Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube E-6, S-1

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Yesterday evening Episode six, Season one of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville premiered on YouTube. As I often do I made a couple of comments in the live chat room that was available during the streaming of the show and I posted a comment in the main section below the video. On this episode the special guest is songwriter Bobby Braddock. Ray opened the show singing "There Must Be a Pill For This" from his 2015 comedy album, Here We Go Again!. If you've been watching these CabaRay Nashville episodes you should be familiar with the announcer, Bill Cody, using that phrase in his introduction. Sometimes he'll say "ladies and gentlemen, here we go again...". 

Ray and Bobby talk about the songwriting business and experiences in the music industry. They have a laugh when talking about how their primary music instrument is the piano, in Nashville, which has received the nickname of guitar town. Bobby mentions numerous songs that he's written and co-written. Some of the songs that he was involved in as a writer, but not mentioned in this appearance, were "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too" by The Statler Brothers; George and Tammy's duet, "We're Not The Jet Set"; Tammy's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"; John Anderson's "Would You Catch a Fallen Star"; and many more. 

Bobby sings "He Stopped Loving Her Today", a song he co-wrote with Curly Putman and had become a massive award winning hit for George Jones. Bobby's songs were recorded by numerous recording artists and in my opinion George Jones recorded probably more songs from Bobby Braddock than other recording artists. Bobby wrote several songs that ended up on George Jones albums...and several that were single releases...long before "He Stopped Loving Her Today" appeared on George's 1980 I Am What I Am album. One of the earliest songs that George recorded from the pen of Bobby Braddock was the humorous 1973 single, "Nothin' Ever Hurt Me Half as Bad as Losing You". Bobby had a hand at writing "Golden Ring", which became a huge duet hit for George and Tammy. Bobby was also the writer of George's 1976 single, "Her Name Is...". 

Although he didn't make a career out of it Bobby did write his share of comical, amusing songs...some of them I previously mentioned plus he also wrote "Country Music Lover" which became a hit for Little Jimmy Dickens and the whimsical "Something To Brag About" which is most often recorded as a duet. George and Tammy recorded a version as did Charlie Louvin and Melba Montgomery. Willie Nelson and Mary Kay Place also recorded the song. 

In this episode of Ray's television show you'll see Ray and harmony singer, Sheri Copeland-Smith, perform "Golden Ring". She used to be part of the George Jones road show and she sang duets with George in concert. Ray closes the show with "Makin' the Best of a Bad Situation". Given that the guest was a songwriter this episode tended to be more focused on the music industry and the behind the scenes goings on. Dick Feller was the writer of "Makin' the Best of a Bad Situation" and it's a song that fits right in with the up-tempo, sung narration that can be found on other songs from the writer. Jerry Reed recorded numerous Dick Feller songs...and this closing song, when I first heard it years ago, made me think of Jerry Reed.  

Ray Stevens: CabaRay Nashville on YouTube, E-4, S-1

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! As I type this I've just come off of watching this week's episode of CabaRay Nashville on YouTube. This episode guest stars songwriter Don Schlitz. The songwriter's been in the country music industry for more than 40 years...and he's recently been in the news as one of the upcoming new members of the Grand Ole Opry. Don Schlitz and another legendary music figure, Charlie McCoy, were both invited to be the newest members of the Grand Ole Opry last week. I do not know when their formal induction will be. Don has written or co-written many, many songs and several of them won high profile music industry awards: "Forever and Ever, Amen" was a blockbuster for Randy Travis. Don's songs, at one point in time, seemed to be exclusively recorded by Randy Travis but that's just my way of saying that Randy loved recording songs from the pen of Don Schlitz. 

In this episode (Episode 4, Season 1) Don speaks of his decision to move to Nashville and to become a songwriter. He's self-effacing which you will notice right away. The majority of the conversation centered around the songs that Don had written or co-written...and Don sang a medley of songs that become hits for Randy Travis (such as "On the Other Hand", "Deeper Than the Holler", and "Forever and Ever, Amen"). He spoke about Bobby Bare being the first artist to record "The Gambler" before Kenny Rogers. A good portion of Don's mid '80s to early '90s songs were usually written with Paul Overstreet. 

