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He is the #1 novelty recording artist of the past 40 years. He placed nearly 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop charts and for over two decades was a fixture on Billboard's Top Country Singles chart. And the man could croon with the best of them! Ray Stevens certainly made his mark on the American music scene. Much like the late Charlie Rich, another incredibly gifted and versatile performer, Ray Stevens might have achieved even greater commercial success had he concentrated on just one or two genres. But there were simply too many sides to Ray Stevens to allow that to happen. And he was a very gifted songwriter to boot.
This 1997 disc from Rhino is the most comprehensive Ray Stevens collection I have found. It includes many of the best known novelty recordings you would remember like "Ahab The Arab", "Gitarzan", "The Streak" and the hilarious "Bridget the Midget". One of my favorite Ray Stevens tunes is here as well, 1968's "Unwind". And if you are not convinced that there is a serious side to Ray Stevens listen to his moving performance of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin" Comin' Down". That one just might bring a tear to your eye. You will also find his Grammy award winning #1 hit from 1970 "Everything Is Beautiful" and my all-time favorite Ray Stevens tune "Misty". And just for good measure there is the little known 1979 recording "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow". If you have never heard that one be prepared to smile....you are in for a real treat! Rhino has done it's usual fine job with the included 16 page booklet. Because Rhino has managed to include material from 5 different record labels, it is unlikely you will ever find a more comprehensive collection of Ray Stevens work. I suggest you pick this one up while it is still available and enjoy the work of a truly talented artist. Highly recommended.

After Spike Jones,Ray Stevens was the crown prince in the novelty song world. This single CD contains all his kooky classics such as "Ahab The Arab", "Gitarzan", & "The Streak." By the way, that was Ray's biggest all-time seller. It topped the Billboard "Hot 100" for three weeks in the spring of 1974. What's also exceptional about this collection,is that you hear Ray's serious side, as well. Check out "Mr.Businessman", "Sunday Morning Coming own", which by the way, was penned by an unknown singer-songwriter named Kris Kristofferson, & "America, Communicate With Me." The liner notes by Dr.Demento contain some interesting tidbits of information-For example,Ray was initially asked to sing "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" before BJ Thomas. I also liked Ray's version of "Misty"-He gives a real country feel to it-Anyway, if you're a Ray Stevens aficionado,purchase this CD.

As I state in other reviews, I'm interested in finding the original versions of songs from the 50's and 60's. This collection comes on up to about 1980 or so with "Shriner's Convention". As far as I can tell (with these aging ear drums), all of the earlier songs are the original versions I used to listen to on the AM radio in one of my old Ford coupes or my buddy's MG. However, I must admit that I never heard of some of the less popular ones. Your grandkids will love "Santa Claus is Watching You". You may have to explain about Clyde. In any case, whether you like Ray Stevens or not, this is a top notch collection of a unique genre which you can pass on to your descendants as the real thing.

I deleted my original review from 2003 because it was kind of short and didn't really say too much...so I've written a new one...

This particular CD was issued in 1997 on the Rhino label. The thing that is always fascinating to me about the collection was the inclusion of the booklet...written by Doctor Demento, a novelty song DJ. The other thing that fascinated me were songs I hadn't heard before by him that were included on this CD. "Unwind", "America, Communicate With Me", and "Sunset Strip" were three songs that I've always noticed were included on a wide variety of previous Ray Stevens compilations but up until that time I had never heard them...I loved the songs when I heard them. "Sunset Strip", from 1970, did real well on the Adult-Contemporary chart at the time...it's a song about California of course and Ray uses a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson flavor in parts of the song. The song hit the Adult-Contemporary Top-20...as did the wonderful "America, Communicate With Me", which should be just as popular as "Everything Is Beautiful" but isn't.

Speaking of "Everything Is Beautiful", that 1970 song is track number ten on this collection. It was a multiple week #1 hit, a Top-40 country hit, and it became a Gold record and Grammy winner.

The thing that tickles most people about this collection are the inclusion of four of his original Mercury recordings from 1961, 1962, and 1963...specifically "Jeremiah Peabody", "Ahab the Arab", "Santa Claus Is Watching You", and "Harry the Hairy Ape"; typically compilation CD's would use re-recordings instead of original material.

Some controversy over "Mr. Businessman" has arisen on some other reviews here. I have always felt that the reason Rhino used the 1968 recording of the song is because that is the year it was a hit...even though the recording being heard on the radio was from 1966.

