Ray Stevens: A collection I wish I Had...

Hello once again! Ever since I began this fan created blog centered around legendary Ray Stevens one of the albums that I've often spotlighted and singled out is a release simply titled The Best of Ray Stevens. Now, if you're a dedicated fan of his, then you'll know that The Best of Ray Stevens or a variation of that title is the title of many compilation albums that have been released on Ray over the decades. Some may wonder how does a fan keep it all straight given the similar titles of compilation albums and some may have trouble keeping track. One of the things I've always done is relay the year of release or the record company name. For example The Best of Ray Stevens released by Mercury Records in 1970 could be referred to as The Best of Ray Stevens (Mercury) or The Best of Ray Stevens (1970).

I love the album cover. I like the design and I like the photo of Ray that's used. I also like the coloring. Now, eagle eye fans of Ray or those that already are aware, will notice that in the lower left hand side there's a K-Tel mark. That's the record company that issued this particular The Best of Ray Stevens in 1980. As mentioned earlier there can be a lot of confusion for those that are new to Ray's career and are browsing through his album discography given there are several compilation albums using the same title. For this particular album it might be best to explain that it had been released a year earlier by a company called Imperial House. That particular release happened to be a 2-LP set but as you can see it contains the same title, lettering, coloring, and photo that the 1980 K-Tel release has. The 1979 release has the phrase, 2 Record Set, on display just below Ray's name with the Imperial House mark on the lower left hand side of the album cover. The image shown first is the 1979 Imperial House 2-LP release. The 1980 release wasn't a 2-LP collection but it did feature 18 of the 20 recordings found on the 1979 release. The 1979 2-LP set features 20 recordings ranging from the 1960s through his then most recent recording, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". However, do not let the inclusion of that 1979 recording fool you. It's the only Warner Brothers recording by Ray to make the album's track list. The label skipped over the recordings he did in 1976, 1977, and 1978. Here is the track list of that 1979 double album. LP One, Side 1: "Ahab the Arab", "Indian Love Call", "Harry the Hairy Ape", "Unwind", and "Gitarzan". LP One, Side 2: "Mr. Businessman", "Along Came Jones", "Freddie Feelgood", "Nashville", and "Turn Your Radio On". LP Two, Side One: "Everything is Beautiful", "America, Communicate With Me", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", "The Moonlight Special", and "The Streak". LP Two, Side 2: "Misty", "Have a Little Talk With Myself", "Isn't It Lonely Together?", "Bridget the Midget", and "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". The two recordings left off of the 1980 K-Tel release were "Unwind" and "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow". 

A budget minded person may ask oneself: why did the 1979 release with 20 recordings contain 2 vinyl albums yet the 1980 release with 18 recordings contain just 1 vinyl album? I wish I knew the answer. Perhaps the company that issued the 1979 release wanted the allure of having the advertisement of "a 2-LP collection!!" to accompany the sales campaign. It's a collection I wish I had. By the way, did I say that the album photo is one of my all-time favorites of Ray Stevens? I think I did...yeah, I did...

Ray Stevens: 1986 performance of "The Streak"

Well, hello out there!!! No, you're not reading any kind of typo or anything.. it's my first fan created Ray Stevens blog post since April 29th of this year. Why such a long hiatus you may be asking yourselves? It was my own self-imposed hiatus from blog writing. I remained active on Ray's social media pages in the meantime leaving commentary and interacting with other people leaving comments on Ray's social media pages, mainly Facebook. If you follow Ray's social media you know that he's kept those pages active, too, with a post or two per day and lots of video attachments. He's continued to perform concerts at his CabaRay showroom and as most of you may know this is his final season of concerts. He broke the news back in January before this upcoming concert season began. 

In this blog post I'm sharing a recent video upload from Ray's YouTube channel. On August 26, 2024 a concert performance of Ray delivering "The Streak" from 1986 made it's debut on social media. If you're a fan of Ray Stevens you're going to love it and if you happen to be a student of Ray Stevens, meaning that you know a lot about his life and career in addition to being a major fan, you're going to know that this 1986 performance comes during his first stint with MCA Records. He was right in the middle of that lengthy series of comedy albums and riding a wave of discovery, or re-discovery, depending on the knowledge of the individual music listener. The performance took place in July 1986 which means it happened a month after Ray won his first Music City News Comedian of the Year award. Ray would win this high profile, fan-voted award every year for 9 consecutive years (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994). 

In this 1986 performance you'll see Ray decked out in sunglasses, dark green clothes, and at various moments wearing a yellow CAT hat. The thumbnail image of the video shows this but just in case you view this blog post in the future and the image is gone due to some sort of glitch I thought I'd let you all know what he appears in ahead of viewing. I love the green clothing. The temperature in St. Clairsville, Ohio must have been in the 80s or low 90s that day. When the performance of "The Streak" is over you'll see Ray jog off-stage carrying a suit. He must have began his set wearing the jacket but then, as he literally got hotter, removed it. The song originally hit in 1974.. there have long been rumors that actual streakers could be seen at his concerts but I've always doubted that kind of thing happening. It's possible that streaking took place near a concert venue, fair, or festival he was performing at or somewhere in the vicinity if it happened to be what they call a college town but within the audience of a concert I don't think such things happened but it's fun to say it did. Boogity Boogity... here's Ray Stevens and "The Streak"...

Ray Stevens: Texarkana columnist discusses "The Streak"...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens! I was browsing through some Google search results and come across an article posted in the Texarkana Gazette. The author of the article is Doug Davis and he wrote a retrospective on "The Streak", one of Ray's comedy songs from 1974. There isn't any explanation as to the reason for the song being singled out given that it's next year, 2024, which will mark it's 50th anniversary. The essay details the song, it's inspiration, and the sales accomplishments the single achieved. The single, globally, sold more than 5 million copies. 

The webpage that is home to that particular newspaper in Texarkana is a subscription based site but it provides visitors a set amount of "free views" before the content is exclusive to subscribers. For those curious and want to read the author's summary of "The Streak" you can click HERE. As long time fans of Ray Stevens, as most of you readers and I happen to be, you won't discover anything new when you read the article but I thought that since it's a story on Ray Stevens and one of his songs I'd share it here on my blog page. 

