Early career At age 18, Stevens signed to
Capitol Records' Prep Records division in 1957 as the B-side. The single received a positive review from
Billboard. According to the
Country Music Hall of Fame, "In between the record's 1957 recording and its release, his name was changed to 'Ray Stevens' at the insistence of country
A&R chief
Ken Nelson of Capitol Records, who said 'Ray Ragsdale' didn't 'pop.'"
1960s Stevens signed with
Mercury Records in 1961. His first hit came that year, with the
novelty song "
Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills," which hit #35 on the pop chart. This began the long string of novelty songs for which Stevens is best known, including "
Ahab the Arab" (#5, 1962), "Harry the Hairy Ape" (#17, 1963) and "
Gitarzan" (#8, 1969). Based in
Nashville since 1962, Stevens also worked as a multi-instrumental session musician and songwriter. According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, "Stevens became a favorite of maestro
Chet Atkins. He sang with the
Jordanaires; played trumpet for an
Elvis Presley session; wrote songs for
Brook Benton,
Skeeter Davis, and
Dolly Parton; and contributed to
Waylon Jennings's classic '
Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line.'" While Stevens was best known for comedy, he occasionally recorded straightforward pop songs as well. The most successful of these in the 1960s was "
Mr. Businessman," which went to #28 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.
1970s In 1970, Stevens signed to
Barnaby Records, owned by singer
Andy Williams. He then hosted an NBC comedy-variety series,
Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens, as a summer replacement for Williams' regular series. This led to Stevens' biggest hit in the U.S., his gospel-inflected single "
Everything Is Beautiful" (1970), which he wrote and performed as the theme song for his TV show. It won a
Grammy Award, was a number-one hit on both the pop and adult contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the top 40 on the country charts, peaking at number 39. The single sold over one million copies earning a
gold record. Stevens had a transatlantic chart-topping hit in 1974 with "
The Streak", a novelty song about
streaking which reached number one on the American and British singles charts. The following year, he scored another hit with a unique arrangement of
Erroll Garner's jazz-pop standard "
Misty," which went to #3 on the country chart and #14 on the Hot 100. 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 the novelty song was becoming less popular in the era. However, in 1977 he released a cover version of
Glenn Miller's big-band standard "
In the Mood" in which the vocals sounded like chickens clucking, credited to The Henhouse Five Plus Too. Stevens also had an adult contemporary crossover hit in 1979 with "
I Need Your Help Barry Manilow", a cut from Stevens'
Barry Manilow tribute/parody album ''
The Feeling's Not Right Again''.
1980s Stevens signed with
RCA Records in 1980, releasing three albums over the next two years. He briefly returned to Mercury Records for one album in 1983. Convinced that novelty songs were becoming popular again, he authorized the rush release of "
Mississippi Squirrel Revival" for
MCA Records in 1984, which reached the country top 20.
21st century In February 2002, after 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 number 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2001. The album reached number 29 on the Top Country Albums chart. In April 2010, he released We the People
, a CD/DVD of political songs. It was in the top five on the Billboard'' Comedy Album chart.
RAY-ality TV ended its digital TV run in January 2014. In March, a
webisode series, also titled
Rayality TV was launched. Later in 2014, Stevens co-starred in the movie ''Campin' Buddies
. He published an autobiographical memoir, Ray Stevens' Nashville'', in 2014. In 2015, Stevens began producing and hosting
Ray Stevens Nashville, a 30-minute weekly music variety show on cable TV. The show was rebranded as
Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and is filmed on stage at his own CabaRay Showroom, which opened to the public in early 2018. The album
Here We Go Again came out on March 24, 2015. It includes the
Taylor Swift spoof single "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me" and "Come to the USA". ==Personal life==