AC Reviews

[geraldine]

Jerry I heard on the radio this morning that GEORGE STRAIT will be having a new cd out soon.  I didn't catch the release date or the title of it.  Would you happen to know?

[ACcountryFan]

Jerry I heard on the radio this morning that GEORGE STRAIT will be having a new cd out soon.  I didn't catch the release date or the title of it.  Would you happen to know?

I wrote about George's CD on the OCD a couple of days ago. A post i did around 8:30 in the morning on April 2. This link will open up to my post The CD was issued on April 1st...

TROUBADOUR

[geraldine]

Jerry

[ACcountryFan]

CHARLTON HESTON

The news broke late last night that actor Charlton Heston passed away at the age of 84. I was never what you might call a fan of his movies because i prefer comedy and horror if i watch movies but i do know of him and i know the roles he played were typically derived from either the Bible or Shakespeare, what has become known as epic movies. He usually appeared in ensemble movies of which he was more than likely the star or co-star. In his later years he was known more for his political affiliation with the Republican party and as President of the NRA, which stands for the National Rifle Association. The link at the top of this paragraph talks a little about him and his movies.

[geraldine]

Jerry
I heard about Charlton Heston on the mews this morning.  Thanks for leaving the link to his movies.  I am going to check it out.  He made so many and was a great actor.

[ACcountryFan]

I decided to start early and commemorate the 40th anniversary of HEE-HAW's debut on Television. The series officially becomes 40 years old next year, in 2009, but i figured since i'm in a HEE-HAW mood i'd get an early start. I will, for now, just post some pictures of some of the cast and some of the guest stars and little bit of the show's history. The series ran for 23 years, 1969-1992, and there were 585 hour long episodes produced in that 23 year time frame. At the helm of each and every episode was producer, Sam Lovullo, and many associates behind the scenes. The series was a network TV show for it's first two years in production, 1969-1970 and 1970-1971. The show was aired on CBS-TV those two seasons and when the ratings report was released in 1971 it shown that HEE-HAW was among the nation's Top-20 most-watched TV shows. Good news, right?

Well, CBS was in the midst of changing it's national image. The most popular shows on the network in 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 in addition to "Hee-Haw" were "The Beverly Hillbillies"; "Green Acres"; syndicated repeats of "The Andy Griffith Show" which had gone out of production at the end of the 1968 TV season as the #1 show in America; "Mayberry RFD" which picked up where Andy Griffith left off; "Gomer Pyle, USMC"; and "Petticoat Junction". Well, by 1970, "Green Acres", "Gomer Pyle, USMC", and "Petticoat Junction" were out of production...canceled because of declining viewers or because of the wrong demographics watching those programs. It could be a little bit of both...but in 1971 "Hee-Haw" as well as "The Beverly Hillbillies", got the ax from the network. This was all part of CBS's vision of making their network #1 in urban, affluent audiences.

After the series was canceled by CBS in 1971, this set in motion the plan of producer Sam Lovullo to approach local CBS affiliates and offer the show as a non-network series. It was explained that in those days, networks had to give up an hour to whatever the local affiliates of the network chose to air. This call-out to local stations associated with CBS proved to be a success and all the participants in "Hee-Haw" were at the studio once again. Years later it was revealed that the main cast weren't even aware that the show had been canceled by the network in 1971 and that it was airing as a non-network production in the same time-slot as before: Saturday evening at 7pm {Eastern time}. Also, TV viewers who liked the series had no idea, of course, that the show wasn't directly owned by CBS anymore because to them the program was airing just as it always had.

Here are some pics at random from the show...

The show's co-hosts: Buck Owens and Roy Clark



It was made clear that neither Buck nor Roy were the show's "host". Each of them were billed as a co-host to ensure that the two artist's managers wouldn't insist a pay raise for their client's. You see, a lot of times, if two people host a show there is usually billed as the 'host' and then the 'co-host'. In "Hee-Haw" to eliminate that, it was determined that both of the hosts were to be referred to as co-hosts.