Ray Stevens: "Songs at the Center" re-cap

Hello fans of Ray Stevens!! Several weeks ago I wrote a blog entry promoting an upcoming TV appearance from Ray on a series called Songs at the Center. The series airs all over the country on local PBS stations. Ray's episode is airing in my area over the weekend and I taped it Friday night and just got the opportunity to watch it. The host of the show, Eric Gnezda, welcomes the viewers to the show and gives a brief history on Ray's accomplishments (2 time Grammy winner; 40 million records sold) and then he introduces Ray. The episode takes place on the stage of the CabaRay showroom. Ray kicks things off with a performance of "Everything is Beautiful". In fact, once Eric finished the introduction, Ray launched into the performance. He accompanies himself on the piano... there's no other music. After the performance Ray explains the origin behind the song and that it was written because he needed a theme song for a 1970 summer show he was to be the host of for Andy Williams. Eric mentions that the song has had all kinds of impact with people...including a lot of inspirational and spiritual impact. When they were discussing the aspects of the song Eric asked Ray if he thinks of the production aspect of the song as he's writing the lyrics and the music. Ray remarks that the production is almost always at the forefront because, as he explained it, if you know what you want the song to 'sound' like then it's vital to have possible production methods rolling around in your head as you write the song. This subject blends into a discussion about recording sessions. He spoke about his years playing on recording sessions for all kinds of performers and his time in A and R which stands for Artists and Repertoire. It was in his role as an A and R executive that afforded him the opportunity to work with all kinds of new, unknown performers...as well as discover a lot of performers for record companies. As Ray and Eric discuss recording sessions the camera pans around the showroom and spotlights the photographs that decorate the walls of the showroom. The photos highlight the recording artists, record producers, and session musicians that crossed Ray's path at some point. Keep in mind that Ray's songs as well as his music arranging and production skills were showcased on numerous recordings made by others. 

Eric tells Ray that his father's favorite song is "Mr. Businessman", after which Ray sings it. Eric brings up music arranging and Ray elaborates on how much he loves creating music...and he enthusiastically mentions the latest technology that he uses in his recording studio. Eric compliments Ray on being such a skilled performer and brings up that some singers just enter a studio to sing and they let the producers and others literally make the recording yet, in Ray's case, Ray not only shows up to sing but he's also there to produce, arrange, and play on the recording. Also, if it's a song from Ray or somebody that contractually supplies songs to him, he publishes the songs, too! 

In the interview Ray characteristically downplays his own talents by saying that he knows what he wants in his recordings and so that's more or less why he's been his own record producer and music arranger for so many years. Eric brings up Ray's association with Dolly Parton...the time period being the mid 1960s at Monument Records. Ray speaks of Fred Foster and Dolly and remarks that although she didn't have any 'hit records' during those early years he felt that Dolly would become a big star one day. Eric asks about the song, "Just for the Hell Of It". Ray explains that Burt Reynolds contacted him to write a theme song for the movie, Cannonball Run. Ray wrote and performed the movie's theme song but then, according to Ray, Burt had a copy of the movie and asked Ray to watch it and if he sees any part where more songs could be added to go ahead and write something. Ray said that he was watching the movie and during a scene with Burt and Farah Fawcett he heard Burt's character say 'just for the hell of it' and that inspired him to write the song. Ray remarked that the song was edited down to fit a particular scene but he performed the full length recording. However, prior to Ray's performance, the host remarked that Ray would be singing to an audio track containing the music accompaniment...rather than simply singing it with just the piano. Eric asked about Ray's prowess on the piano and Ray said that he learned to play the piano at the age of 6. Ray commented that he was 6 when WWII ended and that sheet music of a military piece was something he was learning to play. He then commented that he studied classical piano for 15 years. 

Eric closes the show bringing up "The Streak".. Ray tells the history of the song and then performs the first portion of the novelty.. and when you watch Ray giggling at various moments you'll find yourself wearing a big grin, too. The host had a big grin on his face when hearing Ray talk like the by-stander describing to Ethel everything he was seeing. 

It was a very good appearance, performance, and it went by so fast!! Check your local PBS stations for Songs at the Center.. Ray Stevens is the guest on the first episode of the current season. 

Ray Stevens: "Songs at the Center" Upcoming guest appearance...

Hello fans of Ray Stevens...and in this second blog entry of June 4th I wanted to make mention of an upcoming television appearance by Ray Stevens. This appearance may very well have aired in your local market but it hasn't aired everywhere. The PBS series, Songs at the Center, will feature Ray on their first episode of the new season of shows. The episode has aired in some places of the country, as mentioned, due to it being a syndicated national program on local PBS affiliates. The episode is set to air in this area on June 16th at 11:30pm and I have my DVR programmed to tape the episode. 

What you fans of Ray Stevens need to do is check the websites of the PBS television stations in your area. Once there check their program guide for Songs at the Center. All the PBS websites have a navigational tool and a list of the programs they air. When you do the TV show search, and you find out that your local PBS station carries the show, it'll provide all upcoming episodes of the series...and the one with Ray Stevens should be among the search results along with it's air-date and time. The host of the series is a guy named Eric Gnezda. Once I watch the episode in a few weeks I'll definitely write an overview/review in a future blog entry. The episode was taped at the CabaRay showroom in west Nashville earlier this year. 

Ray Stevens: The "Boogity Boogity" YouTube Playlist

One of the albums in the legendary career of Ray Stevens that will always get a lot of focus happens to be 1974's comedy album, Boogity Boogity. Now, if you look at the album cover, you won't see the album title unless you take a look at the dust clouds on the lower right. The album, particularly on eBay and other online stores, is often mistakenly called Woosh!! given the prominent appearance of that phrase in the airbrushed portion of Ray's photo. The album is officially titled Boogity Boogity which happens to be a recurring phrase heard in "The Streak". In an example of where you'll hear the phrase: "here he comes (boogity boogity), there he goes (boogity boogity)...". The phrase is also performed by his backup singers at the end of almost every line in the song's chorus...and in other places in the song. The album, released in 1974, contains 9 comedy songs. The centerpiece of the album was obviously "The Streak" and much of the publicity surrounded that particular single. It was on this date in 1974 that Barnaby Records issued "The Streak" as a single. The fad of streaking (running around with no clothes on in public) dominated the local and national newscasts for most of 1974 although some archive news reports indicate streaking was something that had been happening randomly in and around college campuses for a few years but it wasn't until 1974, and the airing of the Oscar Awards telecast, that the fad became an almost daily, non-stop national news item. A streaker ran across the stage during a live Oscar telecast as David Niven was speaking at the podium. I've come across websites that debate whether or not the streaking was spontaneous or if it was planned by the production staff as an effort to generate a lot of post-Oscar publicity, not only for the ceremony, but for the Oscar organization itself. 

