country Top-40. What a recording artist needed was the sales support of the public combined with the airplay support of radio disc jockeys and, later on, radio consultants and radio programmers. Ray almost always had the public support...if you gauge the chart activity on numerous singles he released they'd rise up almost near the Top-50 or Top-40 but with the lack of airplay support the single releases would just die mid-level and not reach the airplay-driven Top-40 portion of the singles chart. 

The music on Nashville is not traditional country music nor is it 'pop music'...it is Ray Stevens music. There are 11 tracks on the album and because the overall album is meant to be influenced by country music you're going to hear some steel guitar on a couple of the songs...

1. Nashville

2. Love Me Longer

3. Float (instrumental)

4. Golden Age

5. Never Ending Song of Love

6. Nobody's Fool

7. Undivided Attention

8. You've Got the Music Inside

9. Fish Eat Sleep

10. Piece By Piece

11. Destroyed

The album is available to listen to on YouTube. The playlist can be accessed when you click this LINK. I'm embedding one of the audio tracks below because I want it to get a bit more spotlight here and that track is his rendition of "Never Ending Song of Love". His take on the song is quite a take! 

Ray Stevens: This album is a gem...a Pearl to be specific...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! The products that were released in 1993 have reached their Pearl anniversary. It's what the 30th anniversary is called and so that's why I title this particular blog entry the way I have. This blog post will focus on the 1993 comedy album, Classic Ray Stevens. It's not necessarily an album review but more of a short synopsis prior to my link to the YouTube playlist.

As mentioned this comedy album from Ray Stevens was released in 1993. This was an incredibly busy year for Ray, but to be more specific, it turned out to be his final season in Branson, Missouri for awhile. He had his theater built down in Branson and open for business by the 1991 tourist season. I don't know off the top of my head if he began construction in the latter half of 1990 or if construction began early in 1991...but I do know his first season of concerts at his theater occurred in 1991. The Branson experience was something phenomenal for Ray. In later interviews when he looked back on that early 1990's run in Branson he said that the very thing that lured a lot of his peers in the music industry to flock to Branson was the very thing that caused him to ultimately decide to leave and return to Nashville on a full-time basis in 1994. Ray remarked that his routine zapped a lot of energy out of him (two concerts a day, six days a week, 6 to 7 months a year). He gave a lot of praise to those that built theaters down there and were still performing or headlining there decades later...but it's something he couldn't keep doing. Branson had a lot of theaters but there weren't a lot, or any, recording studios...there wasn't the ability to jump in the car and be at the recording studio in a moments notice and given Ray's close ties with the backstage element of the music industry one could understand his need to want to get back home to Nashville on a permanent basis...and following the 1993 concert season he put his Branson theater up for sale. There wasn't an immediate buyer but he did lease it to the company that put on the Country Tonite production...and they 'rented' the Ray Stevens Theater for the next 10 years. 

In 1993, while all of that was going on in Branson, Ray released a series of projects. There were two VHS tapes and this Classic Ray Stevens comedy album. The two VHS tapes were Ray Stevens Live! and More Ray Stevens Live!. The latter VHS was sold only at his Branson gift shop and through his fan club. Ray Stevens Live! was sold over television and in print advertisements. Curb Records released Classic Ray Stevens and they would distribute the 1993 VHS tape to retail stores in 1994. The comedy album was brand new despite the album's title. If you weren't much of a fan you'd probably think this was a compilation album given it's title...and believe it or not some 'critics' thought it was a compilation album when they reviewed it. I recall a critic remarking that "there's no Ray Stevens classics on here.. there's no Gitarzan, there's no Streak...a misleading title". However, the album's title is a reference to the cover art...not the track list. On the cover we have a bust of Ray Stevens in a classical music setting. The sheet music, if you have the album and a magnifying glass handy, reads 'Concerto for Cornball'.

The album contains 10 comedy songs...well, 9 comedy songs and a sort of whimsical love ballad titled "Meanwhile". The track list is below:

1. If Ten Percent Is Good Enough for Jesus

2. The Higher Education of Ole Blue

3. The Bricklayer's Song

4. Little League

5. Meanwhile

6. Super Cop

7. If You and Yo' Folks Like Me and My Folks

8. The All-American Two Week Summer Family Vacation

9. The Ballad of Jake McClusky

10. The Motel Song

You can listen to the album on YouTube when you click the playlist link HERE.

