Ray Stevens | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Harold Ray Ragsdale |
Born | Clarkdale, Georgia, U.S. | January 24, 1939
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1957–present |
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Spouse(s) | Penny Jackson (m. 1961;died 2021) |
Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), [1] known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country [2] and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, [3] [4] known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty hits such as "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". Stevens has received gold albums for his music sales and has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. He is also an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Harold Ray Ragsdale was born on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia. [1] He is the elder of two sons born to Willis Harold Ragsdale (1915–2001) and Frances Stephens Ragsdale (1916–97). [5] Stevens has a younger brother, John, who was an actor and writer. John died in 2020 at the age of 75. [6] While attending high school, Stevens formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group named The Barons. Following his graduation, Stevens enrolled in Georgia State University as a music major. [7]
At age 18, Stevens signed to Capitol Records' Prep Records division in 1957, [7] and produced the single "Silver Bracelet", with a cover of "Rang Tang Ding Dong" as the B-side. The single was met with a positive review from Billboard. [8] The B-side was originally recorded by doo-wop group The Cellos in 1956. [9]
Stevens signed with Mercury Records in 1961. [10]
In the 1970s, Stevens became a producer and studio musician in Nashville. He recorded songs for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–79. Stevens' biggest hit in the U.S. was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970). The single won a Grammy Award, was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, hit number one on both the pop and Adult-Contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at number 39. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. [11]
Stevens had a transatlantic chart-topping hit in 1974 with "The Streak," a novelty song about streaking that reached number one on the American and British singles charts. [12] [13]
Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, with some exceptions (such as "Shriner's Convention" in 1981), Stevens focused mostly on serious material, as he felt that the novelty song was becoming less popular in the era. [14] Stevens had an adult contemporary crossover hit in 1979 with "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow," a cut from Stevens's Barry Manilow tribute/parody album The Feeling's Not Right Again . [15]
Stevens then joined MCA in 1984. Feeling that novelty songs were becoming popular again, he authorized the rush release of "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" in 1984, which reached the country top 20. [14] In 1985 he performed at the Lanierland Music Park in Georgia with Pinkard & Bowden. [16]
In February 2002, following the September 11 attacks, Stevens released Osama—Yo' Mama: The Album after the title track, which was released as a single in late 2001, peaked at #48 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2001. The album reached #29 on the US Top Country Albums chart.
In April 2010, Stevens released We the People, a CD/DVD of political songs. This album reached Top-5 on the Billboard Comedy Album chart. [17] [18]
RAY-ality TV ended its digital TV run in January 2014. In March 2014, a webisode series, also titled Rayality TV was launched. In 2014, Stevens co-starred in the movie Campin' Buddies. [19]
Stevens published his autobiographical memoir Ray Stevens' Nashville in 2014. [20] [21]
In 2015, Stevens began producing and hosting Ray Stevens Nashville, a 30-minute weekly music variety show on cable TV. Since then, the show has been rebranded as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and is now filmed on stage at his own CabaRay Showroom, which opened to the public in early 2018. The show currently airs on PBS public television stations around the country. [22]
Stevens released the album Here We Go Again on March 24, 2015, which includes the Taylor Swift spoof single "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me" [23] and "Come to the USA". [24]
Stevens was married to Penny Jackson Ragsdale for over 60 years, until her death on December 31, 2021, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Two days prior, he had canceled his New Year's Eve concert at CabaRay, due to Penny's rapidly declining health. They had two daughters, Suzi and Timi, and four grandchildren. [25]
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
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1970 | Best Contemporary Male Vocalist | "Gitarzan" | Nominated | [26] |
1971 | "Everything Is Beautiful" | Won | [27] | |
1971 | Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) | "Everything Is Beautiful" | Nominated | [28] |
1971 | Contemporary Song | "Everything Is Beautiful" | Nominated | [28] |
1971 | Record of the Year | "Everything Is Beautiful" | Nominated | [28] |
1971 | Song of the Year | "Everything Is Beautiful" | Nominated | [28] |
1971 | Best Inspirational Performance | "Love Lifted Me" | Nominated | [28] |
1976 | Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) | "Misty" | Won | [27] |
1976 | Best Country Vocal Performance – Male | "Misty" | Nominated | [29] |
1980 | Best Comedy Recording | "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" | Nominated | [30] |
1988 | "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" | Nominated | [31] |
Randy Bruce Traywick, known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and charted over 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including sixteen that reached the number-one position.
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"Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens' albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, "Jesus Loves the Little Children", are from the Oak Hill Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, this group included Stevens' two daughters.
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"The Streak" is a country/novelty song written, produced, and sung by Ray Stevens. It was released in February 1974 as the lead single to his album Boogity Boogity. "The Streak" capitalized on the then-popular craze of streaking.
The discography of the American country, pop, and novelty artist Ray Stevens consists of 50 studio albums, 125 singles, 3 live albums, 67 compilation albums, 3 box sets, and 1 extended play. Stevens released his first single in 1957 and his first full album in 1962. Dozens of Stevens' singles have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and two of them reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "The Streak" and "Everything Is Beautiful". The former and a cover of the jazz standard "Misty" are his biggest hits on the country charts.
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