Ray Stevens sings "Answer Me, My Love"...

Hello one and all to another fan created blog post focused on Ray Stevens. In my recent series of blog entries I've focused on the recent happenings in Ray's career and the upcoming new album on it's way. Since it's March 3rd at the time of this writing we're now just 4 days away from the release of Say Whut?. Now, for those of you that come across this blog page and read the career timeline on the right hand side of the page you're well aware that Ray's recording career goes back to the late 1950s. On this blog I celebrate the songs, albums, and achievements of the great Ray Stevens and through my commentaries I point out why he's one of the most unique entertainers to ever step foot inside a recording studio. 

A recent video surfaced of Ray on a 1967 episode of The Bobby Lord Show. This was a locally syndicated country music program but it also featured pop vocalists from time to time. Ray was marketed/promoted as a popular recording artist in the 1950s and 1960s who found an audience within the umbrella of country music by the end of the 1960s and he kept it intact throughout the following decades. Ray's appeal to country audiences was such that Ralph Emery often had him as a guest on all kinds of radio and TV programs long before Ray began to intentionally market himself to a country music audience. There's a full episode of Bobby Lord's show featuring Ray as one of the guests but recently Ray's social media pages added the performance of "Answer Me, My Love" from that television appearance. He sings other songs during that appearance but I decided to share the clip of his "Answer Me, My Love" performance since it's the one uploaded on Ray's official YouTube page. The song was never released on an album. It was issued as a single-only on Monument Records. 

Since I've been blogging about his recent happenings this 1967 performance (from nearly 60 years ago) will go a long way at explaining why Ray Stevens is one of the greatest and why a lot of us fans remain forever loyal...

Ray Stevens: Festive Feast Fun

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

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

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

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

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

Ray Stevens: This CD is Silver...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens! I'm quite sure you're familiar with the photo of Ray that appears on this 1998 release. This compilation celebrates a Silver Anniversary is year...released 25 years ago by Varese Sarabande. Titled The Country Hits Collection it randomly collects mostly album tracks from several Ray Stevens albums of the early to mid 1970s and gives them a spotlight. This was important in 1998 because the vinyl albums those album tracks originally appeared on were, and still are, out of print but much, if not all, of the songs on this collection have since become available digitally on the internet. Does it mean this collection is no longer a vital item in your Ray Stevens collection due to most of the songs being readily available online? Of course not! This CD comes with a fold-out booklet full of commentary/notes and numerous photos of Ray...and that right there is cause for fans to seek out this CD on various online stores or auction sites. If you're a fan in the manner in which I happen to be then reading liner notes/essays/commentary about Ray is just as good as having the music. I recently purchased an issue of Country Music Magazine from 1981, for example...yes, the magazine is 42 years old this year, but what drove me to purchase the magazine on eBay is because it features an article/interview of Ray Stevens. It had been available online for awhile from various sellers but I happened to see one at the right price and bought it...it arrived in the mail last week. The magazine cover features Burt Reynolds. I make mention of this because, although it's a magazine and not an album, because it has an interview with Ray Stevens I decided to purchase the magazine. So, then, if you're like I am and want to read about Ray and his music but you don't have the CD, Country Hits Collection, go ahead and purchase it if only for the fold-out cover/liner notes and photos. 

The liner notes in the CD's fold-out cover were written by a writer named Mike Ragogna. As far as photos are concerned there's a close-up photo of Ray from 1970 and there are a couple of images of advertisements that originally appeared in music trade magazines. There are 16 recordings on the CD and the first 5 tracks were single releases: "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (1969); "Turn Your Radio On" (1971); "Nashville" (1973); "Misty" (1975); and "Young Love" (1976). The back of the CD lists all 16 songs, the songwriters, and which album the song originally appeared on and the album catalog number and for the single releases it also includes the catalog number for the single release and it's peak in Billboard's pop or country chart. The back of the CD doesn't provide chart data for Easy-Listening/Middle-of-the-Road/Adult-Contemporary nor are Billboard's competitors included (Record World, Cashbox, Radio and Records). Some of the songs were issued as B-sides...and there's one song on here, "Piece of Paradise", that had only appeared as a B-side on a single release and was never part of any album. This collection remains the only showcase on CD for that 1975 B-side. It's A-side, "Indian Love Call", isn't on this collection, ironically. 