This is a picture of Archie Campbell, one of the show's principal writers and cast-members during the 1969-1987 era. Archie is about ready to get hit in the face with a pie by country singer Johnny Cash...this screen-shot is from 1975...click the picture for a bigger image...



And here's the picture of the actual pie in the face served by Johnny Cash to Archie Campbell..



Now, the screen cap below features co-host Roy Clark as a Moonshiner laying next to Archie Campbell. The Hee-Haw Honeys are in the background, decorating the scene. The Honey's in the below picture are Gunilla Hutton and Misty Rowe. The Moonshiners was a long-running sketch that consisted of just two or sometimes three drunken men laying on the ground in front of a country shack and each moonshiner would speak in a very slow drawl...click to make bigger...



This shot below was taken during a 1986 appearance by country music legend, George Jones. In 1986 co-host Buck Owens left the series and as a result each episode would feature a guest co-host. George co-hosted several episodes and this picture is taken from 1986. The two are reacting to a comedy sketch aired a few seconds earlier...



Barbi Benton was a regular on HEE-HAW during the early years. She later became connected to Hugh Hefner and all things Playboy. However, Barbi was a regular Hee-Haw Honey at one point and this is a publicity picture of her from the early 1970's...



Years later, in 2007, TV Land honored HEE-HAW and here is a picture of co-host Roy Clark, Barbi Benton, and country singer Willie Nelson...this was taken last year...



Click to make the image bigger...this is Don Harron in the sweater sitting in a chair at Doctor Campbell's Office, another long running sketch that Archie Campbell wrote and starred in...



The cast of HEE-HAW was rather lengthy...if i recall correctly at the show's height it boasted 52 regular cast-members, not counting the members of the behind the scenes crew. One of the show's cast-members had a long career in country entertainment, George Lindsey. He became a part of the show's cast in 1972 and remained on the series until it's last episode in 1992. Lindsey had been known to TV audiences all over America as Goober Pyle from The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD and so on HEE-HAW he simply played "Goober" throughout his stay on the show. He is so famous as Goober Pyle that he always on the drop of a hat appears in character wherever he makes appearances on TV shows. Interviewers often ask him how long he's played Goober and sometimes Lindsey remarks: "I've been a Goober my whole life...". Seriously, though, Lindsey's portrayal of Goober Pyle since the mid 1960's on The Andy Griffith Show makes George Lindsey one of the very few actors to achieve the distinction of playing a fictional character continuously for over four decades. The other in that category of portraying one single character continuously in fiction is Cliff Arquette who gained fame playing a character named Charley Weaver for decades on a variety of TV programs. George Lindsey wrote a book about his life/career and titled it "My Life in a Nut Shell" which sold so well that publishers needed to re-release the book four times to fill the demand. Here is George Lindsey and Tammy Wynette during a sketch on HEE-HAW...



Near the close of each episode there would be a the inclusion of gospel music. The Hee-Haw Gospel Quartet became a fixture on the series. The line-up consisted primarily of Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Grandpa Jones, and Kenny Price. In later years, after the death of Kenny Price, they would sometimes call on Tennessee Ernie Ford to fill the fourth spot. If Ernie wasn't available, a member of the Hee-Haw band would fill in or sometimes just settle with a trio instead of a quartet. Time Life often sells Hee-Haw merchandise...

[geraldine]

Ohmygosh Jerry, has it been 40 years already since HEE HAW came on the air.  Now there was a show where you see all of the country stars!  I loved that show.  The pictures you posted bring back fond memories. I really like all the comeday skits they did on there.  Roy Clark and Buck Owens made a great team hosting it.
Are there any DVD series of it you can purchase?  That would make a great gift for someone who enjoyed it. 

Thanks for the interesting review. I will be back to see if you found out about any DVDs.  See you soon!