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

Well, hello there fans of Ray Stevens!! This is my second installment of the CabaRay Nashville bundle series. A couple months ago I posted a blog entry containing links to 7 episodes of CabaRay Nashville and in this blog entry I'm picking up where I left off. I decided to do this a couple of months ago because I found myself re-reviewing episodes of Ray's show that I had previously reviewed. So, rather than re-review, I decided to package a collection of episodes together in a blog entry. The episodes make their YouTube debut every Friday evening. Believe it or not but there are thousands of Ray Stevens fans that had never seen CabaRay Nashville until they started being uploaded on YouTube. The reasons for their not having seen it are varied. The main reason is some of his fans never received the RFD-TV channel when episodes of the show were originally airing there. Then, later on, when the series moved to local PBS syndication, a lot of fans didn't have any local PBS affiliates in their area carrying Ray's show...and so, once the episodes began debuting once a week on YouTube, it eliminated the complaint from his fans that they weren't able to see the show. So, now, the fans that missed out can watch each episode on YouTube. Oh yes, before you can ask, in case you miss an episode's YouTube debut you can always visit Ray's YouTube channel and look up the episode/guest star and watch it on demand. It's a fun, engaging show that every Ray Stevens fan should get a kick out of and enjoy tremendously. 

DUANE EDDY: S-3, E-11 

ANGALEENA PRESLEY: S-3, E-12 

RIDERS IN THE SKY: S-3, E-13 

REX ALLEN, JR: S-4, E-1 

LARI WHITE: S-4, E-2 

CHARLEY PRIDE: S-4, E-3 

JANIE FRICKE: S-4, E-4 

There you have it...each link will open up to the episode of CabaRay Nashville guest starring whatever recording artist is listed. As you can see, a couple of the episodes feature some recording artists that have since passed away. Although I do believe Charley Pride appeared a few more times on television following his guest appearance on Ray's show I assume this to be the final appearance on television by Lari White...but don't quote me on that.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay concerts return in 2 weeks

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Well, we're getting more and more close to the CabaRay showroom opening for the 2023 concert season. A couple of days ago Ray uploaded a video tour of the showroom. The video was filmed in the early days of the CabaRay when he used a white piano on stage (he's long since returned to the red piano he popularized in Branson, Missouri in the 1990s) but the video works so well as a publicity piece that it was uploaded onto his Facebook page a few days ago. The Facebook upload is titled 'Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom Explanation' whereas the other video is titled 'Ray Stevens CabaRay tour'. In each video clip Ray shows the interior of the showroom and speaks of it's inspiration and the reasons it was built.  

I'm sure a lot of Ray's fans that had, for years, wondered if he'd put on concerts again have long since become aware of the CabaRay. It's west of Nashville in an area called Bellevue. It had it's grand opening in 2018 and so it's been part of that region for 5 years. If you're familiar with the region then you'll probably know exactly where the showroom is. When you're on the highway near the showroom's location you're going to be able to see it from your vehicle...as it sits on top of a hill...and if you're driving in the area, especially after sunset, the big red letters of the CabaRay are lit up so bright that it's impossible not to see it. Once you get onto the road where the showroom is you'll see more detail such as the marquee sign that shows the time of the concerts each Saturday. 

The showroom doors open at 5:30pm and the concert begins at 7:30pm. There's a piano bar which is where a lot of the fans gather prior to the concert. There is also a gift shop and there are all kinds of paintings and illustrations hanging on the walls that fans can look at as they await the main floor to open. The main floor is where fans who purchased floor level seats sit at, of course, but at the CabaRay it doubles as the area where the pre-ordered dinner is served. Yes, in case this showroom is brand new to you and you're reading about it for the first time, the CabaRay serves an optional dinner, now, a policy that began a couple of seasons ago. The dinner is no longer automatically included with the price of floor level seating as it had been in the first couple of seasons (2018, 2019). 

If you're wanting a fine dining-type of dinner prior to the concert you can elect to add the dinner price to your concert ticket. Some fans, I strongly assume, wanted the opportunity to sit on the main floor without having to include a dinner and so a couple of seasons ago Ray came up with the idea to have the dinner optional. There are balcony seats...and in the history of the CabaRay no dinner has never been served up there, for obvious reasons, but the staff do provide beverages for fans who like to sit up in the balcony. It's theater style seating in the balcony...there's no room for plates, utensils, food, and all that comes with a dinner when you're sitting in a seat up in a balcony. The 2023 concert season at the CabaRay begins on March 11th...just 2 weeks from today! All the information can be found when you click HERE. 