It's a long story...I'll make it brief: Ray wrote and recorded the song in 1966 but it wasn't released. Then in 1968 someone had the idea of releasing the 1966 recording, backing it with "The Minority", while Ray re-recorded "Mr. Businessman" for the album he had out at the time called EVEN STEVENS. Now, that's one story as to why there's two recordings of the song barely two years apart from each other. Another story is Ray wanted an up-dated version of the song for his album and so he re-recorded the song but the single release was the 1966 recording. Whatever the case, each version eventually found it's way on a commercial single and the 1968 recording is featured here on this collection.

"Gitarzan" and "Along Came Jones", the two singles from his 1969 GITARZAN album, appear...each single hit the pop chart, with "Gitarzan" hitting the Top-10 and becoming a Gold record, and the other single reaching the Top-30. "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" was a single for Ray in late 1969...it wasn't a big hit but it did manage to make it's way onto the popular music charts, even reaching the Top-60 on the country chart...marking his first appearance on the country singles chart. The lyrics of the song didn't mesh with Ray's image...no matter how great a performance Ray gave the song. The public at large didn't "buy it" as the saying goes...the song was included on an album from 1969 that consisted mainly of contemporary pop covers, titled HAVE A LITTLE TALK WITH MYSELF.

One of Ray's more elaborate novelty singles was released in late 1970...a spoof of go-go dancers called "Bridget The Midget". This song required the special effect/gimmick of sped up vocals made popular by the recordings of The Chipmunks. Ray, as Bridget, enthusiastically sang and played around "on stage" doing her dance routines while Ray, as himself, acted as emcee of the event and he constantly tried to keep a groupie, again played by Ray, from jumping up on stage. It became a Top-50 hit in America but reached the Top-3 in the United Kingdom in early 1971.

The remainder of the CD, tracks 14 through 20, start to get into his country direction...starting with his Top-20 country hit "Turn Your Radio On" from early 1972. A lot of people who may hear this song on country oldies stations or on country gospel radio shows would not believe it's Ray Stevens...but it's him. His biggest selling single, "The Streak", shows itself next. This song is the biggest hit of his career...it was an international hit as well...reaching #1 here in America in just five weeks time and hitting #1 in the United Kingdom plus it reached the #3 position on the country chart...AND reached the Top-20 on the Adult-Contemporary chart...AND became the biggest selling novelty single of the decade...AND sold 5,000,000 copies worldwide {I wasn't kidding when I said it was the biggest selling novelty single of the decade!!}

It was a monster hit!!

So, after the dust had settled on the streaking trail, Ray offered his spoof of The Midnight Special television program. "The Moonlight Special" was issued as a follow-up and it charted in the Top-75 of the pop chart. The single was another showcase of Ray's talents as a mimic, not only doing a fairly decent Wolfman Jack impression but also one of Gladys Knight and Jerry Lee Lewis...plus a spaced-out act based on Alice Cooper. It should have been a bigger hit but I suppose consumers didn't like their favorite TV show being satirized. Interestingly, Ray had a Top-20 Adult-Contemporary hit with a song called "Everybody Needs a Rainbow" but it isn't included here, instead they included "The Moonlight Special"...and it shows that THE BEST OF RAY STEVENS will showcase just that: the best...not just the big hits.

"Misty", his 1975 Top-10 country and Top-20 pop hit is included...it won a Grammy for Best Arrangement of the Year.

The last three songs are out of chronological order for whatever reason. The final song, "In The Mood", is a chicken-clucking spoof of the Glen Miller 1940's pop hit. Ray had a hit with the chicken-clucker in early 1977...in some places the single was billed as The Henhouse Five Plus Too. It reached the Top-40 on the Pop and Country charts here in America and the United Kingdom as well. The recording should have come after "Misty" on this CD but it doesn't. Instead, a 1979 hit, "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", follows "Misty" on the CD. In actuality, the 1979 hit should have appeared after "In The Mood". Then we have "Shriner's Convention", which hit the country Top-10 in 1980, his final Top-10 country single. On this CD it should have been the last song but instead appears between 1979's "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow" and 1977's "In The Mood".

I've got a copy of Mr. Businessman taped from the radio in the early 70's and I believe it's the original "hit" version. It matches the AMG sample from Jukebox Hits of 1968, Vol. 1, but it has a significantly different vocal (more forceful, different phrasing) from the version on this Rhino compilation (judging from the samples here and at AMG).

I thought we were supposed to be able to trust Rhino to either snag the originals or scrap the compilation. Anybody know what the story is with this one? Are there other tracks here that aren't the hit versions?