[ACcountryFan]

There are lots and lots of DVD's available of HEE-HAW on the Time Life label. Late last year, 2007, the total of the various HEE-HAW dvd's that had been released sold a combined total of a million copies +. This means that each of the individual sales of the DVD releases added up to over a million copies sold...it doesn't mean each one sold a million copies. Time Life issues at least 200,000 copies of each DVD collection they release and so altogether the sales of HEE-HAW dvd's have topped a million in sales. The reason being there's an audience hungry for HEE-HAW. When you read my last post about the show you realized that it was canceled in 1992 after it's dramatic over-haul. The new look didn't appeal to new viewers and it made a lot of it's long-time viewers angry...but there was no turning back, apparently, and after the 1992 season ended the show went out of production. The fans who wished the show would've remained in the same hay bales and corny joke style is who the biggest consumers of the HEE-HAW dvd's are. I've bought quite a few.

This image is promoting the 7 DVD set of HEE-HAW...



In 1978 the show kicked off it's 10th season {1978-1979} and for this special occasion they taped a special at the Opry house and showcased clips of the show's first 9 years on the air, 1969-1977...this is the DVD of that 1978 TV special...



You can find the DVD's on Time Life's web-site, i think? I know they're on Amazon as well.

This DVD as you can see is using a picture of Gunilla Hutton and Archie Campbell as Nurse Goodbody and Doc Campbell...



The only down-side to those DVD's is they contain just 2 episodes. Each HEE-HAW episode ran 1 hour {50 minutes minus commercials} and so the DVD's contain just 2 episodes a disc. I hope Time Life will start to release 4 episodes per DVD and have 2 episodes on side 1 and 2 episodes on side 2. DVD's can be played on the front and back you know...so hopefully they'll start releasing more episodes in each DVD set...but for now it's all the HEE-HAW fans have.

[geraldine]

Jerry- I was at Walmart yesterday and happened to see some of the DVDs for HEE HAW. I decided to wait beacuse I didn't have time to check the length of them. Glad I came here today.  I was looking for one with Dolly Parton on it and will look further now.  Gosh I sure do hope they do come out as a set!

Thanks for the information.  Be back soon!

[geraldine]

Jerry I wanted to stop by and let you know I found the HEE HAW dvds at Walmart. And Dolly Parton was one of them.  I also found several others.  So I bought four of them.  Can you believe they were in a bin all for a dollar.

I use to go through the bins for the dollar ones but, mostly looked for cartoons for my grandson.  I will be looking more carefully next time, never know what I might find.  Thanks once again for your help!

[geraldine]

Jerry The CMT AWARDS were on last night.  Do you know what is the difference between the CMT and the CMA are?

[ACcountryFan]

Jerry The CMT AWARDS were on last night.  Do you know what is the difference between the CMT and the CMA are?

The CMT Awards are fan-voted awards and they have a lot of strange categories. When Music City News went out of business, so did the awards show Music City News magazine put on every year. CMT has held a fan-voted awards every year since the demise of Music City News. CMT joins Country Weekly Magazine to present the awards. The full title is the CMT/Country Weekly Music Awards. CMT as you know stands for Country Music Television.

The CMA is the Country Music Association and those are the awards that are given the most publicity. The CMA Awards are in the fall of the year. The ACM Awards stands for the Academy of Country Music and those are held in the spring of every year. Those awards should be right around the corner unless i missed them?

[geraldine]

I SEE THE DIFFERENCE NOW.  AS A MATTER OF FACT A FRIEND OF MINE SUBCSRIBES TO THE COUNTRY MAGAZINE. SHE GAVE ME SOME OF THEM WITH ARTICLES ABOUT CLAY IN THEM.
SO IT IS BASICALLY FAN-BASED.

I THINK YOUR RIGHT THE CMA IS COMING UP SOON!  I BELIEVE THIS IS WHERE THE BIGGEST COUNTRY STARS APPEAR ON IT. THANKS FOR CLEARING ALL OF THIS UP FOR ME.