Don made an observation in the episode that the business end of country music tends to frown on multiple singers recording the same song. He mentioned this when he brought up Bobby Bare having recorded "The Gambler" before Kenny Rogers did. Once upon a time a song could be recorded by a singer and it remain an album song...not released as a single...but then another singer would hear the song and decide to record the same song and put their spin on it and release it as a single. Also, other recording artists would take notice of a hit song and would decide that they, too, wanted to record the song for themselves and maybe have a hit with it. This is why, in country music's past, you'd have 3 or 4 versions of the same song by different artists out at the same time...and you'd have other versions of the same song as album cuts, too. Today, the record labels have the attitude of "no...so and so just had a hit with that song...you can't record it...not even as an album track.". 

Ray Stevens opens the show with "The Streak" and closes with "Everything is Beautiful"...

Ray Stevens: Don Schlitz CabaRay Nashville performance...

Hello once again!! Some Ray Stevens items I ordered from his web store arrived in the mail this morning so I'm thrilled about that. One of the items is a CabaRay ball cap. It's black with red lettering.

In this blog entry I'm going to embed a video clip that appeared on YouTube several days ago (August 31st) but I hadn't featured it in a blog yet. It's a performance of "The Gambler" by it's songwriter, Don Schlitz, a song that became an international hit for Kenny Rogers and inspired a movie series. In the video clip you'll discover something about the song that you probably didn't know.

The writer has written or co-written hundreds of songs...his name became linked closely to Randy Travis in the 1980s and 1990s and for a period of years Don wrote in collaboration with Paul Overstreet. In the early '90s he co-wrote numerous songs with Mary Chapin Carpenter.



In 1993 Don Schlitz was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2017 he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Some of the songs he's written or co-written have become iconic country music hits: "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers; "40 Hour Week" by Alabama; "I Won't Take Less Than Your Love" by Paul Overstreet, Tanya Tucker, and Paul Davis; "Deeper than the Holler" by Randy Travis; "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis; "On the Other Hand" by Randy Travis; "Strong Enough to Bend" by Tanya Tucker; "Rockin' With the Rhythm" by The Judds; "My Arms Stay Open All Night" by Tanya Tucker.

Ray Stevens: The Buddy Kalb YouTube Channel...

Well, here I am, this is my third blog entry of the day! This time around I'm here to promote a new YouTube channel by Buddy Kalb, one of the songwriters, music video co-stars, and associates of Ray Stevens. As of this writing the channel has 16 subscribers. As most of you know it's rather easy to subscribe to a YouTube channel...simply click subscribe on the channel's home page. Some of the songs Buddy has written that Ray has recorded include: "The Dog Song", "I'll Be In Atlanta", "Red Hot Chili Cook-Off", "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" (Buddy and his wife, Carlene, wrote it), and "Let's Do It Right This Time"...just to name only five.

Ray and Buddy have written a lot of songs together, too. The first song of Buddy's that Ray recorded was "One and Only You" in 1976. Ray's recording can be found on the Warner Brothers album, Just For the Record, as well as the 1995 compilation, The Serious Side of Ray Stevens. Buddy penned "Frog Kissing" which was recorded as a vocal by Chet Atkins (with harmony vocals from Ray Stevens). Mel McDaniel recorded Buddy's song, "The Hustler", several years before Ray recorded it. Cristy Lane's 1980 album was named for Buddy's song, "Ask Me To Dance". Ray published the song but it wasn't released as a single. Jerry Reed had originally recorded Buddy's "Concrete Sailor" in the early 1980s...and Ray did a rendition of the song for his One for the Road CD in 2009. Ray's current YouTube video hit, "Quarantined", about COVID-19, is from the pen of Buddy Kalb.

When you visit Buddy's channel you'll see audio clips of songs that he wrote...many of which were recorded by Ray Stevens over the years. You'll also hear songs that Ray hasn't recorded...but may end up on some future Ray Stevens album perhaps. There's an audio clip of Buddy on a song called "M.D. The Monster Doctor"...I'm curious to hear what a song with that title sounds like. [I'm making my way to YouTube to take a listen...]

[I have returned!!] "M.D. The Monster Doctor" is a novelty in the classic sense of the word. It's issued as Big Buddy K on the Lowery label. When you listen to the song it sounds almost like Ray Stevens himself from that time period. The evil laugh is also memorable. The recording is from 1965. The song is about a wolfman and within the chorus of the song there's 'yeah, yeah, yeah' vocalizations in reference to The Beatles. You can find that audio clip and dozens more at Buddy Kalb's YouTube channel. You can visit it by clicking HERE. Once you're there don't forget to subscribe.

Here is an audio clip of Buddy singing "Melissa" in 2011 from a live songwriter's night...it had previously been recorded by Ray Stevens 30 years earlier in 1981 for his album, One More Last Chance...

