Best of Ray Stevens And Gitarzan on Vinyl
Ray Stevens, The Best of Ray Stevens, Mercury? SR 61272, and Gitarzan, Monument records, SLP 18115. 1969.
Ray Stevens has about 17 different versions of “Best of” or “Greatest hits” collections. Think I exaggerate? This is probably the first one. I like the wild psychedelic trading card looking cover. Looks an awful lot like a cleaner version of Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills
cover by Robert Crumb. Ray Stevens used to just do a lot of Coasters songs, but eventually got to writing a whole bunch of his own.
cover by Robert Crumb. Ray Stevens used to just do a lot of Coasters songs, but eventually got to writing a whole bunch of his own.
4 Responses “Best of Ray Stevens And Gitarzan on Vinyl”
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I always liked Ray Stevens. We listened to a lot of his stuff when I was a kid.
We had an 8-track of one version of his greatest hits that we listened to an awful lot. The only non-funny song was “Everything is Beautiful”
I’m a big fan of Ray Stevens! That first album you spotlighted, with the psychedelic cover, was released in 1970 on Mercury Records so you were right with the label. The material on the album was recorded during 1961-1963.
Ray has often mentioned how frustrated he was with all of the compilations and “best of” albums that were released…many of them without his control. It reached a peak in the 1990’s but it’s slacked off since…and I think you’re right, “The Best of Ray Stevens” may have been the very first compilation on the market…and the Mercury/Polygram labels and all of their subsidiaries have re-released Ray’s early 1960’s recordings many, many times over the years.
My web-site is actually the profile page of my blog site where I write my opinion and commentary about Ray Stevens and other subject matter in my various blog’s.
Thanks for the info and thanks for stopping by!