Here are the 16 songs on this 1998 CD...

1. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down

2. Turn Your Radio On

3. Nashville

4. Misty

5. Young Love

6. She Belongs To Me; 1970

7. Losin' Streak; 1973

8. Just One of Life's Little Tragedies; 1973

9. Easy Loving; 1973

10. Sunshine; 1975

11. Take Care of Business; 1975

12. Undivided Attention; 1973

13. Destroyed; 1973

14. Loving You On Paper; 1970

15. Piece of Paradise

16. Deep Purple; 1975

"Young Love" happened to be a single release by Barnaby Records on Ray Stevens in December 1975 and it was his next-to-last single for the company. His very last single for Barnaby would be "Mockingbird Hill" backed with "Lady of Spain" early in 1976 but by then he had joined Warner Brothers Records and was recording his debut album for the label in the early months of 1976...which, my guess is, that very last single for Barnaby, "Mockingbird Hill", was something contractually obligated which is why there's next to no publicity for the release in any music trade magazine of that time period. Research I've done on Ray Stevens indicates that early 1976, in music trade magazines, centers around his debut single and album for Warner Brothers and I've not come across any mention of Ray's "Mockingbird Hill" or "Lady of Spain" recordings but we know the recordings were issued on a single. Their release on a vinyl single is why you'll see one or both of those songs on various compilation albums released on Ray Stevens.     

Ray Stevens: "Iconic Songs of the 20th Century" 4-CD collection...

Hello once again Ray Stevens fans!! It's been a few days since the July 23rd release of the 4-CD Iconic Songs of the 20th Century. If we're to be specific it's only the second business day but since most people purchase their music online it's 24/7 business. The 4-CD collection isn't in stock on Amazon. I've not been able to find out the reason why. It was shown to be available for pre-order in the hours before it was released but then as soon as release day arrived it changed from being available for pre-order to being temporarily out of stock...and it's remained out of stock ever since. It's a shame that it isn't available on the world's largest online store but never mind...it's readily available on Ray's official website plus it's available at the Curb Records store. The overall project's been a proven success just by judging at the amount of plays the audio tracks have gotten on YouTube since the release of Great Country Ballads back in February of this year. The audio tracks that were heavily promoted on Ray's social media, naturally, have benefitted the most and have pulled the largest YouTube plays. What shouldn't get overlooked, though, are the other audio tracks from these four albums that people have found on their own on YouTube. The audio tracks from each of the four releases consistently rack up plays. When you purchase the box set you're going to hear Ray perform songs that are arranged pop, country, bluegrass, and easy-listening/soft rock. You will also hear him tackle what were commonly called torch songs like "Cry Me a River", "April in Paris", and "Sweet Dreams".

It's lovely isn't it? The 4 compact discs come with their individual cover art, jewel case, and I'm assuming songwriter, musician, and publisher credits. Great Country Ballads, Melancholy Fescue, Slow Dance, and Nouveau Retro make up the 4-CD release. The screen cap is from the promo video that Ray uploaded this past Friday. As of this writing the promo video's gotten a little over 1,000 unique views on YouTube and a little over 5,000 views on Facebook. Where can your purchase this 4-CD set?? I've provided two links...one is to Ray's official website and another is to the Curb Records store. If you visit the Curb Records store you'll see all of the songs listed from each compact disc. There's a universal purchase link on the Curb website. Stream/Purchase/Download. This link appears below any music product in the Curb Records store whether it's a digital album or a compact disc. You, as a Ray Stevens fan, make the choice between whether you want to purchase Iconic Songs of the 20th Century from Ray's webstore or if you want to purchase it from the Curb Records store. If you're reading this and you live in Tennessee chances are you might come across this 4-CD box set in your local Walmart store so if you haven't done so already take a look and see if it's there. In the video promo Ray mentions that it'll be in select retail stores...but didn't specify...so I'm assuming he's referring to regional/local shopping stores in the Nashville area. The collection contains 48 songs.  