The argument centers around how the person was able to go from point A to point B, completely naked, with nobody trying to stop him backstage. 

Nevertheless, what happened caught the country by surprise and it launched a series of streaking songs by all types of acts...but, as we all know, it was the Ray Stevens recording that grabbed the attention. Ray has always said that he credits having the hit on streaking simply because he heard of the fad months before it became a national craze and that he had been working on the song prior to putting it out as a single. The actual recording of the song, Ray has often admitted, was rush released since streaking was such a topical issue that they wanted to get it out as soon as possible but the writing of the song, given Ray having had the chance to work on it weeks in advance, was certainly not rushed. "The Streak" hit the top of the Hot 100 in only a matter of weeks and sold more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide. It hit in Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, and several other English-speaking countries. It was also a hit on the Country music charts and the Adult-Contemporary chart. Practically every mainstream radio format was playing the song at one time or another in the spring of 1974.   

Now, as a longtime fan of Ray, I love all of the songs...not just the ones pushed as single releases. Yes, there was another song on this album that was issued as a single...the wonderful "Moonlight Special", a parody of the television series, Midnight Special. Since it wasn't based on a trend/fad or a topical subject matter it performed as most novelty songs performed in that decade. It sold well but it wasn't embraced in the same manner as "The Streak" happened to be. "Moonlight Special" hit the pop chart for a multi-week run, though. Some of the other songs on the 1974 album are: "Heart Transplant", "Smith and Jones", and "Don't Boogie Woogie". Ray closes the album with a non-comedy song. That song's title, "Just So Proud to Be Here", conjures up thoughts of Minnie Pearl. That was part of her opening line at her performances at the Opry and wherever else she performed. 

When you visit the YouTube playlist of Boogity Boogity you'll find that there's a 1966 video performance of "Freddie Feelgood" among the audio tracks. This 1966 performance from the Dick Clark show, Where The Action Is, was recently uploaded onto YouTube and Ray added it to the playlist. There used to be an audio track there. In keeping with Dick Clark's tradition/preference of lip-sync performances that's what we have in this 1966 appearance by Ray. Freddie's band consists of people playing air-instruments to Ray's vocal track. I don't know where the footage was shot but it's at an outdoors location. Here's the YouTube PLAYLIST. 

Ray Stevens: CabaRay concerts return in 5 weeks

Yes...you read the title of this blog entry correctly. In just 5 short weeks the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom will kick off the 2023 concert season. As in past seasons the concerts will heavily favor Saturday evenings and then expand to an occasional Thursday. The first concert of the 2023 season will take place on March 11th and when you visit the CabaRay website, for now, there's a large announcement across the screen advertising that the tickets are on sale. They went on sale less than a month ago back on January 11th...I wrote a blog about it...but now we're 5 weeks from that first concert of the year. 

I touched on the fact that this will be Ray's fourth full season of concerts at the CabaRay. 2018 and 2019 were full seasons whereas there wasn't much of a concert season at all in 2020 because of the pandemic and then there were a handful of concerts in the latter half of 2021. He returned to a full schedule of concerts in 2022 and now we're heading into the 2023 concert season. If you're doing the math right along with me this should've been his 6th consecutive concert season had the pandemic never happened. Purchase your tickets to the CabaRay by clicking HERE. 

Here's Ray performing "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" at the CabaRay. Now, keep in mind, this is just the performance area of the showroom. There's also a piano bar, gift shop, and numerous tables and chairs lining the hallway where fans can sit and talk. There's a balcony area, too, that overlooks the piano bar. Ray's trophy case is a sight to behold as are the dozens of photos and paintings that line the walls. Some of the paintings are by Bobby Goldsboro. 

Ray Stevens: Truckers Network Radio Interview

Hello to all of the fans of Ray Stevens! I just finished listening to a long form interview of Ray. For those that might wonder what the phrase 'long form' means it basically means the interview is longer than 'short form'. Okay, I'm trying to be cute...but in all seriousness the phrase 'long form' simply means that the interview is lengthy and it isn't rushed. I came across a link to this interview on a social media page...and the specifics state that the interview took place yesterday (January 20th). A podcast titled Truckers Network Radio hosted by Shelley Johnson, Tom Kelley, and Tom Kyrk. You will hear all three in addition to Ray Stevens during the long form interview. The episode's length of time is 54 minutes, 22 seconds and every minute and second of that podcast is filled completely. In the interview, which is subtitled A Walk Down Memory Lane, Ray discusses a lot of his history and touches on several of his recordings. In addition to recalling a lot of his recordings the host plays seven of Ray's recordings at various times throughout the interview. In a career that dates back to the late 1950s it is next to impossible to give everything a detailed going over...even in a long form interview...and so the hosts touch upon what a public may be familiar with or what they may not know when it comes to Ray Stevens. Toward the end of the interview they speak about his CabaRay showroom and that it'll re-open for the 2023 season in March. 

I took some notes while listening and was going to compose a detailed overview of the interview but then I decided against that at the last minute. I think a long form overview of a long form interview may discourage some from listening to the actual interview and it would therefore rob yourselves of hearing Ray personally answer all of the questions being asked and his recalling his 60+ year recording career...and so here is the LINK. You'll love every minute of the interview.  

The Ray Stevens recordings that the hosts play are:

Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills (2005 recording)

Misty (original 1975 recording)

Mississippi Squirrel Revival (1992 recording)

It's Me Again, Margaret (1992 recording)

The Streak (1992 recording)

Everything is Beautiful (1992 recording)

Gitarzan (1995 recording)  

Ray Stevens: Newest Musicians Hall of Fame Member...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! Tuesday was the big night...Ray Stevens became one of the newest members of the Musicians Hall of Fame. This is a Hall of Fame that recognizes musicians regardless of music format. Among the Class of 2022, in addition to Ray, were Vince Gill, Marty Stuart and his band The Fabulous Superlatives, and Don McLean plus several others. Music Row magazine and The Tennessean newspaper are just two online sites that provided an overview of Tuesday night's event. There were several photos that made the internet as well. I come across a couple of Ray. It was described that the Hall presented an extensive video documentary/retrospective of Ray's 60 plus years as a recording artist prior to the presentation of the medallion. As far as music goes it was reported that Ray sang "Everything is Beautiful" and "The Streak". There's a photo of Ray wearing his medallion but he's standing beside the person who arranged for the photo to be taken and I don't want to crop the other person out or post the photo without permission since Ray himself hasn't posted it to his social media yet...but it's on the Instagram page of Tim Hibbs. His screen name over there is thibbs111 for those interested in seeing a photo of Ray and his Musicians Hall of Fame medallion. I have no idea if the event was recorded for playback at a later date or not. Since we weren't able to see the event I don't have much details or anything specific that I can add other than what was reported by The Tennessean and a few other online outlets. 

