 Ray Stevens just thinks funny. His humor is keenly observant and rich in nuance. His style is unaffected and unpretentious which for the past fifty years has allowed for entertainment that is both witty and guileless. From his multi-million selling comedy hit, “The Streak” to the socially aware “Mr. Businessman” to his Grammy award winning pop standard “Everything Is Beautiful” his talent has touched so many.
Ray Stevens was born Harold Ray Ragsdale in Clarkdale, Georgia on January 24, 1939.
As a seven year old taking piano lessons Ray had a realization, and in his own words, “It all made sense.” From that time on music was his life.
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In 1957 while Ray was still in high school he made his first trip to Nashville and recorded his first track, “Silver Bracelet”, at the now historic RCA “B” studio. It was on that trip that he met Chet Atkins, who was the head of A&R for RCA and a lasting friendship was formed.
1969 would result in a year of phenomenal releases from Ray. As always the music was drawn from all styles of music. The jungle band comedy “Gitarzan” returned him to the pop charts top ten. On the country front he recognized the talent of a young Nashville writer and became the first artist to record Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” Later in 1969 he hit the pop charts again with a revival of the old Coaster Pop/R&B hit, “Along Came Jones.” Ray brought us the pop classic “Everything is Beautiful” the insightful “Mr. Businessman” and the Grammy Award winning arrangement of “Misty”. He has memorably spoofed everything from Tarzan movies to trendy crazes and he brought us his very own comedy classics. Ray’s genre of music is one of his own making. It spans from pop, country, rock and comedy and it is truly his own.
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Covid 19 "During the COVID Quarantine Period Ray’s CabaRay Showroom had to be closed like most performance venues, but Ray kept busy. He released the comedic “The Quarantine Song” which received millions of online views and also recorded 5 new albums for Curb Records." Ray Stevens Website |
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