Here's a video tour of the showroom. Ray explains the red leather booths and discusses the record producers who are immortalized on the walls. 

Ray Stevens: The 2022 CabaRay season nearing it's end...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! As we're nearing calendar transition, going from 2022 to 2023 this coming weekend, it feels now's the right time to remind you all that the last two concerts of the 2022 season at the CabaRay showroom will take place this coming Thursday and Friday. The dates, specifically, are December 29th and December 30th. There will not be a New Year's Eve concert this year. This is Ray's fourth concert season at his showroom. Ray began performing concerts at the showroom in 2018. If it weren't for the pandemic Ray could've been coming off his 5th full season of concerts but CabaRay performances in both the 2020 and half-way through the 2021 seasons were almost non-existent. So, it is what it is, Ray is instead coming off 3 full seasons (2018, 2019, 2022) of CabaRay concerts this week. In September 2021 Ray re-opened the CabaRay.. normally, the concert season would've kicked off in March...but in 2021 the CabaRay re-opened in the fall and he performed concerts weekly over the next 4 months. So, technically, Ray's performed at his showroom 3 full seasons (2018, 2019, 2022) and 4 months in all of 2021. Ray usually keeps the Christmas decorations up until the final concert of the season but I don't think there will be Christmas songs performed during the final two concerts of the year, however. Those wanting to attend the final two concerts of the season at the CabaRay showroom can purchase your tickets here. I realize that if you live multiple states away chances are you're probably going to want to purchase tickets in person rather than have them arrive in the mail. They offer a Will Call service...you'll purchase tickets on their webpage and they'll hold them for you. When you arrive at the CabaRay have the proper paperwork/confirmation number handy and you'll be given the tickets you purchased. I would suggest you call the showroom, though, and get the specifics of the Will Call service. I used that service when I attended a concert there in 2018. You can purchase tickets or find their phone number when you click this LINK. 

Ray Stevens: Upcoming November CabaRay concerts...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! As we near the first of November it's time to look at the upcoming concerts at the CabaRay showroom in West Nashville. This month marks the expansion to an additional Thursday night concert in addition to the regular Saturday evening concert. There will be 7 concerts taking place at the CabaRay in the month of November. The concert dates are as follows: November 3rd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 17th, 19th, and the 26th. Now, of course, there won't be a concert scheduled for November 24th since that's Thanksgiving Day. 

It's hard to believe that 2022 is nearing it's end as well. Starting tomorrow there's just 2 full months left. Just in case you've never been to the CabaRay you'll be in for an experience. The Piano Bar is the first thing to open. It opens it's doors at 5pm and the pianist is John Jonethis. The gift shop usually opens half an hour prior to the concert and then it'll be open after the concert until closing time. The Piano Bar is open from 5pm until Ray's concert time. This means that if you purchased show-only concert tickets (without a dinner) you can choose to sit in the Piano Bar until a little bit before concert time. 

Those who purchased a dinner with their concert will be able to take their seats beginning an hour before the concert. Having said that, if you purchased concert-only tickets, you can still enter the concert area and find your seats while dinner is being served to those that purchased dinner and concert tickets. 

After the concert the Piano Bar re-opens and remains open until closing time. It's been largely reported that Ray makes an appearance inside the Piano Bar after the concerts to take photos and sign autographs or to play duets on the piano with John Jonethis...so make sure to hang around in the Piano Bar after the concert and see if Ray makes an appearance. Ray Stevens CabaRay concert tickets can be purchased by clicking this LINK. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-9, S-2

In this episode of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville the special guest happens to be Bill Anderson. This is one of the episodes featuring a contemporary of Ray...usually the guests are from a generation or two below Ray...but in Bill Anderson we have a performer with as much longevity in the music business as Ray Stevens. Ray opens the show singing "I'll Be Walking the Dog", one of the most upbeat songs detailing a failed relationship that you're probably likely to ever hear. It's from his 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. Ray plays the part of a spouse on the other end of an argument but rather than waste time bickering he simply says he'll be out walking the dog. 