Ray Stevens: 8 Days Until Musicians Hall of Fame Induction...

Hello Ray Stevens fans!! The news broke a couple of weeks ago that Ray Stevens would be one of the newest members of the Musicians Hall of Fame. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 22 which is next Tuesday...so we're just 8 days away. I wrote a blog entry back on October 30th promoting the breaking news of Ray's upcoming induction and time flies as we find ourselves 8 days from the induction ceremony. 

It was in November 2020 that the late founder of the Musicians Hall of Fame, Joe Chambers, conducted an in-depth interview with Ray. That interview is on YouTube and I've posted it in a previous blog entry or two. It was in that interview where Ray not only revealed that he'd recently signed a lengthy contract with Curb Records but it was also revealed that he'd be releasing a 4-CD box set. This project, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, had quite a lengthy run on Amazon's top seller lists in 2021. It placed among the top selling Country titles as well as the top selling Soundtrack titles. I questioned on here as to why Amazon would place a box set, which had nothing to do with a film or TV soundtrack, on a list of top selling Soundtracks. I made a guess back then that Amazon placed it among the Soundtrack top sellers because the box set has the sub-title of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. It seems so obvious looking back now...but back then it was a mini-crisis on my part until it dawned on me that the box set's sub-title had something to do with it. The 4-CD box set peaked in the Top-30 on the Amazon Soundtrack top sellers list and the Top-40 in the Amazon Country list. The box set was released in the summer of 2021. Each CD in the box set can also be purchased/downloaded separately. It's available as a physical album as well as a digital download album. The physical album comes complete with musician credits, songwriter credits, production credits, and arrangement credits in each CD's fold-out cover. 

I am still trying to find out if the November 22nd ceremony will be streamed online or if it'll be recorded and played at a later date. Maybe aired on a TV station? RFD-TV? Circle TV? As a fan of Ray Stevens, as I'm guessing you are, too, we want to see some photos from the ceremony and see whatever plaque or medallion, etc. gets presented to Ray Stevens on induction night. It's the 7th Annual Musicians Hall of Fame Concert and Induction Ceremony. Their website features a promo for the upcoming November 22nd ceremony but in the Inductee's section it cuts off at the previous ceremony and so, my guess, once the upcoming ceremony concludes next Tuesday their website will be updated and show the newest members inducted to the Musicians Hall of Fame. 

This particular Hall of Fame is non-partisan...it doesn't single out any specific music format to honor. It's a Hall of Fame for musicians and those who literally make the music (songwriters, musicians, recording engineers, producers) and it relies less on those who sing the songs. Now, obviously, there are so many singer-songwriters that have come and gone in all forms of music and so it's natural that a lot of recording artists are members of the Musicians Hall of Fame by virtue of the fact that they're musicians, too. Ray Stevens is one of the unique ones in that he not only is a singer but he's also a songwriter, a musician, a record producer, a music arranger, a music publisher, and a music video performer. In songwriting it gets broken down into two areas: composer and lyricist. Ray can do both. He can read and write music (the role of a composer) and he can obviously write lyrics (the role of a lyricist). 

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 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: The Online Valentine's Discount Sale...

Hello all you fans of Ray Stevens!! Have you been shopping on Ray's online store? The Valentine's Discount Sale is currently underway...it began on February 4th and runs through February 14th. There's a 15 percent discount on all items...this includes CDs, DVDs, clothing, hats, T-shirts, books...any item for sale at his online store will be marked down 15 percent. Some of the items, in my opinion, may become unavailable for purchase as the year moves on as I think Ray will add in a lot more merchandise. Sometimes these discount sales lead to an overhaul of the inventory. Some items that have been a feature in the online store may make way for all new products. One never knows. As of now there's a wide variety of items to choose from. Some people wait for these kinds of discount sales to take place so they can purchase some of the more expensive items at a discount price. The 9-CD Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music, for example, is an item that's available but the sales price is no longer visible. When you visit his online store you'll see that there isn't a list price. A price will appear once a customer adds it to their shopping cart. I purchased my copy in 2012. This marks the 10th anniversary of that mammoth box set's release. Time flies!! You can access Ray's online store by clicking HERE. 

In the CD section you'll see the releases listed from most recent to oldest. Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore is his most recent album...preceded by Iconic Songs of the 20th Century, a 4-CD box set. Ray returns to the concert stage next month...the CabaRay will kick off it's 4th season. I don't know what the rest of this month holds in store. I don't know if Ray will put out any new recording, music video, or release any news concerning upcoming album releases or if he'll wait until the day of the CabaRay's first concert of the new season to release that kind of information. The moment I hear of upcoming music or appearances from Ray Stevens I'll be blogging about it. 

Ray Stevens: Vintage Performance Photo...

This Ray Stevens photo is a new one for me. It appeared earlier today on his social media. I cropped the photo so that it would focus more on Ray instead of the background. As you can see he's wearing a top hat with CAT written across the front. Yes, you guessed correctly, he's performing "The Streak" and given his appearance I'd say it's from anywhere between the years 1974 and 1977...I'd strongly suggest it's from 1977 but it's difficult to tell, actually. I don't know at what point Ray incorporated the top hat into the performance...meaning that I don't know if it's something he's done since the song was released in 1974 or if it's something he decided to do to garner more laughs as the years went by. The idea of having the CAT brand on a top hat is comical. The yellow CAT hat is something he's often used as a visual during "The Streak" but, as mentioned, I don't know at what point in time he began putting on the CAT top hat. The unedited photo has a background indicating the sponsor of the concert and part of the word, Palomino, is visible. Once I seen this I began thinking that this must be a performance at The Palomino Club...a venue that used to exist in Los Angeles. It was notable for being one of the few nightclubs on the West Coast centering around country music in the '50s, '60s, and '70s before country began to see much more broad acceptance beginning in the mid and late '80s. The venue closed in 1995 simply because so many other country music clubs and performance venues began popping up...creating a lot of competition that previously didn't exist. An audio clip of "The Streak" is below...