RAY'S STORE   

CURB RECORDS STORE

Ray Stevens: HELP!!!

"Help" is a song from Ray Stevens 1969 album Have a Little Talk With Myself and it originally was recorded by The Beatles; not only that, it was the name of one of their movies. Ray covered the song but it wasn't issued as a commercial single on either an A or B side so it remains an obscure album track. I did a video montage several weeks ago or several months ago and that is what you see at the start of this blog. "Help" also played into the over-all theme of Ray's album: loneliness, asking for help, and despair.

Ray was a recurring player on Andy Williams TV show...guesting several times...and during the 1969-1971 era a lot of Ray's material was spotlighed on this program, more than any other TV show on the air. Ray hosted the 1970 summer show for Andy Williams, too. A summer show is a series that replaced the regular program during the summer months...re-runs often air during the summer months for mostly all TV shows, returning in the fall with new episodes. Well, Andy's program didn't offer many re-runs. Instead, Andy would fill his vacated time-slot with familiar faces for a summer season before the vacated show returned in the fall.



"Hey Jude", another Beatles song, is my latest You Tube montage. The performance is considerably lesser in length than the over seven minute Beatles production. Ray's version clocks in at 4 minutes, 29 seconds while the Beatles 1968 mega smash version clocks in at 7 minutes, 5 seconds. The Beatles version was a #1 hit...naturally...nearly everything they did during the British Invasion period hit the top of the UK or American music charts. In America, "Hey Jude" was a #1 single for 9 weeks. Ray didn't issue his version as a single...likewise for the versions of "Help", "The Fool On The Hill", "Hair", "Spinning Wheel", and "Aquarius" he covered on Have A Little Talk With Myself in 1969.

Have a Little Talk...about Ray Stevens!

In a previous blog I mentioned the upcoming 40th anniversary of Ray's Gitarzan single and album. Ray issued another album in 1969 which, too, will turn 40 next year. This album was all-serious and it contained his versions of contemporary pop songs and a couple of new songs. The cover songs include his take on "But You Know I Love You", which was a country hit for Bill Anderson as well as Dolly Parton. The pop version was by The First Edition, which included future country music super-star, Kenny Rogers. The writer was a man named Mike Settle, a member of The First Edition. Some daring covers and I say daring depending on whose reading this...some daring covers include his versions of several major Beatles pop hits. There are those who feel The Beatles can not be covered...some are very protective when it comes to songs. It's now time to understand the era in which Ray Stevens emerged from...his era of singers were open to singing anything as long as something new could be added...which may include something major like a tempo change or something subtle like instrumentation. The Beatles songs that Ray covers on this album are "Hey Jude" and "Help". Ray over-dubs his voice many times to create the background vocals and the choir effect on a lot of these songs. "Hey Jude" in particular. Interestingly, while I had written that Ray likes to play around and dabble with songs, he seemed to keep The Beatles songs in tact...down to the rousing close of "Hey Jude" with all the na-na, na-na, na na na na's that close out the song.

One of the newer songs is "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" which was issued as a single in late 1969. Ray was the first artist to record this song, famously recorded by Johnny Cash a year later in 1970. Ray's version stalled on the pop Hot 100 at #81 in 1969 but it made the country Top 100, reaching the Top-60, his first appearance on the country singles chart. Years later Ray said that his public image couldn't sell the song in the way Johnny Cash did. A listener couldn't imagine clean-cut Ray Stevens on a drinking binge but they could imagine Johnny Cash on a binge. Kris Kristofferson wrote the song. It's said that he wrote this and "Help Me Make It Through The Night" on the same day. Another of the newer songs is "The Little Woman" which Ray himself wrote. This song is about a man who meets a social-climbing woman in a bar and from what we hear she comes on to Ray but he tells her no thanks, he's married.

