Ray Stevens - Box Set

Ray Stevens (born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939) is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs as well as his recent involvement in the Tea Party movement. He was born in Clarkdale, Georgia, a small town west of Atlanta.

Early career

Stevens' recording career began in the mid-1950s with two singles released on Prep Records. He then signed a contract with Capitol Records with the help of Atlanta, Georgia music maven Bill Lowery. In 1958, Stevens joined Lowery's National Recording Corporation (NRC), playing numerous instruments, arranging music, and performing background vocals for its band. After NRC filed for bankruptcy, he signed with Mercury Records with whom Stevens recorded a series of hit records in the 1960s that included songs such as "Ahab the Arab", "Harry the Hairy Ape", "Funny Man," the original recording of "Santa Claus Is Watching You", and "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills". Most of the Boomer generation remembers a shortened version of "Ahab the Arab" reaching No. 1 on the American pop-rock charts in the summer of 1962, which was the song that introduced Stevens to most of his fan base.

In 1966, Stevens signed with Monument Records and started to release serious material such as "Mr. Businessman" in 1968, a Top 30 hit, and "Have a Little Talk With Myself" and the original version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969, which became Stevens' first two singles to reach the country music charts. Stevens continued releasing novelty songs, and in 1969 he had a Top 10 pop hit with "Gitarzan". Stevens also became a regular on The Andy Williams Show during the 1969ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£1970 season, and he even hosted his own summer show, The Ray Stevens Show, in 1970.

As an A&R man, music producer, songwriter, and music arranger he assisted countless artists in the recording studio during his years at Mercury Records and Monument Records, 1961 through early 1970. Some of the acts he was associated with during that time period were Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, Patti Page, Joe Dowell, Dusty Springfield, and Dolly Parton. Stevens was a writer or co-writer of several songs those particular acts recorded. My True Confession, a Top-10 on the R&B chart in 1963 for Brook Benton, was written by Stevens and Margie Singleton. Stevens was the arranger for an obscure Doyle Holly recording titled My Heart Cries For You which had been recorded previously by Stevens during the late 1950s.