Ray Stevens sings "The Streak"...

On March 27, 1974 Ray Stevens released "The Streak". Little did he nor his fan's know that "The Streak" would take on a life of it's own in the 47 years since. Ray got the idea for the song when he was skimming through a weekly news magazine during a flight from Los Angeles to Nashville. In the final pages of a magazine he'd read a small news item where it made mention of a college kid that took off his clothes and ran through a crowd and it was called streaking. According to Ray's recollections he immediately began writing ideas for the song. Once he seen the local newscasts on television all he recalls is seeing stories about streaking and how it's taking over college campuses all over America. Ray wrote "The Streak" and Barnaby Records issued it on March 27, 1974. An international news event occurred at the Academy Awards telecast on April 2, 1974...a streaker ran across the stage behind actor, David Niven. Although there were more than 50 novelty songs out capitalizing on streaking it was Ray's that emerged as the biggest hit. The single debuted on the Hot 100 on April 6, 1974 and thanks to the Academy Awards incident and streaking, in general, "The Streak" literally streaked up the Hot 100 pop chart. It hit the top in it's 7th week, May 18th, and remained at number one for three weeks. It was the number one pop song in America on May 18th, May 25th, and June 1st. It crossed over and hit the Top-10 on the Country chart. It was also an international hit peaking at the top in the United Kingdom and in the Top-10 and Top-40 of other English-speaking countries. The single also sold more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide. 

In recent concert appearances Ray sings "The Streak" almost exactly the way he recorded it but for a number of decades, notably the mid '70s through the early '90s, he elaborated on the song and would perform it in concert with an operatic addition. He would open the song with the action news reporter and the witness but then he'd stop the performance and tell the audience that some humorless critics have often said the song had no class. So, in order to please the critics, he decided to perform the song in operatic fashion. After about a minute of operatic splendor he'd revert back to how the song should be performed. In those performances one of the recurring sight gags was Ray putting on a yellow CAT hat every time he'd play the part of the witness who'd tell his wife, Ethel, not to look. Don't Look, Ethel is one of several catch-phrases synonymous with Ray. However, in this performance from 2015, he performs "The Streak" as it was originally recorded, give or take an added line here or there, but there's no CAT hat involvement.

Ray Stevens is the GOAT!

Yes oh yes Ray Stevens is the GOAT!! We've been hearing that acronym for a number of years...it means Greatest of All-Time...and it's most often applied to athletes. The acronym had the lion's share of coverage in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl this year. The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was played yesterday evening. Well, all over sports media the GOAT acronym was being bestowed upon the Tampa Bay quarterback who'd previously spent nearly 20 years with New England Patriots. In the realm of country comedy/southern humor Ray Stevens is the GOAT. Enshrinement into the Country Music Hall of Fame had been elusive for a number of years but he ultimately was elected as a member in 2019...after having sold millions of singles, albums, home videos, DVD, and after racking up millions of unique views of his on-line music videos. He not only is the GOAT but he can do vocal impressions of apes, pigs, cows, and chickens, too. 

In keeping with the overall theme of the GOAT and Tampa Bay I'm going to do something rare and embed an audio clip of a Ray Stevens song that doesn't come from Ray's official YouTube channel. This audio clip is of a song Ray recorded in 1980, "You're Never Goin' To Tampa With Me". The song isn't necessarily about Tampa Bay, Florida but within the song's lyrics several Florida cities are mentioned and the story takes place in Florida...but once you hear it you'll understand that it isn't a song that's all about Tampa Bay. It's a cleverly written song.

"You're Never Goin' To Tampa With Me", as you can tell from the screen cap in the video, comes from Ray's 1980 comedy album, Shriner's Convention. In addition to my believing Ray Stevens to be the GOAT of country comedy, and, in addition to this song having lyrical mentions of Florida, there was a stoppage of play in the Super Bowl yesterday when a partial streaker ran on the field! By partial I mean the guy was wearing what looked like a pink bathing suit with black shorts. As he ran down the field he began removing the shorts and I believe, if he hadn't been tackled near the end zone, he'd have slipped off the pink suit. The CBS television broadcasters didn't give him much notice...as they didn't want to legitimize the moment...but the national radio broadcaster, Kevin Harlan, did a play-by-play of the streaker running down the field describing how he was evading and dodging security guards from the left and the right side of the field until finally being tackled a few inches shy of the end zone. What will perhaps be a memorable play-by-play is his hollering at the streaker from the broadcast booth to pull up his pants and be a man. Kevin's broadcast is on YouTube. 

Almost immediately after this incident happened at the Super Bowl the various social media sites were linking it to Ray's 1974 hit, "The Streak", and sharing the 1992 music video Ray put together. It was surreal was it was happening. I was watching the game and all of the sudden I hear a roar and cheer from the limited audience and the television broadcaster said someone had gotten onto the field. The camera was taping what was going on, but only briefly, and then the camera began panning over the football players as the off-camera activity was going on. As mentioned in my previous paragraph the television broadcast didn't make much of it but Kevin Harlan's radio broadcast gave the listeners a play-by-play of how the partial streaker almost scored a touchdown. 

Now, then, Ray Stevens is in my opinion the GOAT when it comes to country/southern comedy. So, of course, I'm closing out this blog entry with Ray's 1992 music video of "The Streak" since it uniquely fits into the overall conversation of the Super Bowl, Tampa Bay, and streaking...

 

Ray Stevens: The Pictorial Timeline...

Oh yes, that's a rather odd title for this blog entry but I decided I'd put some emphasis on the pictorial timeline that runs along the right hand side of the blog page. If you're familiar with my blog entries or if you've read some of the captions underneath those images off to the right you'll know I have a copy of all studio albums that Ray Stevens has recorded. As you can see I don't have an image of every studio album posted on the right hand side of the blog page. I randomly chose images of his albums and singles to post on the blog page. I didn't want to post a visual discography because I felt that the fans of Ray Stevens can easily find out for themselves what the imagery on his albums look like by doing an on-line image search. That is why I'm not going to have a visual discography of his albums...only randomly chosen releases...but I notice there's been a lengthy gap in the pictorial timeline for a number of months/years. 

There's a gap between 1995 and 2012 on the pictorial timeline. It had me thinking that some people who visit the blog entry may assume that Ray didn't put out any music during that time period...so I'll be adding some imagery from those missing years so that there won't be such a gap. I'm sure by the time some people come across this blog entry I will already have images posted from the years between 1995 and 2012 and you'll probably think they've always been part of the blog. If that's the case this particular blog entry will tell you otherwise.    

