Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens , is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy -winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful " and " Misty ", as well as novelty hits such as " Gitarzan " and " The Streak ". Stevens has received gold albums for his music sales and has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. He is also an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame , the Georgia Music Hall of Fame , the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum .
16-547: Harold Ray Ragsdale was born on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia . He is the elder of two sons born to Willis Harold Ragsdale (1915–2001) and Frances Stephens Ragsdale (1916–1997). His younger brother, John, who died in 2020 at the age of 75, became an actor and writer. While attending high school, Stevens formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group named The Barons. He began studying business administration at Georgia State College , but very quickly switched to become
32-489: A 30-minute weekly music variety show on cable TV. Since then, the show has been rebranded as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and is now filmed on stage at his own CabaRay Showroom, which opened to the public in early 2018. The show currently airs on PBS public television stations around the country. Stevens released the album Here We Go Again on March 24, 2015, which includes the Taylor Swift spoof single "Taylor Swift
48-549: A music major. Stevens left after completing three of the four years required to obtain a degree, which he felt that he did not need. At age 18, Stevens signed to Capitol Records ' Prep Records division in 1957, and produced the single "Silver Bracelet", with a cover of "Rang Tang Ding Dong" as the B-side. The single was met with a positive review from Billboard . The B-side was originally recorded by doo-wop group The Cellos in 1956. Stevens signed with Mercury Records in 1961. In
64-792: A publishing contract and wrote songs full-time. Ragsdale collaborated with Verlon Thompson from 1990 until 1999, recording two duet albums on their own label VNS Records: Anything Goes (1993) and Out Of Our Hands (1995). Songs from these albums have been recorded by artists such as Anne Murray, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Rodney Crowell, Lari White, and Billy Dean. Ragsdale and Thompson also performed and recorded with Guy Clark . From 1992 until 2008, Ragsdale performed and recorded with Darrell Scott . She sang on Scott's albums, and Scott produced her first album. Ragsdale released her first solo album Future Past in 1998. From 1999 until 2000, Ragsdale resided in London, England , writing and performing in
80-450: Is Stalking Me" and "Come to the USA". Stevens was married to Penny Jackson Ragsdale for over 60 years, until her death on December 31, 2021, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Two days prior, he had canceled his New Year's Eve concert at CabaRay, due to Penny's rapidly declining health. They had two daughters, Suzi and Timi, and four grandchildren. Clarkdale, Georgia Clarkdale
96-467: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Suzi Ragsdale Suzanne Ragsdale (born September 6, 1964) is an American singer and songwriter. Besides her solo recordings, Ragsdale is known for her collaborations with Verlon Thompson and Darrell Scott . Ragsdale grew up in Nashville , the daughter of country/pop singer Ray Stevens (whose legal last name is Ragsdale). By age 10, she
112-656: Is an unincorporated community west-northwest of Atlanta , Georgia, in southwestern Cobb County . It has a post office with ZIP Code 30111 and is the hometown of novelty and country singer Ray Stevens . The population in 2020 was 23,401. Clarkdale began as a mill village built in 1932 to support a spinning mill of the Coats & Clark Thread Company. Both the mill and the neighborhood, consisting of 98 dwellings (a mixture of single-family and duplex floorplans), were designed by North Carolina architect Joseph Emory Sirrine. The neighborhood boasted many modern conveniences for
128-417: The 1970s, Stevens became a producer and studio musician in Nashville . He recorded songs for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–79. Stevens' biggest hit in the U.S. was his gospel-inflected single " Everything Is Beautiful " (1970). It won a Grammy Award , was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, a number one hit on both the pop and Adult-Contemporary charts, and marked his first time in
144-646: The People , a CD/DVD of political songs. This album reached Top-5 on the Billboard Comedy Album chart. RAY-ality TV ended its digital TV run in January 2014. Two months later, a webisode series, also titled Rayality TV was launched. Later in 2014, Stevens co-starred in the movie Campin' Buddies . Stevens published his autobiographical memoir Ray Stevens' Nashville in 2014. In 2015, Stevens began producing and hosting Ray Stevens Nashville ,
160-576: The Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at number 39. The single sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc . Stevens had a transatlantic chart-topping hit in 1974 with " The Streak ," a novelty song about streaking that reached number one on the American and British singles charts. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, with some exceptions (such as " Shriner's Convention " in 1981), Stevens focused mostly on serious material, as he felt that
176-763: The country top 20. In 1985, Stevens performed at the Lanierland Music Park in Georgia with Pinkard & Bowden. In February 2002, following the September 11 attacks , Stevens released Osama—Yo' Mama: The Album after the title track, which was released as a single in late 2001, peaked at #48 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2001. The album reached #29 on the US Top Country Albums chart. In April 2010, Stevens released We
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#1732787201146192-495: The mill's closing in 1983; in 1966, the homes were sold to current residents, many of whom were current or former employees of the mill. In 1987, Clarkdale was listed in the National Register of Historic Places . During the historic September 2009 Atlanta floods , Clarkdale Elementary School (part of Cobb County Public Schools ) was ruined by Noses Creek in the hours after students and faculty evacuated. Although it
208-425: The novelty song was becoming less popular in the era. Stevens had an adult contemporary crossover hit in 1979 with " I Need Your Help Barry Manilow ," a cut from Stevens's Barry Manilow tribute/parody album The Feeling's Not Right Again . Stevens then joined MCA in 1984. Feeling that novelty songs were becoming popular again, he authorized the rush release of " Mississippi Squirrel Revival " in 1984, which reached
224-407: The time, such as electricity and indoor plumbing. Additionally, residents enjoyed a public swimming pool, a community house for public functions, and a mill-sponsored baseball team. As the mill thrived, the community fostered the growth of several local businesses, a dedicated post office, and two churches, both of which still hold religious services as of 2020. Layoffs in the 1950s and 1960s preceded
240-563: Was outside the 100-year flood plain, massive rainfall and upstream land development caused the stream to swell to more than 10 times its normal height, also flooding other locations in Clarkdale. The new Clarkdale Elementary School opened at a different location in August 2012. 33°49′51″N 84°38′59″W / 33.83083°N 84.64972°W / 33.83083; -84.64972 This Cobb County, Georgia state location article
256-468: Was singing on children's albums, and Ragsdale was singing on publishing demos for songwriters by age 11. She sang as part of the chorus on her father Ray Stevens ’ song " Everything Is Beautiful ", using the hymn, " Jesus Loves the Little Children ." Ragsdale provided background vocals for artists such as Guy Clark, Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss, Randy Travis, and Ian Tyson. In 1991, Ragsdale secured
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