main@ClassicCountry1940s-to-1970s.groups.io | Ray Stevens (2024)

From: dancutrer

To: Classic-Country-40s-to-70s@...

Thanks, Larry:

Molly Ivins used to describe things like finding it thesame as opening up the icebox door and finding Fidel Castro inside smoking acigar.

Of all the stories told about Kris and John R, wasn't SUNDAYMORNING the song Kris flew his Army helicopter into JR's front yard to give him,I'd never heard anything about Ray Stevens and SUNDAY MORNING. Or that hisnovelty songs never made the charts.

Incredible!

Vaguely recallthe "See the Homes of the Stars" tours story, Ray lived next to Webb Pierce, whowelcomed the buses, had his Nudie car with silver dollars stuck everywhere outfor pics, a saddle as the center console, seems he also had a swimming pooldecked out as a piano. Ray sued to make him quit, Court found for Webb, whoexplained it as "intrusions are something you gotta accept when you live nextdoor to a star." Or something like that.

--- In mailto:Classic-Country-40s-to-70s%40yahoogroups.com,"Larry Davis" wrote:
>
> After eightyears of racking up pop hits including two in the top ten, "Sunday MorningComing Down" was Ray's FIRST hit to make the country charts, #55 in 1969. Italso got to #81 pop as the follow-up to "Along Came Jones" which had made thepop top 30.
>
> That means the country market had missed completelyenjoying "Ahab The Arab", "Santa Claus Is Watching You", "Harry The Hairy Ape","Mr. Businessman", "Gitarzan" and, of course, his first hit "Jeremiah'sPeabody's Poly...Pills".
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> Thanks to "Sunday Morning", Ray nowhad two parallel but mostly separate careers. Hits like "Turn Your Radio On" and"Shriner's Convention" would chart country only, while other hits such as"Everything Is Beautiful" and "The Streak" would be much bigger on the popcharts than they were in country.
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> His pop hits ended in 1979,whereas he had some country chart success through 2001.
>
> LarryDavis
> From: dancutrer
> Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 2:57PM
> To: mailto:Classic-Country-40s-to-70s%40yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Classic-Country-40s-to-70s] Bill Walker, Sundaymorning
>
> http://www.gmvnashville.com/artists.php?id=20
>
> Read this, see if you agree he deserves thanks and praise, having beenmostly ignored by the industry. All kinds of important things I neverknew.
>
> Johnny and June won most everything at the CMA Awards in'69, this is from a badly bruised recollection, in their wisdom the CMA refusedto consider SUNDAY MORNING as Song of the Year 'cause of some lame excuse, itwas cut during a tv show and not initially in a studio by a man who turned downRCA's offer to replace Chet Atkins. OK, so maybe that's not the actual rule.Despite 'sweetening' added later in a studio. Bob Ferguson got the plaque forCARROL COUNTY ACCIDENT. Compare the two songs.
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> It's been agessince I saw anything on it, as I recall, Walker is big enough not to say what'sobvious, CMA wasn't gonna let somebody from Australia via South Africawin.
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> In 1970 Kris got CMA Song of the Year assongwriter.
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> I was looking for that story, found somethingequally earthshaking:
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> first cut, semi-hit, on Sunday Morningwas by Ray Stevens. Ray Stevens?????
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> Where this thought startedoff, I know Bill's players at the tv show included strings, were any of the ATeam, people we'd know, used in it? Anybody know who theywere?
>