Ray dramatically decreased his audio output in the 1990s and focused instead on VHS/music video productions. In the 2000s DVDs became the preferred choice of home entertainment and so along come a number of DVD releases from Ray...most of those being limited animation music videos. Then, in July 2009, his YouTube video channel came on-line...and in the years since 2009 most of his activity has been geared toward on-line music video content. He's uploaded almost all of the music video content from his VHS and DVD releases onto his YouTube channel in addition to uploading content only available on-line. As of this writing his video uploads have collectively received more than 130,000,000 unique views. 134,226,440 to be specific! In the photo below, which I believe is from 1994, Ray displays the Music City News trophy for Comedian of the Year. If this photo is indeed from that year it was his final win in that category. He'd won Comedian of the Year from the readers of Music City News magazine every year since 1986...and 1994 was his 9th consecutive win. 

Ray's continued to issue audio recordings onto CD and Mp3 but, if you were to compare music video releases to audio recordings, the music video releases would far outnumber the CD/Mp3 output. It's just a reflection of the times we find ourselves in. The public at large prefers to get their music and entertainment on-line through some sort of an app or from an on-line music store...and there's hardly any desire for physical copies of a CD anymore. Now, speaking for myself, I will still purchase a CD of music if it's available. I don't shun the CD in favor of a digital download...if there's CD availability of a Ray Stevens project I'll purchase the CD and more likely than not I'll also purchase the Mp3 copy. Some people won't buy a CD since they can instantly buy the music through their computer or cellphone. A generation of music consumers have grown up purchasing their music through an on-line music site. 

A couple of blog entries ago I posted a Ray Stevens Discography of his studio albums and some of the compilation albums that have been issued. There have been dozens upon dozens of compilation albums over the decades...many of which were out of Ray's control. I actually came across a website more than 10 years ago where people on a message board thought Ray, himself, was flooding the market with Greatest Hits and The Very Best of Ray Stevens albums. The people at that message board had no idea that recording artists don't own their recordings...the master copy of a song belongs to whatever record label the singer recorded it for. The peak of compilation album releases of Ray Stevens from all kinds of music companies, both foreign and domestic, seemed to occur in the latter half of the 1990's. Varese Sarabande was one of the last record companies that issued several Ray Stevens compilations in the late '90s and into the early 2000's but since then the compilation releases of Ray's songs slowed down considerably. Jasmine Records issued an overview of Ray's Mercury Records recordings plus the single releases from Ray going back to 1957. That collection, released in 2014, is called Ahab, Jeremiah, Sgt. Preston and More...The Early Years of Ray Stevens. It's a great collection...and a lot of effort was put into it! 

Ray Stevens: Happy Birthday to the Legend...

The one and only...the legendary Ray Stevens celebrates a birthday today!! The Living Legend, born January 24th 1939 reaches 82 today! I find myself having to correct my words as I type because I'm so anxious...typing errors that I have to backtrack and correct due to my excitement. Some of you reading this are no doubt wondering if I'm in need of observation...you're probably thinking: "What in the world?? How can anyone get so excited over someone's birthday...especially when it's not even a family member??". I'm not excited in a familial way...but I do get excited because we're celebrating the birth of Ray Stevens and his music's meant a lot to me and I'm sure it's meant a lot to so many other people over the decades in some way or another. Ray's music provided me something of an escape from reality...even if he happened to be singing a topical song or social commentary I was always in another world when listening to Ray Stevens songs. I loved comedy movies and sitcoms as a kid and so I naturally gravitated toward comedy songs, too. I like my share of non-comedy, too...but Ray was the first singer I'd ever heard that sang songs that were funny and that plays a part in why I'm such a big fan. I like listening to his songs...all of the songs he's recorded...some only know of him for a couple of songs or some know of him as a 'comedy singer' but they couldn't tell you anything he's recorded...they're missing out on so much more by limiting Ray to just comedy. I've got every studio album Ray Stevens has ever released. 

Some may ask what's a studio album?? A studio album is a collection of songs that haven't appeared anywhere else. A studio album is different than a compilation album. A compilation album will contain songs from the artist that's previously been released on other albums. A studio album is meant to be a collection of songs exclusive to that release...but songs from the studio album later on may appear on a Greatest Hits or Very Best Of collection in the future. I have Ray's first studio album, released in 1962 on Mercury Records, on the CD in the photo above. That 1962 album, titled 1,837 Seconds of Humor, is paired with his second Mercury Records album from 1963, This is Ray Stevens. Ray wouldn't have another studio album available until 1968 on Monument Records. That album is titled Even Stevens. Some of the early Ray Stevens songs on Mercury and Monument include "Ahab the Arab", "Jeremiah Peabody's Green and Purple Pills", "Rockin' Teenage Mummies", "Mr. Baker the Undertaker", "Make a Few Memories", "Mr. Businessman", "Gitarzan", "Have a Little Talk With Myself", and "Sir Thanks a Lot".

Do you have any Ray Stevens songs in your personal collection? Do you have any of his vinyl albums, cassette tapes, CDs, or Mp3 downloads? Did you know he's been in the music industry since 1957? The record labels he recorded for prior to joining Mercury in 1961 were Prep (1957), Capitol (1958), and NRC (1959-1960). Some of his songs from that late '50s time period are "My Heart Cries For You", "That's What She Means to Me", "Rang Tang Ding Dong I'm the Japanese Sandman", "Cat Pants", "Silver Bracelet", "School", and "What Would I Do Without You?". That's a whole lot of music to take in...but to document it is very simple. His single discography is much longer than his album discography. When I look over his album discography I don't factor in compilation albums that weren't contractually released. Import albums from overseas, for example, that get a release in America aren't contractually obligated projects and so I omit those collections...unless it's a collection that features something obscure/rare from the vaults. Ray comes from an era where recording artists released singles...an album would come along only if a single release became a hit...either on the radio or through sales generated by advertisements or word of mouth. Now, this wasn't a written in stone rule. Some artists preferred to release singles rather than long-playing albums. The thinking being that an album's worth of songs by the same singer would only appeal to the most rabid of fans and not a general audience. Record companies tended to prefer album releases because they cost more...singles cost less from a consumer. That's quite a cynical statement wasn't it? I'm sure not all record companies had that intention but I'd say the majority of record companies gladly welcomed in the money generated from album sales rather than single sales. Also, albums featured a bulk of non-commercial recordings by an artist...and there happened to be a rise in radio stations that specialized in playing album songs rather than single releases. So, in theory, a listener would hear a song and may want to buy it...but since it wasn't available on a single a consumer would have to buy the entire album for just one song. In the course of time this practice backfired...which is why music consumers reverted back to purchasing singles again...this time Mp3 singles...rather than entire Mp3 albums.    