Ray introduces Bill Anderson and they speak about their upbringing in Georgia. Ray was born in Clarkdale, Georgia and his family eventually moved to Albany, Georgia. Bill happened to have been born in Columbia, South Carolina but was raised in Georgia...and throughout his life he's identified Georgia as his adopted home state...and he's known as a performer from Georgia in spite of his birth being elsewhere. Ray and Bill are both members of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. The two are also members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Country Music Hall of Fame. Like Ray, Bill was also on local radio prior to his success in the music industry. Bill was born November 1, 1937 whereas Ray was born January 24, 1939. Bill's nickname is Whispering Bill due to his soft-spoken voice and the abundance of narration in a lot of his songs...delivered his hushed, whispered tones. Bill brings up Ray's 1957 love ballad, "Silver Bracelet", and how it was a monster hit...but Ray quickly interjects that it was only a hit in Atlanta and nowhere else. Bill teases Ray about the clamoring of excited screaming girls at each concert stop exclaiming "woooo-weee... Ray Stevens!! Ray Stevens!!". 

Bill mentions that he's read Ray's memoir and it took him 3 days to read it. Ray remarks that Bill must be a slow reader...a reference to the fact that Ray's memoir has universally been referred to by fans in online book reviews as a fast read. Ray's memoir is titled Ray Stevens' Nashville. 

Not mentioned in the episode is Bill's telegenic presence, something of which Ray also possesses, a natural talent that enables a person to look like they're a natural for television. Throughout the early and into the middle part of his career Bill was a fixture on television. He hosted his own syndicated television series, The Bill Anderson Show, for 9 years (1966-1975) and in the next decade he hosted the cable television game show, Fandango, on The Nashville Network for 6 years (1983-1989). In between those two programs was a game show called "The Better Sex" which aired on ABC from July 1977 until January 1978. Bill was a co-host with Sarah Purcell. In this time period he also made appearances as a panelist on other nationally aired game shows. Bill was also a fixture on the various Grand Ole Opry backstage episodes as a rotating host. Bill sings one of his signature songs, "Still". Bill joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1961 and he remains one of the most popular Opry members to this day...regularly appearing as a performer/emcee of various half hour segments.  

Bill's second song of the episode is "Old Army Hat". Bill discusses with Ray how a Grammer guitar of his (designed by singer/guitarist, Billy Grammer) had been lost for 50 years until one day it was discovered in a pawn shop and returned to him. In 2018 Bill was inducted into the National Songwriters Hall of Fame. That particular Hall isn't genre-specific...songwriters from all types of music have been recognized/honored by that organization.  

Ray closes the show singing "The Higher Education of Ole Blue", a song from his 1993 comedy album, Classic Ray Stevens.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-7, S-2

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! I'm several days late posting an overview of the latest YouTube upload of CabaRay Nashville but here I am writing it. I've been debating whether or not to continue with the overviews beyond this second season. Why am I having such an internal debate? Well, for those that are familiar with this fan created blog, you'll know that I've previously written re-caps of Ray's syndicated television series and when I set out doing the overviews, as I call them, when the episodes began airing weekly on Ray's YouTube channel I didn't want to get into a habit of just re-writing what I previously wrote. Also, it might become confusing if somebody comes across this blog, searches the archives, and finds two blog entries centering around the same episode. 

The episode that aired this past Friday evening on YouTube is Episode 7 of Season 2. The special guest happened to be Collin Raye. The opening performance from Ray, "Hearts Made of Stone", comes from his 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. The studio recording of the song features an echo in an effort to give it a '50s rock and roll feel. In this performance the music is still arranged in that time frame but the echo effect is absent. In the television performance the harmony singers do the harmony which Ray did himself, through overdubbing, on the 2015 recording. Also, in the studio recording there's a fiddle and dobro featured prominently. In the television performance there's a dobro and saxophone featured heavily. The original recording of "Hearts Made of Stone" was by The Charms in 1954. 

Ray introduces the audience to Collin Raye who tells of the time he saw Ray in concert at the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri. Ray brings up Collin's charity work and Collin talks about various fundraisers and charity events that help raise money for people to receive electric wheelchairs. Collin sings "My Kind of Girl". In the interview portion prior to the performance Collin also remarked how much he liked Ray's songs. Collin was a staple of country radio in the 1990s. His debut recording, "All I Can Be is a Sweet Memory", was a hit but it was followed up with a ballad called "Love, Me". In this episode Collin mentioned that "Love, Me" was his first hit...and I guess if you're considering a higher chart placement to determine if something is a 'hit' then technically he's correct. His debut recording reached the country Top-30 but "Love, Me" hit number one. That single was the first of 14 consecutive Top-10 hits for Collin Raye. Collin sang "Love, Me" on this episode of CabaRay Nashville and Ray played the piano. 

