Ray Stevens - Greatest Hits

From a strictly commercial perspective, this is not a Greatest Hits album. It features only one Top Ten hit, although that one, "Everything is Beautiful" was a number one. The collection has a decidedly country flavor, including songs like "Nashville", "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" and "There's a Star-Spangled Banner" which did fairly well on the country charts but were virtually ignored on the pop side of the house.

That said, this is not a bad album. In fact, it is a very good album. It displays a versatility that most of Ray's numerous GH collections choose to ignore in favor of focussing on the "musical clown" image. There is the gospel/spiritual influenced "Turn Your Radio On", the socially conscious and fairly successful (Number 28 on the charts) "Mr Businessman", and the profound and somewhat disturbing "Isn't It Lonely Together?", a bittersweet ballad that reveals a surprising depth...Read more

this CD is a great introduction to the serious Ray Stevens four years before Warner Brothers released their 3 CD set of his serious 1976-1979 material. on CURB's 1991 'GREATEST HITS', we have eight hit songs and two album tracks. the non-hits are 1968's "Isn't It Lonely Together" and 1989's "There's a Star Spangled Banner". here's some trivia: the version of "There's a Star Spangled Banner" on this CD features a new opening verse. the original opening verse off his 1989 'BESIDE MYSELF' album contains a man being in Beirut instead. "Indian Love Call" includes a brilliant doo-wop arrangement and "Nashville" has a country arrangement.the hits are all great and they showcase his versatility in going from pop, gospel, country, novelty, social commentary, jingoistic, satiric..., etc."Everything is Beautiful" hit #1 pop and #39 country; "Misty" hit #14 pop and #3 country; "Turn Your Radio On" hit #63 pop and #17 country; "Mr. Businessman" hit #28 pop; "Nashville" hit #37 country; "Indian...Read more

I had the record lo many years ago and decided I needed it again. There are a few songs I would have like to have on this cd but I am very pleased.