[geraldine]

Jerry.  I was wondering if you are familiar with ANDREW LLOWYD WEBBER. He has written and produced Broadway Musicals.  The couple of ones I am familiar with is Cats and Phathom of the Opera. The reason is ask is his music will be featured on A1 this week.  Would you find some additional information on him for me. Thanks. I will be back soon.

[ACcountryFan]

Charlene...i came across the Wikipedia article about Andrew Lloyd Webber. The only thing i knew of him was CATS...

WIKIPEDIA

I came across a new image, well, new to my eyes...depicting the first four hosts of the TV game show, "Family Feud"...click the image to make bigger...



The image only shows the year in which each host started their hosting job. Here's a more complete break-down of the first four hosts:

Richard Dawson: 1976-1985; 1994-1995

Ray Combs: 1988-1994**

Louie Anderson: 1999-2002

Richard Karn: 2002-2006

The fifth person to host the game took over in 2006. His name is John O'Hurley. I'm sure you know who he is...he was on "Dancing With the Stars" as a contestant. Here is a picture of John O'Hurley in the middle of an episode...the host, of course, is holding the card...



**--Ray Combs was let go from the show after the 1994 season and they brought back original host, Richard Dawson. He remained the host until the series ended in 1995. The second version of the series lasted seven seasons, the first six hosted by Ray Combs.
===================================

Family Feud in it's current form began production in 1999 with Louie Anderson as it's host and it's been on the air ever since, albeit with two other hosts after Louie's exit in 2002. This is their ninth season on the air. This coming fall they will start work on their tenth season, set to wrap in 2009. When this version of the series wraps up their tenth season in 2009, that will make the current version the longest-running in production. The original version with Richard Dawson ran nine seasons, 1976-1985, and the Ray Combs era ran seven seasons, 1988-1995 {the first six seasons with Ray Combs and the last season with Dawson}. Ray Combs was host of the daytime version and syndicated evening versions. The daytime version ran four years, 1988-1992, while the syndicated version, which had also debuted in 1988, continued on with Ray as host until 1994, being replaced by Richard Dawson.

When the show was brought back four years later in 1999 little was known of it's future because the two previous versions were so pounded into the pop-culture fabric that it was difficult to imagine a third re-launch of the series that would meet the high expectations of the first two versions of the show.

Louie Anderson's era, 1999-2002, slipped by without much impact either positive or negative. Richard Karn, the former co-star of the TV show HOME IMPROVEMENT, became the show's new host in 2002. He remained with the series until 2006. After Karn's exit, they brought in John O'Hurley and he's been the host since that time.

In many TV markets, Family Feud in it's current run airs as a lead-in to the talk-show, THE VIEW, on ABC affiliates. In the original run, 1976-1985, the series was in competition with the second half of "The Price is Right". Originally the series ran on daytime TV on ABC from 11:30am until noon, opposite the second half of "The Price is Right". It thrived in the ratings in spite of it going up against the second half of the Bob Barker ratings giant on CBS. Also, there was a syndicated evening version of the "Family Feud" series that ran from 1977 until 1985. These versions were hosted by Richard Dawson as well. When the Feud started, the show aired at 1pm...not your typical time of day for game show watchers...in the middle of soap opera's. So, ABC moved the show from 1pm to 11:30am and it was in that time-slot where it became a hit game show.

Trivia: Do you know where the idea of "Family Feud" originated from? The bonus round of "Match Game" where contestants had to guess the most popular answers to a missing phrase. This idea of trying to guess the popular answers in a survey became the main ingredient of "Family Feud".

This is a picture of Gene Rayburn of "Match Game" during the bonus round...as you see, it's design of guessing the most popular answers inspired "Family Feud"...



This picture, taken during the early 1980's, is of a special episode of "Family Feud" which pitted game show hosts against one another. In the center is Richard Dawson...on the left is Betty White, the wife of former game show host, Allen Ludden, who had passed away. On the right is Peter Marshall, who at the time was the host of "Hollywood Squares"...