Ray closed the episode singing "Yakety Yak". The performance was preceded by an introduction from Don Cusic, the show's 'Professor of Music', giving a history of the song. The song was originally a huge rhythm and blues hit for The Coasters. Ray recorded a version of the song in 1969 and re-recorded the song for his 2012 9-CD box set, Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. 

Ray Stevens: Upcoming October CabaRay Concerts

Well, hello, fans of Ray Stevens!! Ray kicked off the month of October concerts at the CabaRay showroom last night. You will have 6 more concert dates this month to catch the legendary Country Music Hall of Fame member in action. This is also the month that Ray expands to additional Thursday night concerts. The Saturday evening concerts are: October 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. He'll be in concert twice on a Thursday evening.. the first Thursday concert is October 13th and the second Thursday concert is October 27th. 

I'm sure you're all familiar by now with this publicity photo. It's Ray Stevens standing in the parking lot of the CabaRay. This photo originated in the weeks leading up to it's grand opening in 2018. It's in it's third full season of concerts (2018, 2019, 2022) after having had to close it's doors in 2020 and most of the first half of 2021 due to Tennessee laws regarding the pandemic. This season of concerts will wrap up on New Year's Eve and as of this writing it looks as if the annual show will return. New Year's Eve, last year, the concert was canceled due to Ray's wife battling an illness that she passed away from just hours before 2022 arrived at Midnight. When you visit the CabaRay website, located HERE, you can jump ahead to the month of November...there's several more Thursday evening concerts on the schedule. If any of you live in the area that receives the PBS affiliate, KET2, one of the sub-channels of KET (Kentucky Educational Television), you may have noticed that Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville is no longer on their schedule. It had been airing every Saturday night on KET2 since the latter half of 2018 (if my memory serves me correctly) but a couple of weeks ago it was removed from the line-up. The last day KET2 aired the show was September 12th. It was the episode guest starring Lari White. 

Ray's PBS series, roughly 20 weeks ago, began appearing on his YouTube channel. Each Friday evening an episode from the series makes it's debut on YouTube. These are full length episodes...they're not clips. This past Friday episode 6, season 2 was uploaded. That episode guest stars The Gatlin Brothers. I'll be writing a blog entry about that episode soon. Don't forget to click the link that I posted to check out the upcoming concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom!

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. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-10, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Last night Episode 10, Season 1 of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville made it's debut on YouTube. The guests are Tanya Tucker and T.G. Sheppard. In this episode Ray opened the show singing "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me". This novelty song is from Ray's 2015 album, Here We Go Again!. If you ever wondered why the show's announcer, Bill Cody, often uses the expression, here we go again, it's used as a tie-in to Ray's 2015 comedy album. The 2015 album was the first Ray Stevens comedy album in 4 years. In 2012 he put out a 9-CD box set called The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. That box set features Ray's versions of novelty and comedy songs of the past, including re-recordings of some of his own songs, for the 9-CD collection. Some of the novelty songs Ray recorded for the box set go back to the 1930s. In most episodes of CabaRay Nashville you'll see the box set spotlighted by Don Cusic, wearing a graduates gown. 

Following the opening number there's a brief snippet from Ray's 1992 VHS, Amazing Rolling Revue. Ray then introduces Tanya Tucker and the two of them discuss "Delta Dawn". Ray includes a brief parody of the song that he says he learned from George Lindsey. Ray and Tanya discuss dogs and they relate a story about the time Tanya got him a schnauzer as a surprise. He says he was asked if he was a dog owner...and he said he wasn't...then he was asked if he had a dog what would he pick. Ray said he blurted out the first type of dog that entered his mind, schnauzer. Ray and Tanya sing "Old Dog". This song, in solo form by Ray, would later appear on his current comedy album, Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore. However, at the time of this episode's taping, it hadn't appeared on any Ray Stevens album.

