Customer Reviews

Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remembered Ray from Ahab the Arab and when The Streak came out during the mid-70's, everyone loved him. I purchased this CD after my children heard The Streak on my oldies radio station. We have listened to all the songs and enjoyed them all. I would recommend this CD to everyone old and young, classics never die and Ray is still a classic. If you remember Ray from the 60' & 70's the words still hold true today, just listen to Would Jesus Wear A Rolex or Everything Is Beautiful.

This is Ray Stevens at his best! As clever as ever, with songs you can sing along to while your laughing! Fun for everyone! Give Ray a try--I guarantee you'll like him!

I have loved him since I was 9 years old (35 years ago). I love his serious songs as well as the comical ones. He is a true "musical genius". I have heard songs on "The Collection" that I had never heard before (and I thought I had just about all of them!) I think I will be wearing out the CDs just playing them over and over again, if it is possible to wear out CDS. His serious songs can really touch your heart, and I feel like I get to know him better just listening to them. He is going to Branson again this year, and I hope I am able to go!!

This collection of comic songs focuses mainly on the eighties but a few early classics are included, these being The streak, Gitarzan, Ahab the Arab, Freddy Feelgood and Everything is beautiful. But if you are primarily interested in his music of the sixties and seventies, there are other compilations that include those songs and others from the era.

Among Ray's eighties songs, I particularly like Shriner's convention (about a member who breaks all the rules), It's me again Margaret (about a stalker - behind the humor of the song is a serious issue rarely addressed in music), Mississippi squirrel revival (about a squirrel that gets loose in a church service) and The haircut song (about a series of bad haircuts).

These songs and Ray's other eighties recordings are less well known than his earlier classics but equally entertaining.

This CD is a GREAT selection of Ray Stevens stuff...however, the master is horrible. The main thing that stands out is the fact this sounds very compressed, I'm not sure what Mr. Meadows did when he mastered it, but, somewhere along the line, a bad analog source was used or he dynamically compressed it. Try some of the other Greatest Hits CD's

Ray Stevens is a musical genius. He may just "play his little piano and sing his little songs", but he's crafted what can only be described as a legacy; just because he's not a household name doesn't mean he isn't one of the greatest musical comedians.

Songs such as "Shriner's Convention," "The Mississippi Squirrel Revivial," "The Ballad of Blue Cyclone," and "The Haircut Song" (my personal favorite) all play upon the stupidity of the common redneck. "Ahab the Arab" and "The Streak," arguably two of the best comedy songs ever, are from Stevens's glory days of comedy. "Santa Claus Is Watching You" is still a Christmas staple, while Chet Atkins's "Would Jesus Wear A Rollex" makes you ponder the veracity of televangelists. "Surfin USSR" is a little outdated, but still a flat-out riot; as is "I Saw Elvis in a UFO" (and it's a good little rocker, too!). "Everything Is Beautiful" is the only song on here that doesn't include humor in some element, and it goes to show you that, comedy aside, Ray Stevens was--and is--a serious musical artist (and a great songwriter).

"Collection" is an incredible CD. Is it Ray Stevens's best? I don't know. I CAN tell you that it's pretty darn good...and funny. Oh, yeah, it's funny!

I have been buying Ray Stevens records eversince his first
huge hit Ahab the Arab back in 1962. I came across this CD
just by the recomendations Amazon sent me and I bought it
just for one title that really struck me: "Surfin' USSR".
Without having heard one note I ordered it to find out if
it had to do with the Beach Boys sound. It sure did! Gee
this guy is just out of sight. He sings any kind of music -
rock, pop, country, doo-wop, blues, gospel etc. but I never
thought he would ever try a "surf" song and what a great song!
It is so well done that it really sounds like the authentic
Beach Boys from the early sixties. It is almost a pity that,
being a comic interpreter, some parts of the song have typical
Russian background vocals which kind of ruin the song but the
rest is so well done that I really love it. The rest of the
songs of this CD are all well known hits except for another
real fun gimmick "I saw Elvis in a UFO" again with a real
Elvis-Jordanaires rock and roll sound. I would give it 5 stars
if they had not repeated two classic Ray hits that are all on
his compilations: Ahab the Arab and Gitarzan. They really are
nice but having to listen them time after time on each CD
including this 1993 edition they become kind of boring.
Nevertheless Ray is one of the greatest entertainers ever
for the past 45 years. If you are not too much familiar with
Ray Stevens, this Collection is an absolute must!

This particular Ray Stevens COLLECTION was issued by MCA Records in 1993 and at the time it was not widely distributed and so a lot of people are unaware of it's release. Although it was issued on MCA it features the standard line-up of songs that MCA often put on the GREATEST HITS releases. In commercial theory, putting songs on a collection that are familiar will increase potential sales. So, MCA often issued compilation albums on Ray and filled them out with classic recordings and just a touch of contemporary material. This one is no exception although it features a song from 1988 and one from 1989, material lacking in previous compilations from MCA.

So, the bottom line is, COLLECTION contains 14 songs altogether...11 of the songs were featured on either GREATEST HITS or GREATEST HITS, VOLUME TWO. Both of those 1987 collections are also on MCA. The three songs that weren't featured on those two collections are 1988's "Surfin' USSR" and 1989's "I Saw Elvis in a UFO". A third song, "Santa Claus Is Watching You", is from 1985. It was a music video hit and it was released as a special Christmas single in 1985. The song is usually not highlighted, though, on compilation albums. Ray originally recorded the song in the early 1960's with completely different lyrics.

For a collection from MCA, there is no song on here that represents 1986. Ray recorded for MCA during 1984-1989. The popular songs he recorded in 1986 were "Southern Air", a song with Jerry Clower and Minnie Pearl as guests; "Can He Love You Half as Much as I?", and his spoof of "The People's Court". For whatever reason, none of those 1986 recordings shown up here.

What we have here is a COLLECTION of Ray Stevens comedy...with the exception of the 14th song, "Everything Is Beautiful", his Grammy winning-million selling 1970 hit.

Amazon has the track list up.

I didn't get it. On the last day of it being shipped I recieved an e-mail that said that they couln't send it. No reason was given. Thank you.