Richard was one of the regular panelists on "Match Game" in the 1970's. It was on that show that he became a TV superstar. He had previously been on the TV series, Hogan's Heroes, as a co-star. Dawson played the role of Newkirk. It's on that comedy series that Dawson's English accent is fully heard. By the time he came to "Match Game" he had lost the thick accent. Here is Richard Dawson with his "Match Game" peers:



In that picture above: Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers, Gene Rayburn, and Richard Dawson from "Match Game".

Another picture of current host of "Family Feud", John O'Hurley...during a question and answer segment...

[ACcountryFan]

"Lazybones" (1933) (music by Hoagy Carmichael)
"P.S. I Love You" (1934) (music by Gordon Jenkins)
"Goody Goody" (1936) (music by Matty Maineck)
"I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande" (1936)
"Hooray for Hollywood" (1937) (music by Richard A. Whiting)
"Too Marvelous for Words" (1937) (music by Richard A. Whiting)
"You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (1938) (music by Harry Warren)
"Jeepers Creepers" (1938) (music by Harry Warren)
"And The Angels Sing" (1939) (music by Ziggy Elman)
"Day In, Day Out" (1939) (music by Rube Bloom)
"Fools Rush In" (1940) (music by Rube Bloom)
"Blues In The Night" (1941) (music by Harold Arlen)
"I Remember You" (1941) (music by Victor Schertzinger)
"Tangerine" (1941) (music by Victor Schertzinger)
"This Time the Dream's on Me" (1941) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Hit The Road To Dreamland" (1942) (music by Harold Arlen)
"That Old Black Magic" (1942) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Skylark" (1942) (music by Hoagy Carmichael)
"Dearly Beloved" (1942) (music by Jerome Kern)
"I'm Old Fashioned" (1943) (music by Jerome Kern)
"One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (1943) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Dream" (1943) (words and music by Johnny Mercer)
"Accent-u-ate the Positive" (1944) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Out of This World" (1945) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Laura" (1945) (music by David Raksin)
"Trav'lin' Light" (1946) (music by Jimmy Mundy and James Osborne "Trummy" Young)
"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" (1946) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Come Rain Or Come Shine" (1946) (music by Harold Arlen)
"Autumn Leaves" (1947) (music by Joseph Kosma)
"Glow Worm" (1952) (music Paul Lincke)
"Satin Doll" (1953) (music by Duke Ellington)
"Something's Gotta Give" (1954) (words and music by Johnny Mercer)
"Moon River" (1961) (music by Henry Mancini)
"Days of Wine and Roses" (1962) (music by Henry Mancini)
"Charade" (1963) (music by Henry Mancini)
"Lorna" (1964) {music by Mort Lindsey)
"Midnight Sun" (music by Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke)
"Summer Wind" (1965) (music by Henry Mayer)
"Drinking Again" (with Doris Tauber)
"When October Goes" (1984) (music by Barry Manilow)

That is just a small sample of the songs that Johnny Mercer wrote lyrics to. Mercer was born in 1909 and died in 1976 at the age of 66. The last song, in particular, came about from a collection of songs written by Johnny Mercer than nobody had written music to. Mercer had died in 1976 and during the last years of his life he had became a fan of Barry Manilow and so Mercer's widow gave Manilow a collection of Johnny Mercer lyrics and in time Manilow would build music around them. The only song, to date, to be a commercial single resulting from the experience was "When October Goes" in 1984. The single became a Top-10 hit on the Adult-Contemporary chart, reaching number six. The song can be found on the jazz concept album, PARADISE CAFE, as well as several best-of and greatest hits collections from Manilow.

Four of his songs won Oscars:

"On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (1946) (music by Harry Warren) for the film, The Harvey Girls

"In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening" (1951) (music by Hoagy Carmichael) for the film, Here Comes The Groom

"Moon River" (1961) (music by Henry Mancini) for the film, Breakfast at Tiffany's

"Days of Wine and Roses" (1962) (music by Henry Mancini) for Days of Wine and Roses
===============================================

This is a blurb about the Manilow-Mercer collaboration...

