Talk:Ray Stevens

Born in Albany or Clarkdale?

The page Albany, Georgia says Ray Stevens was born there. This page says he was born in Clarkdale. Which is right? Badbilltucker 18:31, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

-- Better question: Why didn't anyone make mention of Ray Stevens' daughter, Suzi Ragsdale?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jragsdale1 (talk • contribs) 02:07, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

I know he attended Albany High, in Albany, GA in the mid 50's and was born Ray Ragsdale. He is in the yearbook for Albany High in 1956. My mother said that he spent more time writing music than doing his classwork. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.16.19.180 (talk) 17:27, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

According to his website (http://www.raystevens.com/about.html), he was born in Clarkdale and lived in Albany as a teenager. — Preceding unsigned comment added by GaSouthpaw (talk • contribs) 15:13, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Page name move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was no consensus for moving. --Dijxtra 08:26, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

Ray Stevens → Ray Stevens (musician) – Ray Stevens should be a disambiguation page since there is was a wrestler(he died 10 years ago) who was just as famous(if not more) than the musician. The wrestler also has more of a claim to the name because his full name is Carl Raymond Stevens. TJ Spyke 04:13, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

• Oppose. See comment below. --SigPig 04:28, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose, for now at least. Principle of least surprise -- look at the hundreds of links to the page in what links here. How many are for the musician and how many for the wrestler? The status quo with a note at the top of this article linking to the wrestler is just fine. older ≠ wiser 14:45, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

  Comment, Just to nit pick, the musician has over a hundred links, but not "hundreds", while the wrestler has a non-trivial number of links also. And if you really wanted least surprise, a disambiguation page would best serve people looking for either. —Pengo ^{talk · contribs} 23:31, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments

• I think you need to prove that the wrestler is more famous -- I'm assuming that this move request is so that said wrestler can get the unparenthetical article. Although Google is by no means the final arbiter of notability, I think it salient that when Googling "Ray Stevens", I did not find any reference to the wrestler in the first ten pages with the exception of the Wikipedia article. Given the high prevalence of sites referring to the singer, one can safely assume (in my opinion) that the vast majority of people coming to WP looking for Ray Stevens are looking for the singer, not the wrestler. --SigPig 04:28, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

If you read my move request, you would see that I think "Ray Stevens" should be a disambiguation page, meaning it would have links to both this Stevens and the wrestler(just like others articles where several people have the same name). Stevens wrestled most of his career in the '50s and '60s and died about 10 years ago, so that may be affecting how many Google hits he gets. TJ Spyke 05:15, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Ray Stevens' Chart Songs

The information about Ray Stevens' song "Unwind" being a minor hit is incorrect. It was a #3 hit in either 1968 or 1969 from the Barnaby label album "Even Stevens." Also, his hit song "Night Games" was not on the same album as the "Shriner's Convention" hit song.

Actually, I think you will find that "Unwind" only reached Number 52 on Billboard (20th April 1968), on Monument Records. It spent nine weeks on the charts.

Semiprotection review

• 07:21, 27 August 2007 Can't sleep, clown will eat me protected Ray Stevens ‎ (libel concerns [edit=autoconfirmed:move=sysop])

It's been a couple of years now so I'd like to review this semiprotection to see if it's still necessary. I'd welcome comments from regular editors, and I've also contacted the protecting sysop, Can't sleep, clown will eat me (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

--TS 15:54, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Presumably there was a reason it was protected. Try unprotecting it and see if that "reason" comes back. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 18:34, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Uhh...POV?

Somebody should clean this up pronto:

"On May 13, 2010 Stevens issued new music on the various social network sites such as You Tube. The music video titled Come to the USA is about illegal immigration and the decades long passive attitude from the Federal Government with regards to the epidemic. The song comes from Stevens' We The People CD, released on April 1, 2010. It's purely coincidental that by the end of April the state of Arizona would be embroiled in an illegal immigration debate. The debate was ignited when that state's Governor, Jan Brewer, signed into law an illegal immigration bill, Arizona SB1070. Following this action, protests and boycotts from several liberal leaning communities and groups against Arizona became elevated nationally. Such national elevation of boycotts and protests is a typical smear tactic used by any opposing group. The goal of this kind of smear campaign when referring to the illegal immigration law, specifically, is to downplay favorable responses and in the process play up any negative reaction and as a result spin doctors work to make a minority point of view appear to be the majority point of view through repetition of negative sound bites."