I've always seen things from a different perspective. If Ray Stevens issues an Mp3 single I'll purchase it and then, once the Mp3 album featuring that single is released, I'll purchase that too!! That's how much I like the songs of Ray Stevens!! In the photo above it's me, showing off not only the CAT hat, but the 1976 Ray Stevens album, Just for the Record. I was thinking about posting a photo of myself with all of my Ray Stevens vinyl studio albums and put them in this birthday blog entry but then I decided not to do such a thing. I didn't want to drag out all of the vinyl albums...even though they're four or five steps away from me...I decided to just post a couple of randomly chosen photos of myself and some of my vinyl Ray Stevens albums from my collection. I'm sure on Ray's social media sites there will be birthday commentary. In previous birthday posts there's a photo of him and the birthday cake...sometimes it's one piece on a saucer with a lit candle. If there's any such photo or video posted I'll save it for a future blog entry. Since it's Ray Stevens birthday here's a check-list of studio albums from Ray that have been issued since 1962. If you don't have any of these Ray Stevens studio albums in your personal collection do yourselves a favor and purchase whatever's available and give them a listen.

1962: 1,837 Seconds of Humor (Mercury)

1963: This is Ray Stevens (Mercury)

1968: Even Stevens (Monument)

1969: Gitarzan (Monument)

1969: Have a Little Talk With Myself (Monument)

1970: Everything is Beautiful (Barnaby)

1970: Unreal (Barnaby)

1972: Turn Your Radio On (Barnaby)

1973: Nashville (Barnaby)

1973: Losin' Streak (Barnaby)

1974: Boogity-Boogity (Barnaby)

1975: Misty (Barnaby)

1976: Just for the Record (Warner Brothers)

1977: Feel the Music (Warner Brothers)

1978: There is Something On Your Mind (Warner Brothers)

1978: Be Your Own Best Friend (Warner Brothers)

1979: The Feeling's Not Right Again* (Warner Brothers)

1980: Shriner's Convention (RCA)

1981: One More Last Chance (RCA)

1982: Don't Laugh Now (RCA)

1983: Me (Mercury)

1984: He Thinks He's Ray Stevens (MCA; Platinum certification)

1985: I Have Returned (MCA; Gold certification)

1986: Surely You Joust (MCA)

1987: Greatest Hits (MCA; Platinum certification)

1987: Crackin' Up (MCA)

1987: Get The Best of Ray Stevens (MCA; 2-LP television album)

1987: Greatest Hits, Volume Two (MCA; Gold certification)

1988: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like (MCA)

1989: Beside Myself (MCA)

1990: His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits (Curb; Gold certification)

1990: Lend Me Your Ears (Curb/Capitol)

1991: Number One with a Bullet (Curb/Capitol)

1991: Greatest Hits (Curb; contains "There's a Star Spangled Banner" with new lyrics)

1993: Classic Ray Stevens (Curb; all-new songs in spite of the album title)

1997: Hum It (MCA)

1997: Christmas Through a Different Window (MCA)

2000: Ear Candy (Clyde)

2002: Osama Yo' Mama (Curb; most of the tracks previously released on 'Ear Candy')

2004: Thank You (Clyde)

2005: Box Set** (Clyde)

2007: New Orleans Moon (Clyde)

2008: Hurricane (Clyde)

2008: Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?!? (Clyde)

2009: One for the Road (Clyde)

2009: Ray Stevens Christmas (Clyde)

2010: We The People (Clyde)

2011: Spirit of '76 (Clyde)

2012: Such a Night...50 Years of Hits and Hilarity (Clyde; CD version of DVD concert)

2012: Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music (Clyde)

2014: Gospel Collection, Volume One (Gaither Productions)

2015: Here We Go Again! (Player Records)

2016: Just a Closer Walk With Thee/Gospel Favorites (Green Hill Productions)

2016: Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me (CabaRay Entertainment)

The 1979 album is a compilation album with, at the time, one new song. I listed it in the discography because the new song, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", played a factor in the album's cover design and the album's title. The 1987 greatest hits collections are featured because they were certified for Gold and Platinum sales as was the 1990 release, His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits. I highlighted the compilation release in 1991 because it features a newly recorded and largely re-written version of "There's a Star Spangled Banner" that was exclusive, at the time, to that collection. The song had previously appeared on his 1989 MCA studio album with a different storyline. The 2005 album contained several never before available recordings from Ray among the collection. "Kitty Cat's Revenge", "Driver's Education", "Family Funeral Fight", "The Cat Song", and two single-only recordings making their debut on an album release: "When The Kids Are Gone" and "We're Havin' a Baby The Natural Way". 

Ray hasn't released a studio album since 2016 even though he's been active with video content on-line and he keeps his name out there through his social media sites. In the period between mid 2015 and 2020, a big amount of his time was devoted, at first, to the production of his CabaRay Nashville television series. The show was originally titled Ray Stevens' Nashville until it's title was changed to Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville. Ray was also promoting his 2014 memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville. He was incredibly busy to put it mildly. Ray also had his upcoming showroom under construction throughout 2016 and 2017. The CabaRay showroom opened up for concerts in January 2018. In 2019 Ray was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He signed with Curb Records a couple of months ago (late 2020) and his first release was a 50th anniversary rendition of "Everything is Beautiful" (an Mp3 single release and a music video) and then the record label issued an Mp3 single of "The Quarantine Song" last month (a music video had previously been released in May 2020). On this Ray Stevens birthday we all wish him a Happy Birthday! We also hope to hear some brand new Ray Stevens songs in 2021. An interview Ray gave with the Musicians Hall of Fame last year featured some news about a massive box set-type of project that Ray is finished with but it hasn't been given a release date. Curb Records will handle the release and distribution of the project. I can't wait to listen to it!!  

Ray Stevens: September 1978 concert review...