This is a very comprehensive collection of Stevens' hits but the question remains...where can you get the original, undubbed single mix of "Gitarzan"? This is a great single and still funny today, but when Barnaby Records acquired the rights to Stevens' hits, they overdubbed this horrible laugh track on it. The fake laughter everytime Stevens says a line that's supposed to be funny is not only annoying, it's insulting. As if we don't know when to laugh. Or maybe someone thought that the listener would think it was funnier if they heard an audience laughing. Why can't the original undubbed master of "Gitarzan" be found and utilized? That same laugh track is present on several cuts, including "The Streak" and "Moonlight Special". If these tracks are performed live, as the record company would have you believe, then how does Stevens play two or three characters at once, with their voices overlapping each other? He must be very talented indeed! Also, why do all the "live" tracks fade out? Wouldn't there be a cold ending to a live recording? I wish someone would correct Barnaby Records' blunder someday.

The reviews to this point range from 1 to 5, with the low assessments based on such inane observations as difficulties with shipments from Amazon (these dot the entire spectrum of Amazon reviews and do nothing but distort the overall assessment of the product at hand), and the fact a song is not the original rendition (to the ear of the reviewer). In that regard, the one such song in particular seems to be Mr. Businessman, something for which reviewer Jerry McDaniel goes to great length to explain in the comments section of a couple of reviews, I recommend reading those carefully. Thanks Jerry. In terms of a thorough review of the entire contents I would refer you to Paul Tognetti's submission.

I have several of Ray's volumes, but what drew me to this Rhino release was the inclusion of his version of the melancholy Kriss Kristofferson tune, Sunday Morning Coming Down, about an itinerant musician experiencing pangs of loneliness as he walks the empty streets of some unknown town early on a Sunday morning (in the days when a Sunday was not like every other day of the week). Of all of Ray's 32 Country, 27 Pop, 14 Adult Contemporary (AC) and 3 R&B hit singles registered from 1961 to 1992, this one (which only made it to # 55 Country/# 81 Pop Hot 100 in late 1969) has been the toughest to find in a quality CD format.

Nine month's later a Johnny Cash cover version would begin its skyrocket climb to # 1 Country, # 13 Adult Contemporary and # 46 Hot 100, but while I also love his rendition, my favourite was always that of Ray's, so when I saw this volume I grabbed a copy fast. Other hard-to-find hits by Ray included are Unwind (# 51 Hot 100 in May 1968), Sunset Strip (# 81 Hot 100 in November 1970), and Moonlight Special (a # 73 Hot 100 parody of TV's Midnight Special in August 1974).

The sound quality is excellent and in the insert are 11 pages of detailed and fascinating liner notes by Barret Eugene Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, the renowned DJ from Los Angeles who launched his alter-ego way back in 1970 after a colleague suggested he was "demented" for having played the 1956 hit Transfusion by Nervous Norvus (in reality another California DJ named Jimmy Drake). A discography of the contents is also provided, and sprinkled throughout are 8 nice photos of Ray at various stages of his long career.

Forget the low ratings. This is a 5-star gem with but one minor irritant - one that seems common to every Ray Stevens retrospective I have run across. And that is Ahab The Arab. The 1962 # 5 Pop/# 9 R&B hit single version ran for 2:47, but every volume I have - including this one - contains a rendition that runs for 3:50. Not a big deal, but can't help wondering why at least one distributor never bothered to include that shorter version, which after all was the one that sent the record to those heights.

i have been looking for years for a ray stevens album with the original version of ahab the arab and finally found one. other than a couple of mixed albums i have never been able to track it down. i also like the streak harry the hairy ape santa claus is watching you and all hiss other songs. highly recomended thanks amazon.

I have always loved both the comedy hits and the serious ballads of this versatile artist. Songs like Unwind, America Communicate With Me, Mr Businesman and Isn't It Lonely Together reveal a surprising lyrical depth and demonstrate his impressive vocal skills, while his version of Kristofferson's Sunday Morning Coming Down stands out as one of the most beautiful amongst thousands of interpretations of this classic tune.

Everything Is Beautiful with its children's choir is inspiring and uplifting, and his country version of Misty (1976) is poignant and moving. My favorites amongst the comedy tracks include the energetic little pop opera Bridget The Midget (UK top ten in 1971), The Streak from 1974, and of course the old classics like Ahab, Harry, Gitarzan and Along Came Jones.

This collection confirms Ray Stevens' originality, his versatility and his considerable songwriting skills. All those who appreciate literate pop music performed with feeling will enjoy this album. Other worthwhile compilations include Ray Stevens - All-Time Greatest Hits, 20 Comedy Hits Special Collection and Misty: The Very Best of Ray Stevens.

Ray Stevens is A funny Man&this Disc SHowcases His Talent.He Has A Strong Sense of Humor it never lets up here.Great material.