It's me again magret!	Sittin' Up With The Dead	Gourmet Restaurant	Shriners Convention
Mutant Kung Fu Chickens		Ahab the Arab	New Battle Of New Orleans

 

RAY STEVENS WAS BORN HAROLD RAY RAGSDALE IN CLARKSDALE, GEORGIA ON JANUARY 24, 1939. HE STARTED TAKING PIANO LESSONS AT THE AGE OF SIX. WHEN HE WAS TEN, HIS FAMILY MOVED TO THE TOWN OF ALBANY, GEORGIA WHERE AS A TEENAGER STEVENS WOULD WORK AS A RADIO DEEJAY ON THE WEEKENDS AND PLAY IN BANDS ON THE SIDE. HE LATER STUDIED MUSIC THEORY AND COMPOSITION AT GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, EVENTUALLY BECOMING A CLASSICAL PIANIST AND CHANGING HIS NAME TO RAY STEVENS.


AROUND 1957, ATLANTA MUSIC PUBLISHER BILL LOWERY SEES STEVENS PLAYING IN A LOCAL BAND ("THE BARONS") AND DOING COMEDY ROUTINES BETWEEN THE BAND'S SETS. LOWERY SIGNS STEVENS TO HIS PUBLISHING COMPANY AND HELPS HIM GET A RECORD DEAL WITH CAPITOL RECORDS. STEVENS RELEASED SIX SINGLES FOR CAPITOL BEFORE BEING SIGNED TO NRC RECORDS IN 1959. HIS THIRD SINGLE FOR NRC, "SGT. PRESTON OF THE YUKON", GAINED AIRPLAY AS A REGIONAL HIT. MERCURY RECORDS SIGNED HIM IN 1961 AND THE COMPANY'S LABEL DEPARTMENT HAD TO USE A NEW, MINIATURE TYPEFACE TO FIT THE ENTIRE SONG TITLE OF HIS FIRST SINGLE ONTO THE 45 RPM LABEL. THE SONG TITLE? "JEREMIAH PEABODY'S POLY UNSATURATED QUICK DISSOLVING FAST ACTING PLEASANT TASTING GREEN AND PURPLE PILLS"!! THE SONG BECOMES STEVENS' FIRST TOP 40 HIT, REACHING THE POSITION OF 35 IN SEPTEMBER OF 1961.

STEVENS MOVED TO NASHVILLE IN 1962 AND WORKED AS A SESSION MUSICIAN. SHORTLY AFTER THIS MOVE, HE RECORDED THE SONG THAT WOULD MAKE HIM A STAR, "AHAB THE ARAB", WHICH WOULD CLIMB THE CHARTS AND PEAK AT NUMBER FIVE IN JULY OF 1962. STEVENS WENT ON TO RECORD MANY OTHER NOVELTY HITS DURING THE 1960S AND 1970S SUCH AS "HARRY THE HAIRY APE", "GITARZAN", "BRIDGET THE MIDGET", "FREDDIE FEELGOOD" AND "THE STREAK" TO NAME A FEW. STEVENS ALSO SHOWED THAT HE HAD A SERIOUS MUSICAL SIDE AS WELL WITH SUCH TOP 40 HITS AS "MR. BUSINESSMAN", "EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL" (A NUMBER ONE HIT), AND "MISTY". HIS RECORDING CAREER CONTINUED THROUGH THE 1980s AND 1990s WITH MORE HITS SUCH AS "MISSISSIPPI SQUIRREL REVIVAL", "SHRINER'S CONVENTION", "BALLAD OF THE BLUE CYCLONE", "SANTA CLAUS IS WATCHING YOU", "SURFIN' U.S.S.R." AND "I SAW ELVIS IN A U.F.O.". HE EVEN MADE VIDEOS FOR SOME OF HIS COMEDY SONGS IN 1992, PACKAGED IT FOR VIDEO RELEASE AS "RAY STEVENS' COMEDY VIDEO CLASSICS", AND SOLD THE TAPE IN ENORMOUS QUANTITIES WITH A TV AD CAMPAIGN. IN 2002, "COMEDY VIDEO CLASSICS" WAS RE-RELEASED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON DVD.

RAY STEVENS ENTERS HIS FIFTH DECADE IN THE MUSICAL FIELD WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS LATEST CD, "OSAMA, YO' MAMA". AS OF 2002, HE STILL ACTIVELY RECORDS AND TOURS AND HIS RECORDINGS HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME, PROVING RAY STEVENS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSICAL COMEDIANS OF RECENT DECADES.