Oh hello...I'm writing a second blog entry of the day and in this one I'm focusing on a September 1978 concert review that appeared in a publication called The Chattahoochee Magazine. The article/review, specifically, appeared on September 3, 1978 and it was written by an author named Whit Perry. The magazine, I assume, was sold as an extra feature within the newspaper being sold in Columbus, Georgia at the time. Regional TV Guides used to accompany the newspaper in this area and so I'm thinking The Chattahoochee Magazine was one of those kinds of publications. In case you're wondering I hadn't found out any information about the publication on-line so it must've been the kind of publication that I'm assuming it to be. I wouldn't have known of this publication's existence had it not been for a 1978 Ray Stevens concert review being shared on-line today through his social media sites. The review singles out a lot of things that took place during Ray's concert and the author shares some quotes from the stand-up comedy Ray interspersed into the concert. He notes how some of the lyrics are changed in the "Misty" performance. The author also provides a backstory of Ray's rise to fame and how "Ahab the Arab" made him a nationally known performer. The author writes of Ray's parents and brother greeting Ray once he walks off-stage and into the media area. The article, as mentioned, comes from a September 1978 publication and the thing that caught my eye is the caricatured illustration of Ray has him clean shaven. One would think the bearded look of Ray, as you see on the 1978 album Be Your Own Best Friend, would've been the most familiar Ray Stevens image when this article was published...but the artist chose a clean shaven depiction of Ray Stevens to accompany the article... 

The signature of the caricaturist is scribbled underneath the image and I can't figure out the artist's name...but the caricature of Ray Stevens sitting on Clyde the camel accompanies the concert review from September 1978. You can read the 1978 article/review when you visit Ray's Facebook PAGE. If you're reading this blog entry after January 14th then, of course, once you open Ray's Facebook page search for his January 14th posts and you'll come across The Chattahoochee Magazine images. When you click on the Facebook image, right click, and then select 'open image in new tab'. Once you do that you can magnify/enlarge the article and you can read what Whit Perry wrote. He dissects the entire concert and mentions that during a gospel music segment of the concert Ray makes mention of church groups he used to listen to and he spoke of people named Thurman and Virgil. This review coming in September 1978 that means it's several years before Ray recorded "The Dooright Family", in 1980, a satiric spoof of southern gospel performers. Yes, in that song, for those that haven't heard it, two of the characters are named Brother Thurman and Brother Virgil. So, for me, reading the concert review was a revelation. Also, the author mentions several songs Ray performed...including the elaborate performances of "Ahab the Arab" and "The Streak". The author mentions that Ray got the audience into fits of laughter at one point in the concert before turning abruptly serious with a performance of "Mr. Businessman". Interestingly the author never made mention of "Everything is Beautiful" being performed. He writes that Ray opened the show with "Can't Stop Dancin'" and closed the show with "Goodnight, Sweetheart" as an encore but didn't mention whether or not Ray sang "Everything is Beautiful". I'm sure Ray included it in his concerts at that time...but to not see it mentioned in a concert review is odd. Something else that caught my attention is there isn't any reference to Ray's 1976 Top-20 hit, "You Are So Beautiful", which I thought would've been part of the concert set-list during that period of Ray's career.

Ray was signed to Warner Brothers at the time of this concert...and within the concert review it was mentioned that Ray spoke of Flav-O-Rich, a dairy company that he was a spokesman for from the mid 1970s into the mid 1980s. Meanwhile, the caricature of Ray is very good in case I hadn't mentioned so already. It's difficult to find concert reviews of Ray from this period of his career. I've done all kinds of on-line searches during the last 10 plus years and occasionally I'll come across a stray concert review in the on-line archives of newspapers from the early or mid '70s or the mid '80s but that's about it. I rarely find a thorough concert review like the one Whit Perry authored in September 1978. 

Ray Stevens: Let's revisit Ray and the Country Music Hall of Fame...

Hello one and all!! I was doing my usual on-line searches and came across a radio station website that had uploaded an audio interview of Ray Stevens from last year. The time stamp on the radio station page is November 9, 2020. I'm assuming it's more or less a lookback, of sorts, on the part of the radio station...re-posting an audio interview conducted with Ray last year. When you listen to the audio clip you'll hear Ray being introduced as a Country Music Hall of Fame member-elect. This phrase is used to describe those that have been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, informally, and then later in the year those members will formally be inducted at the Medallion Ceremony. Ray was formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 2019. The radio station goes by the name The Possum and it's located at 96.3 FM on the radio dial. Ray's audio interview is part of that radio station's 'Member Monday' feature. I hadn't done any research but it's probably referring to the Country Music Hall of Fame members and in that feature they either pay tribute to, or air audio clips of, whatever member of the Country Music Hall of Fame they decide. 

Ray Stevens...an entertainer for more than 60 years...with a lengthy list of memorable and eye-catching recordings!! I'm sure some of these are your all-time favorites. He's recorded so many great songs over the decades: "Special Anniversary", "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right", "I'll Be in Atlanta", "Melt", "Cornball", "Make a Few Memories", "The Streak", "Everything is Beautiful", "Dear America", "It's Me Again, Margaret", "Misty", "Where The Sun Don't Shine", "Gitarzan", "Mama's in the Sky With Elvis", "Ahab the Arab", "The Dooright Family", "Sunset Strip", "Feel the Music", "Marion Michael Morrison", "Caribou  Barbie", "One More Last Chance", "Dixie Hummingbird", "The Moonlight Special", "Sittin' Up With the Dead", "A Mama and a Papa", "Southern Air (duet with Jerry Clower and Minnie Pearl)", "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival", "Golden Age", "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me", "Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens", "Dream, Girl", "My Dad", "Thank You", "Have a Little Talk With Myself",  "A Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee", "Bridget the Midget the Queen of the Blues", "Party People", "Mama Sang Bass (duet with J.D. Sumner)", "Game Show Love", "Mr. Businessman", "Your Bozo's Back Again", "We the People", "Save Me From Myself", "Shriner's Convention", "I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O.", "Honky Tonk Waltz", "Bionie and the Robotics", "Talking", "Obama Nation", "Kiss a Pig", "You're Magic", "Love Will Beat Your Brains Out", "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?", "Come to the U.S.A.", "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", "Obama Budget Plan", "Night Games", "Grandpa Voted Democrat", "Nashville", "Isn't It Lonely Together", "The Pirate Song", "America, Communicate With Me", and "The Quarantine Song"...and with those song titles I'm just scratching the surface when it comes to my all-time favorites!! I guess just about anything I've heard from Ray is an all-time favorite. 

You can find the audio interview with Ray Stevens, from some point in 2019, when you click the radio station website HERE.