Catching Up With Ray Stevens. God Bless the Man! (part one)

As of 2010, Ray Stevens has 54 years in the music business under his belt. He is a Multi-platinum recording artist, songwriter and two-time Grammy winner (with 11 nominees). He has sold over 25 million albums and over 4 million videos throughout his notable career. But my kids have never heard of him, and my wife doesn't remember him!

I believe he belongs up on the Mount Rushmore of novelty song recording artists, right up there with "Weird Al" Yankovic and Allan Sherman. Ray Stevens has enjoyed an impressively extensive career, producing a string of charting singles (ten in the U.S. Top 40) spanning over 40 years. But unlike Sherman and Yankovic, Stevens made his mark recording original material, usually satirizing pop culture of the day. And though he had a character that gushed silliness and absurdity, he was a legitimately talented performer as well as a producer of pop and country music. His resume is quite impressive, from working closely with Chet Atkins and Elvis Presley (Did you know he produced Elvis' last hit?) to producing newcomers Dolly Parton and B.J. Thomas.

After he had signed on to Barnaby Records which was Andy Williams' record label, he spent three days in his basement and penned his first number one hit "Everything Is Beautiful".  The connection with Andy's television program and his own variety show gave Ray the exposure to accelerate his career.  He did quite well in both musical genres, but he will be forever remembered for his countless "novelty songs". You can read his discography in several places, but some of my favorites were "Ahab the Arab", "Freddie Feelgood (And His Funky Little Five Piece Band)", "Gitarzan", "Along Came Jones", "Bridget the Midget (The Queen Of the Blues)", "In the Mood", and "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow". But "The Streak" is probably his biggest and most known single. I remember buying that 45 in April 1974 off the music rack at Zody's in Buena Park, and after I wore that record out, my dad bought the album and gave it to me as a present. That album, Boogity Boogity, remains my favorite -- more than likely for it's sentimental value because it came from my dad.

There's more, but I'll post it tomorrow... TO BE CONTINUED...

Be good out there,
Dean