"Hair" comes from the rock musical...Ray performs all parts of the song and it comes close to being a novelty in his delivery. Ray tells us he wants to give a home to the fleas in his hair...as well as a hive for the bees...a nest for the birds, etc etc. The song originates from a musical depicting the rebellious notion of men letting their hair grow long, which was a symbol of women for years and years while men had shorter hair...but in the mid to late '60s things changed and men started to let their hair grow. The Cowsills recorded "Hair" and had a huge pop hit with it in 1969. Another song from that musical is "Aquarius". Ray performs this song in step with the Fifth Dimension's version that year. Their take was released as a single and became a multi-week #1 hit.

Along the way we hear Ray take on the "Spinning Wheel", a pop hit for Blood, Sweat, and Tears and he covered Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". Another song from John Lennon and Paul McCartney is on this album, "The Fool on the Hill". One of the stand-outs in an album of stand-out songs is his take on Joe South's "Games People Play". Our man Ray was seriously taking on some pretty big names in the rock world for this album.

Aside from "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", the other commercial single was the title track, the self-written "Have a Little Talk With Myself". This song is an introspective song about man's selfishness and arrogance in their quest for fame and glory. Ray sings the song personally...coming across as if he's the one who needs to change his ways and attitude. The single charted country, reaching the Top-70.

Songs are not in order as they appear on the 1969 album...

1. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
2. But You Know I Love You
3. Aquarius
4. Help
5. Hair
6. Spinning Wheel
7. The Little Woman
8. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
9. The Fool On The Hill
10. Games People Play
11. Hey Jude
12. Have A Little Talk With Myself

This was the picture sleeve of the title track, issued in France as a single...click for a bigger image...

Ray Stevens...Multi-talented musician, part two

In 1974, Ray Stevens released the song that forever became linked to his career. "The Streak" was a novelty single in every sense of the word. It capitalized on the fad of running around without any clothes. The story goes that Ray was on an airplane and he was reading a news magazine and he saw an article about streaking and he got an idea for a song. Later, he found out, that streaking was a big fad on college campuses and that it had spread into the mainstream. Ray rushed out "The Streak" and at the time there were other streaking songs on the market...Ray's song is the only one to become a hit and it became a gigantic hit. It flew up the Hot 100 and was #1 in a matter of weeks...staying #1 for three weeks. The single sold in the millions...most reports indicate it sold at least 5,000,000 copies. This out-sold his previous Gold record, "Everything Is Beautiful", which had sales reported to be over 2,000,000. "The Streak" would also reach #1 in England and become a country Top-5 hit. The song introduced the catch-phrase "Don't Look, Ethel!!" into the vernacular. An album built around the song followed. The album in question, "Boogity-Boogity", was issued in 1974 and it featured another single, "The Moonlight Special".

That particular novelty single poked fun at the TV show The Midnight Special, which featured radio DJ Wolfman Jack as it's on-camera announcer. Ray, as he often does in his comedy recordings, struts his comedic stuff by vocally imitating Wolfman Jack in the role of Sheepdog. Along the way we hear satirical spoofs of Gladys Knight and the Pips, Alice Cooper, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The names have been changed in the song to Mildred Queen and the Dips, Agnes Stooper, and Jerry Joe Harry Lee Jimmy Billy. The single managed to creep into the Hot 100, peaking in the Top-75. The single was too long but it also made light of the music teenagers of the time took seriously as to my guess why the hilarious spoof wasn't a bigger hit. Nonetheless it was a very funny recording.

In a change of moods, Ray delivered the calm "Everybody Needs a Rainbow" in late 1974. The single was a Top-40 country hit as well as a Top-20 Adult-Contemporary hit. The chart wasn't called Adult-Contemporary until later in the 1970's...it was still going by the Easy-Listening and Middle-of-the-Road banners.