In his last year, Mercer became extremely fond of pop singer Barry Manilow, in part because Manilow's first hit record was of a song titled Mandy, which was also the name of Mercer's daughter Amanda. After Mercer's death, his widow, Ginger Mehan Mercer, arranged to give some unfinished lyrics he had written to Manilow to possibly develop into complete songs. Among these was a piece titled "When October Goes", a melancholy remembrance of lost love. Manilow applied his own melody to the lyric and issued it as a single in 1984, when it became a top 10 Adult Contemporary hit in the United States.

[geraldine]

Jerry- Thank you for the link to the article on Andrew LLoyd Webber

[ACcountryFan]

Title: Nashville Storyteller
Artist: Tom T Hall
Year of Release: Australia: 1997; America: 1999
Label: Camden/ BMG

1. Mr Bojangles; 1978
2. Son of Clayton DeLaney; 1978
3. The Last Country Song; 1979
4. You Show Me Your Heart and I'll Show You Mine; 1979
5. Jesus on the Radio, Daddy on the Phone; 1979
6. Soldier of Fortune; 1980
7. People As Crazy As Me; 1980
8. The Six O'Clock News; 1980
9. The Year That Clayton Delaney Died; 1983 live recording at Opryland
10. I Like Beer; 1986 live recording
11. I Love; 1986 live recording
12. Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine; 1986 live recording
13. The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978; 1978
14. What Have You Got to Lose; 1978
15. I Couldn't Live in Southern California; 1979
16. I Left You Some Kisses On the Door; 1979
17. The Old Side of Town; 1979
18. Back When Gas Was Thirty Cents a Gallon; 1980
19. The World According to Raymond; 1980
20. I'll Go Somewhere and Sing My Songs Again; 1980

This 20 song collection picks at random the songs that Tom T Hall recorded during his days with RCA Records. Included, in addition to the singles that were issued by RCA, are album cuts that have either become fan favorites through the years or have become curiosities by those who have studied the songs of Tom T Hall. The years covered on this import CD are 1978, 1979, and 1980. Then the record label, Camden, selects some live recordings of Tom singing his biggest hits: "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" comes from a 1983 live recording; "I Like Beer", "I Love", and "Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine" all come from live performances in 1986. When you hear Tom singing in concert you can tell how much fun he has with the audience, especially "I Like Beer".

Tom was with the RCA label from 1978 through 1982. It was during this era that Tom became a TV personality, hosting the syndicated country show POP GOES THE COUNTRY on the weekends during 1979 through 1983, plus appearing in TV commercials for Tyson Chicken among other products. These recordings represent the middle period in Tom's career before he went back to the Mercury label, the label in which he became a singing star in the late 1960's. Some of my favorites that are included: "Jesus on the Radio, Daddy on the Phone", "You Show Me Your Heart and I'll Show You Mine", "The Six O'clock News" {with a nice Cronkite acknowledgment at the end}, "The Old Side of Town", "What Have You Got To Lose", "The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978" {the title itself is interesting enough}, "People As Crazy As Me". In this day and age of high fuel costs, anyone would long for the era "Back When Gas Was Thirty Cents a Gallon".

Tom tackles a few songs written by others...of the 20 tracks, Tom wrote 18 of them. The lead-off song, his version of "Mr Bojangles", was written by Jerry Jeff Walker. Song number six, "Soldier of Fortune", was written by a songwriter whose name is given as Gary Sefton. Several of Tom's 1980 songs have back-up vocalists who sing passages...which is a rarity in Tom's songs...usually Tom sings alone with perhaps a few back-up singers doing harmony. Several of the songs on here are also on the career retrospective box set: STORYTELLER, POET, PHILOSOPHER; but for those who just want a CD of his RCA material or want a collection for a short car trip or whatever, get this one. The hits completists out there perhaps will not appreciate the album cuts and the rare, live performances but then again, some just very well might. This is some wonderful music and character-study-in-song from one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The 16 studio recordings on this Import CD come from the following albums:

1978: Places I've Done Time {4 songs from this album}
1979: Ol' T's in Town {6 songs from this album}
1980: Soldier of Fortune {6 songs from this album}

 
==========================================

There is another album from 1978 but this Import CD didn't feature any of it's songs...the album NEW TRAIN, SAME RIDER which was Tom's debut album for RCA in 1978. That particular album contained several hit songs and other obscure recordings...this is the album cover...