Ray Stevens talks songwriting in 1982...

I do not know at what point in 1982 that this interview was conducted but it's a very good interview...it's an interview that sometimes plays out like one of those intimate 60 Minutes interviews and the reason I say this is because of the camera angles and the close-up's and the overall tone of the interview. There is some levity and jokes but for the most part it's a deadly serious discussion about songwriting. Ray talks about his inspiration for "The Streak" and "Everything Is Beautiful". Along the way Ray explains that he's been busy writing songs for what I assume is an upcoming album. If this is the case, depending on at what point in 1982 this interview was taped, Ray could have been talking about some of the songs he wrote for his 1982 Don't Laugh Now album or he could have been referring to the songs he wrote for his Me album, which was released in 1983.

The interview is conducted by the McCain Brothers and they ask about Ray's future projects. Newcomer fans of Ray Stevens who watch this may find it revealing that even in 1982 he was wanting to get into television regularly with a possible television program. This goal remained a constant throughout his career and it may have been fueled in the late '60s when so many pop/country singers were hosting their own television programs. Ray, in fact, became something of a regular on Andy Williams' show between 1969 and 1971...hosting the summer replacement show for Andy in 1970. In the early '90s Ray put together a pilot called Amazing Rolling Revue. It's long been out of print after initially being released on home video. The project was originally taped as a pilot for a television show. The title of the show referred to the way in which the comedy revue was presented. Based on the pilot, the show would feature skits and characters in addition to a special guest or two. Currently Ray sporadically tapes a series of shows called We Ain't Dead Yet which features a lot of country music personalities as regulars. It features a special guest each episode, too. This show is part of Ray Stevens Backstage, a subscription based service at his web-page.

Ray has appeared on countless television programs through the years. One of the things that I find interesting is back in the '60s and '70s the promotion departments of the various non-country music television programs would refer to Ray as composer/singer Ray Stevens. As the 1980's dawned, though, those same television shows would classify Ray as country artist/songwriter and then by the end of the decade he'd be referred to as a country comedian. Naturally, though, with the various style shifts in Ray's career through the years it makes sense.

Ray Stevens: "Legends and Lyrics"

SPOILER AHEAD...For those who hadn't seen Ray's appearance on the show and want to catch it yourself and be surprised at what he says and all of that, don't continue reading because the following review I wrote contains specific commentary about the program's contents.

Here's the review/re-cap of the show in general...

"Legends and Lyrics" aired it's premiere episode tonight on one of the local PBS stations and by luck I caught it...the channel's web-site didn't list the series air-dates or anything...so by luck I decided to check my cable guide and looked up the PBS stations in my area and found the show airing at 10pm Saturday night. I clicked "more info" on my remote and read the scheduled guests and sure enough it was the episode with Ray Stevens. I watched the whole show...the first half of the program was devoted to Randy Owen, Kris Kristofferson, and Patti Griffin. Each of the three sang a couple of songs and told stories about the songs. Randy tells a funny story about RCA's president at the time questioning him about some lyrics in "Mountain Music".

In between and after this audience in-the-round segment, each artist was profiled separately as they spoke to the camera.

The second half of the show kicked off with a segment called "Did You Know?" which featured a 5 minute essay on the late songwriter Harlan Howard and his philosophy on songwriting. After this segment was over with they went back to Randy, Kris, and Patti for a few more commentaries and then they all took a bow amidst applause and then the scene shifted to the "legend" segment...with Ray...at last!

Ray's segment appeared nearly 45 minutes into the show and he spoke a lot about writing songs and his association with Bill Lowery. He went on to explain how easy songwriting is for him and how easy it can be for everyone. At one point in the segment he said that "even an idiot can write a song". He compared songwriting to a musical crossword puzzle and said that in a lot of the songs he wrote he never felt the pressure to come up with lines that rhymed. He said that he'd think about everything he wanted to say in a song and then once he figured that out then the words/melody came easily and without realizing it his lyrics would end up rhyming because it fit a melody he was writing to in his head. The camera then edited to a scene of him in his recording studio, I assume. He was sitting at the piano singing the second half of "Mr. Businessman". It shown the performance just on piano...and then once the song ended the scene faded out to another segment.

I enjoyed the appearance but it was brief and the show didn't spend as much time on him in the context of an hour's program as I would have liked.

Perhaps one day Ray will be among the artist's "in the round" and appear discussing his songs and performing them to the intimate audience like Randy, Kris, and Patti did in the show's debut episode...here's hoping.