What the HELL does any of that have to do with Ray Stevens? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.40.17.181 (talk) 00:29, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I am glad someone else had mentioned that section. It should be removed entirely, as it is clearly nothing close to neutral. It claims some kind of magical knowledge of which side of the Arizona-immigration-law debate constitutes a majority/minority opinion. While we're at it, there needs to be a more prominent description of Mr. Stevens as a right-wing figure, as opposed to a neutral entertainment figure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.123.157.160 (talk) 04:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

• just finished rewriting the artcle. i am still unhappy about the content, though. still sounds like it was written by his agent, or PR - guy. for someone who has changed labels so frequently, the article doesn't go on to explain why, but rather focuses on rather obscure top 10 -20 -30 -40 positions in different sales charts. i'd like to see a more straightforward writing style - perhaps someone more familiar with the subject might help out? also, i agree that his fairly recent fame in the right-wing community needs to be covered in more detail. Nevrdull (talk) 14:20, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

I have added the {POV} tag - just one example of the unsourced and opinionated text presently in the article is "Even though Stevens' series of music video releases are hitting with those who frequent social network sites it doesn't mean that there aren't those who are in opposition of his music and the impact that the videos are having. The very idea that Stevens is striking a chord and having an impact annoys and in some cases angers those, such as liberal bloggers, who'd rather marginalize the music videos and describe the opinions expressed in the songs as being representative of a fringe element of society and not representative of the mainstream. Due to the popularity of his on-line music videos it isn't uncommon to see Stevens as the recipient of character defamation unleashed by opposing political factions."

Can someone with a feel for the subject matter, but moreover a comprehension of the encyclopedic nature of Wikipedia, please take a serious look at the lack of balance currently therein. Thanks,

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 00:28, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

I know almost nothing about the subject, but have taken a run at cleaning up the tone and content, which, at times, was more suitable for a fan-site than for an encyclopedia article. I have tried to bring this more in line with WP:NPOV and WP:MOS. It needs some statements referencedd or removed. It could do with more clean up too. Ground Zero | t 17:50, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, and I know next to nothing about Stevens either, but you have made a grand start in trying to turn this article around. It does need more work, as you point out, but every journey starts with one simple step. Well done - Derek R Bullamore (talk) 19:13, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

His notability is entirely from his music, not the Tea Party. His intro section shouldn't even mention the Tea Party.76.175.197.99 (talk) 04:40, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

This entire page feels like a diary from Ray Stevens' publicist. I've never seen so many dozens and dozens of paragraphs documenting such trivial insignificance in an entertainer's Wikipedia page. Such as: "On May 5, Stevens called the Lars Larson show on radio station KXL to discuss current events." Ridiculous. — Preceding unsigned comment added by YingYang2 (talk • contribs) 00:43, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

I love threads that start several years ago and get added to sporadically. So, what's stopping you from improving the article? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:04, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

You make a good point. But gosh, there is SO much to sift through to whittle it down. I'd do that, then someone would just come along and convert it back. — Preceding unsigned comment added by YingYang2 (talk • contribs) 03:41, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Yes, good point likewise. The one good thing is that Stevens is only an entertainer, not a politician, so POV-pushing is less of a red flag. But maybe others watching the page (if any) could weigh in here for some discussion. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:56, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

What I notice is the lack of any info on his real life. Married,not married,Gay? He wouldn't be the first right wing country star to be a self hating gay man. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.116.55 (talk) 18:09, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Career (and YouTube Views)

There is far too much detail. Virtually an account of every event in recent years. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.15.138 (talk) 08:03, 16 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree. I really don't like all the detail about the number of YouTube views either. Geez. Is there nothing more newsworthy to put in this article? (Answer: No. IMHO.) I hope someone who has more patience that I do will cut some of that info out. I just spent more time than I want to correcting the spelling of "YouTube." DBlomgren (talk) 03:28, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

I have made edits now to shorten sentences, remove repetition, and reduce trivial details (such as explanations of music video themes and content). Please help to continue to make this article more concise and less trivial.----Design (talk) 11:48, 27 September 2014 (UTC)

I have further reduced the article (post-2000 section) by

• Removing non-notable appearances, which are beyond trivial in light of Steven's long career
• Removing individual song releases, unless award-winning (these should be found in discography/videography)
• Removing items only peripherally related to Stevens.
• you-tube statistics of less than 1 million
• removed blatantly promotional material ("see Ray's show at...")

I hope this improves the readability of the article. 78.26 _{(spin me / revolutions)} 17:06, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

The Political Cesspool

He has been interviewed on The Political Cesspool radio show. LonelyBoy2012 (talk) 01:30, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Death rumors

Listening to WORT radio this morning, John Kraniak announced during his show "Entertainment" that Ray Stevens passed away this week. Doing a search, the closest I could find for factual verification was for a different Ray Stevens; I see no notice anywhere else of this Ray Stevens's death. As it is still a rumor, I'm putting the link here rather than in the article until we get more reliable sources to back up the assertion. Slambo (Speak) 17:48, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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BLP warning

Hi, I noticed the BLP warning tags but did not see any potentially libelous or even controversial content, so I corrected it by adding some content that suggests Ray Stevens may be involved in illegal activity of a carnal nature. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.54.140 (talk) 06:31, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

Personal life

This article would benefit from sourced information about Stevens' personal life such as spouse(s), years married, children etc. ----Design (talk) 03:50, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

Finally added a section. Wyliepedia @ 01:05, 2 January 2022 (UTC)

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Maths

Currently says; At 16, Stevens signed to Capitol Records' Prep Records division in 1957,[5] and has said (similar) since 2012.

I changed it to 18, based on “24Jan 1939”, and “first recorded for Prep Records in 1957” matching (my) Joel Whitburn BBTop40. He might’ve signed at 16 (in 1955) (and first recorded in 1957), or might’ve been born in 1941.

MBG02 (talk) 18:49, 22 October 2018 (UTC)