As pop music was changing in the mid '70s, Ray was becoming increasingly visible on country music TV shows. He was still charting pop and country but as far as television exposure his calling card were country music TV shows. He made the rounds of Hee-Haw, Pop Goes the Country, and That Nashville Music during this time period. "Misty" was Ray's next single...it was another big hit that won him a Grammy for Best Arrangement of the Year. The arrangement of "Misty" was up-tempo and featured a banjo, fiddle, and steel guitar as it's lead instruments. The song was a Top-5 country hit, a Top-20 pop hit, and a Top-10 adult-contemporary hit. Ray's album, also named "Misty" featured his take on pop standards. "Indian Love Call" was a single from this album...it became a Top-40 country hit and a Top-65 pop hit. Ray arranged this song in a ballad style that was very different than the hit recording from Slim Whitman years earlier. Ray's version came complete with "bop-shoo-bop" background vocals which he provided himself. A third single from the album was issued in early 1976...the very slow "Young Love". This had been a hit for Sonny James and this version from Ray inched up the Hot 100 and reached the country Top-50.

Ray left his long-time Barnaby Records home for Warner Brothers in 1976. It is on this label where he was promoted officially as a country singer for the first time in his career. His debut single for them, "You Are So Beautiful", a previous pop hit for Joe Cocker, featured a similar arrangement with "Misty" using the same instrumentation. "You Are So Beautiful" became a Top-20 country hit. He followed that with the country Top-30 "Honky Tonk Waltz". In late 1976 he issued "In The Mood" under the name Henhouse Five Plus Too. The novelty single featured a chicken clucking choir performing the Glen Miller pop hit. Ray wasn't going to release the performance as a single but Warner Brothers insisted and it became a Top-40 pop, adult-contemporary, and country hit in early 1977 and it became a hit in England where it was issued under Ray's own name. Later in 1977 Ray's publishing company boasted the success of "Way Down", a single recorded by Elvis Presley. Unfortunately, "Way Down" became the last hit single during Elvis' lifetime. It was also in 1977 that the pop duo Captain and Tennille had Top-20 success with Ray's song "Can't Stop Dancing". His other songs that year included "Get Crazy With Me", a Top 100 country hit and "Dixie Hummingbird", which managed to inch up to the Top-50 on the country chart.

1978 was another relatively quiet year for Ray on the singles front. "Be Your Own Best Friend" was the only commercial single to emerge from Warner Brothers. It was a country Top-40 hit. It was the name of his main album that year which also featured "L'amour", "With a Smile", "You're Magic", and other love ballads. He had recorded another album that year paying tribute to the R&B music he grew up listening to. That album, "There Is Something On Your Mind", contained no hit singles but it features a wonderful tribute to early R&B. Ray tackles "Money Honey", "Talk To Me", "One Mint Julep", the title track "There Is Something On Your Mind", and others. In 1979 he issued a new novelty single...

"I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" came along at a time in Ray's career when it needed a publicity boost. This song was written by Dale Gonyea and it was never revealed why Ray picked the song to record unless for the obvious connection to Barry Manilow, then one of the biggest pop artists all over the world. The album that Warner Brothers issued to promote this single was called "The Feelings Not Right Again". The title track is a song from his 1978 album "Be Your Own Best Friend". The song was chosen as the 1979 album title because it sounds similar in title to one of Manilow's songs "Trying To Get The Feeling". The album cover design on Ray's 1979 release was a parody/spoof of Manilow's album design of "Trying To Get The Feeling". It's a very funny send-up.

The "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" single predictably didn't chart too high country but it did well on the pop and adult-contemporary formats. It was a Top-50 pop hit and more ironically it was a Top-20 hit on the adult-contemporary chart, a format Manilow dominated throughout the mid/late 1970's. This became Ray's final single on the Hot 100...charting country exclusively with his next wave of singles in the 1980's. This would also bring a close to his three year contract with Warner Brothers. He went to RCA to kick off the 1980's.