Tanya sings "Strong Enough to Bend" and her portion of the show concludes. Ray then brings out T.G. Sheppard. He sings "I Loved 'Em, Everyone". I've always been under the impression that more footage of T.G. exists but it hasn't been seen. When you see the episode you'll probably have the same conclusion as I do. Ray talks about T.G. being a public relations guy which leads to a story from T.G. about how he was encouraged and advised by Waylon Jennings to make the change and become a singer. Ray mentions of an upcoming duet album that T.G. will be releasing. Ray closes the show singing "Along Came Jones"...it's history is briefly recounted by music professor, Don Cusic, as one of the songs Ray Stevens recorded in 1969 and was re-recorded for 2012's The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music.       

Ray Stevens: CabaRay concerts Postponed until July...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! It's with sad news that I report that the CabaRay concerts scheduled this month and the first Saturday in July have been cancelled/postponed. In a social media post with a time stamp of 4:24pm Eastern time (an hour ago) the announcement was made that Ray Stevens has lost his voice and was advised to rest it for nearly a month. Now, as you could imagine, this news was a shocker to all of us fans. I left my own message on his Facebook page. My message to Ray and those who work on his social media pages: Oh wow.. that's sad to hear. It's something that I didn't think could ever happen especially given how active Ray is with his voice.. it usually, but not always, but it usually happens with singers that slow their pace as they get older and don't sing as much and they find that they've lost their voice but Ray puts on such a full throated show each time, and in his recordings, that I didn't think he'd ever face such an issue.. Hopefully it's something very temporary.

Ray's Facebook message didn't detail whether he has literally lost his ability to talk/sing or if he's dealing with some sort of vocal chord issue that makes it difficult to talk/sing. The message left on his Facebook page, a message which has gotten more than 400 reactions and over 100 comments within the last hour, is being pasted here, quote:

"Ray Stevens has fortunately been able to avoid the COVID Virus, but he couldn’t avoid another kind of viral bug that has temporarily taken away his voice. To make sure no permanent damage is done he has been advised to cancel Shows through July 2nd in order to rest his voice and give it a chance to completely recover with no lasting damage. So sorry to report that the CabaRay Shows will be temporarily cancelled until July 9, 2022."

Ray Stevens: An Evening's Escape to the CabaRay...

We're here on another Saturday and in a few hours from now Ray Stevens will take the place at his CabaRay showroom for another concert. If you find yourself nearby and want to see Ray in concert and check out the interior of the showroom, and stop by the Piano Bar and his gift shop then make your plans to visit the CabaRay in person. Fans of Ray Stevens flock to the showroom as do a general public who know that Ray puts on a one of a kind show. It's an intimate setting but spacious enough to where you don't feel as if you're sitting on top of the next person. The interior of the showroom is something to behold...tables and booths make up the floor level seating while in the balcony there's theater style seating. Why are there tables and booths you may be asking? In case you're new to the CabaRay it can also be described as a dinner theater. You'll be able to order a main dish with a choice of beverage (pop, water, or CabaRay brand wine) and a salad. So, as to not confuse anyone, it's not a place where you can order fast food. While there don't be looking for hamburgers, french fries, pizza, cheese sticks, etc. on the menu because you won't find it...it's like a fine dining atmosphere and you'll be served a Gourmet-style dinner of your choice. Actually, to be more specific, once you order your concert tickets you'll be able to select the dinner option of your choice. You can also choose to purchase concert tickets only or purchase the dinner and a concert option. 

What generally happens is once you order your concert tickets and select a dinner option you'll be given a special confirmation number. When you enter the CabaRay and find your table a waitress or waiter will arrive and you'll be informed your dinner is on the way. The table being reserved ahead of time when you purchase your concert tickets will inform the staff to begin preparing/cooking the food you ordered once they see you've arrived. 

Much more information about the dining aspect of the CabaRay can be viewed HERE. There are two photo's of the showroom featured in that link. The first picture is how the current configuration of the showroom looks...featuring Ray's red piano. The second picture is a publicity photo of the showroom in it's earliest configuration with a white piano and the tables further away from the stage. When you get to the showroom it'll look more like the first picture in that link. When my brother and I attended a concert there in 2018 we sat at one of the tables right next to the stage. This coming Thursday, April 21st, Ray will begin performing an additional concert at the CabaRay. It means that beginning April 21st and for the remainder of the year Ray will be performing two concerts a week at the CabaRay (Thursday and Saturday). In addition to the previous link you should also click this LINK in order to purchase your tickets to the CabaRay!! This is Ray's fourth concert season at his CabaRay showroom (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022). The 2021 season got underway in the final months of the year following a lengthy closure due to COVID restrictions. This is the showroom's first full season of concerts since 2019.