The above 1978 album contains the following songs...none of these appeared on the Import CD from 1997/1999 but some of the titles may seem familiar to some...

1. Come on Back to Nashville
2. May the Force Be With You Always
3. No One Feels My Hurt
4. I'm Not Ready Yet**
5. Burning Bridges*
6. Dark Hollow
7. I Wish I Loved Somebody Else
8. I'd Rather Die Young Than Grow Old Without You*
9. Whiskey
10. Mabel, You Have Been a Friend To Me

*-these songs were later recorded by George Jones in 1983 for his Jones Country album.

**-this song was a huge hit for George Jones in 1980; the single hit #2 and can be found on a slew of CD's but it was originally found on the 1980 George Jones album, I Am What I Am.

As far as hit songs for Tom himself from that 1978 New Train, Same Rider album, the singles were "May The Force Be With You Always", inspired by the phrase from the Star Wars movie, and "I Wish I Loved Somebody Else". Both of those singles were back to back #13 hits. 

Portions of my review of Nashville Storyteller appear on Amazon.com

[geraldine]

Jerry Tom T Hall is one of the best story tellers there is around. Thank you for the review on him. I think not a lot of people know of him and how much he is appreciated by his contrubution to the country music industry.

[ACcountryFan]

Hello Charlene! Welcome back...

I'll be posting articles about Ray Stevens upcoming tour in this thread. This is the first one i've seen about the upcoming concert in July down in Boaz, Alabama...i'll be going to the concert in Kentucky this coming August...but this is a publicity write-up for Ray's up-coming show...

Stevens ‘Streak’ing into Boaz

By Elizabeth Summers
The Reporter    

Published April 26, 2008
Boaz Mayor Tim Walker likes to have a good time, enjoys music and can’t keep a secret. All those have combined to bring comedian and country singer Ray Stevens to town for the annual Boaz Fourth of July celebration.

Dropping two hints to Boaz Chamber of Commerce Banquet patrons, Walker did his best Ray Stevens imitation. “It’s me again Margaret,” and “Don’t look Ethel,” a favorite line from “The Streak.”

“It is going to be a full show. We are in for a treat,” Walker said. “We will all be leaving there, going home hurting from all the laughter.”

The concert is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. June 28 on Billy Dyar Boulevard, near the Boaz outlets. The free event is open to the public. Organizers urge patrons to bring lawn chairs or blankets. No coolers, alcoholic beverages, tents or lawn umbrellas will be allowed.

People will be allowed to set up their seats as soon as construction of the stage is completed, at about 4 p.m.

Portions of Billy Dyar Boulevard will be closed to traffic. People should use Alabama 168 or Alabama 205 to access the event.

Ricky Ray, Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors president, praised Walker for his continual work to bring quality family acts to Boaz. Last year’s festival was highlighted by an Oak Ridge Boys concert.

“I always wonder to myself, ‘What will (Walker) do this year to top himself?’ But, somehow he always does,” Ray said.

Stevens is best known for his comedic songs including “The Streak,” “Gitarzan” and his most recent hit from 2002, “Osama-Yo’ Mama.”

The 69-year-old Stevens got his big break in the 1960s when he started working for Mercury records. He started playing the piano at age 6 and later started his own band, “The Barons” when he was 15. Over the years, he worked with Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee and B.J. Thomas.

Today, Stevens travels the country performing shows. His calendar of upcoming events can be found at www.raystevens.com

SAND MOUNTAIN REPORTER