Ray Stevens discography

(Redirected from The NRC Years)

The discography of the American country, pop, and novelty artist Ray Stevens consists of 50 studio albums, 125 singles, 3 live albums, 67 compilation albums, 3 box sets, and 1 extended play. Stevens released his first single in 1957 and his first full album in 1962. Dozens of Stevens' singles have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and two of them reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "The Streak" and "Everything Is Beautiful". The former and a cover of the jazz standard "Misty" are his biggest hits on the country charts.

Ray Stevens discography
Studio albums51
EPs1
Live albums3
Compilation albums67
Singles125
Music videos75
Box sets3
No. 1 singles2

Studio albums

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1960s

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Year Album US
1962 1,837 Seconds of Humor 135
1963 This Is Ray Stevens
1968 Even Stevens
1969 Gitarzan 57
Have a Little Talk with Myself

1970s

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Year Album Chart positions
US Country US AUS[1] CAN
1970 Everything Is Beautiful 35 28
Unreal!!! 141
1972 Turn Your Radio On 14 175
1973 Losin' Streak
Nashville 36
1974 Boogity Boogity 10 159 85 82
1975 Misty 3 106 37
1976 Just for the Record 34
1977 Feel the Music 50
There Is Something on Your Mind
1978 Be Your Own Best Friend

1980s

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Year Album Chart positions RIAA
US Country US AUS[1]
1980 Shriner's Convention 4 132
1981 One More Last Chance
1982 Don't Laugh Now
1983 Me
1984 He Thinks He's Ray Stevens 3 118 Platinum
1985 I Have Returned 1 98 Gold
1986 Surely You Joust 11
1987 Crackin' Up! 25
1988 I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like 52
1989 Beside Myself 51

1990s

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Year Album Chart positions
US Country US Comedy
1990 Lend Me Your Ears
1991 #1 With a Bullet 60 14
1993 Classic Ray Stevens
1995 20 Comedy Hits
1997 Hum It
Ray Stevens Christmas: Through a Different Window 69

2000s

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Year Album Chart positions
US Country US Comedy
2000 Ear Candy
2002 Osama-Yo' Mama: The Album 29
2007 New Orleans Moon
2008 Hurricane
2009 Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra…Say What??
One for the Road
Christmas

2010s

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Year Album Chart positions
US Country US Comedy
2010 We the People 58 4
2011 Spirit of '76
Bozo's Back Again
2014 Ray Stevens Gospel Collection, Volume One
2015 Here We Go Again! 4
2016 Just A Closer Walk With Thee: Gospel Favorites
Love Lifted Me
Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me

2020s

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Year Album
2021 Great Country Ballads
Melancholy Fescue (High Class Bluegrass)
Slow Dance
Nouveau Retro (What's Old Is New Again)
Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore

Live albums

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Year Album
1995 Ray Stevens Live!
2012 Such A Night! 50 Years Of Hits & Hilarity On Stage…Alive!
Patriots and Politics: Live On Stage
Year Album
1963 Ray "Ahab the Arab" Stevens and Hal Winters

Box sets

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Year Album
1995 The Incredible World of Ray Stevens
2006 Box Set
2012 Encyclopedia Of Recorded Comedy Music
2021 Iconic Songs of the 20th Century: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives

Compilation albums

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Year Album Chart positions RIAA
US Country US Comedy
1967 The Best of Ray Stevens
1968 The Best of Ray Stevens
1971 Rock & Roll Show (reissue of 1,837 Seconds of Humor)
Ray Stevens' Greatest Hits 15 95
1975 The Very Best of Ray Stevens 19 173
1976 Both Sides of Ray Stevens
1977 The Many Sides of Ray Stevens
The Remarkable Ray Stevens: 20 Incredible Hits
1979 The Feeling's Not Right Again
The Ray Stevens Greatest Hits Collection
The Best of Ray Stevens
1980 Wild and Crazy
1981 Oh Lonesome Me
1983 Greatest Hits 67
1984 Ray Stevens Collection
Ray Stevens Greatest Hits
1985 Ray Stevens Collector's Series
1986 The Very Best of Ray Stevens/Roger Miller
1987 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 41 Platinum
Get the Best of Ray Stevens
Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 62 Gold
1989 Funny Man
1990 His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits Gold
1991 Greatest Hits
1992 Ahab the Arab
Everything Is Beautiful & Other Hits
Mississippi Squirrel Revival (reissue of He Thinks He's Ray Stevens)
A Brighter Day
The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens/Jim Stafford
Ray Stevens – At His Best (reissue of Beside Myself)
1995 Get Serious! Soundtrack
Cornball
Serious Side of Ray Stevens
1997 The Streak
Gitarzan
The Biggest and the Best
The Best of Ray Stevens
Golden Classics
The Country Hits Collection
1998 Back 2 Back
1999 The Last Laugh
Misty: The Very Best of Ray Stevens
2000 Funniest Characters
2002 12 Hits
2003 Classic Masters
The Collection
2004 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Ray Stevens
The Ones You Want
2005 The NRC Years
2008 Greatest Hits: The 50th Anniversary Collection
Only The Best Of Ray Stevens
2009 Laughter Is The Best Medicine
2010 A Funny Thing Happened In Church Today
2014 Ahab, Jeremiah, Sgt Preston and More...: The Early Ray Stevens
2016 Face the Music: The Complete Monument Singles, 1965-1970
Love Lifted Me

Singles

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1950s and 1960s

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Year Single (A-side, B-side)
Both sides from same album except where indicated
Peak chart positions Album
US CB
[2] [3]
US BB
[4]
US R&B CAN AUS
1957 "Rang Tang Ding Dong"
b/w "Silver Bracelet"
Non-album tracks
"Five More Steps"
b/w "Tingle"
1958 "Chickie-Chickie Wah Wah"
b/w "Crying Goodbye"
"Love Goes on Forever"
b/w "Cat Pants"
"The Clown"
b/w "School"
1959 "High School Yearbook - A Deck of Cards"
b/w Truly True"
"My Heart Cries for You"
b/w "What Would I Do Without You?"
"Sgt. Preston of the Yukon"
b/w "Who Do You Love"
112 108
1960 "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving
Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills
"
b/w "Teen Years" (from This Is Ray Stevens)
38 35 83 1,837 Seconds Of Humor
1961 "Scratch My Back"
b/w "When You Wish Upon a Star" (Non-album track)
147
"White Christmas"
b/w "Happy Blue Year"
The NRC Years 1958-1960
1962 "Ahab the Arab"
b/w "It's Been So Long" (from This Is Ray Stevens)
2 5 9 7 1,837 Seconds of Humor
"Further More"
b/w "Saturday Night at the Movies'
97 91
"Santa Claus Is Watching You"
b/w "Loved and Lost" (from This Is Ray Stevens)
37 45 The Best of Ray Stevens
1963 "Funny Man"
b/w "Just One of Life's Little Tragedies"
83 81 14 This Is Ray Stevens
"Harry The Hairy Ape"
b/w "Little Stone Statue"
19 17 14 30 72
"Speed Ball"
b/w "It's Party Time" (Non-album track)
74 59 29
1964 "Butch Barbarian"
b/w "Don't Say Anything" (Non-album track)
117 The Best of Ray Stevens
"Bubble Gum the Bubble Dancer"
b/w "Laughing Over My Grave" (Non-album track)
1965 "The Rockin' Teenage Mummies"
b/w "It Only Hurts When I Laugh"
Non-album tracks
"Mr. Baker the Undertaker"
b/w "The Old English Surfer"
"Party People"
b/w "A-B-C"
130 130 Face the Music: The Complete Monument Singles 1965-1970
1966 "Devil May Care"
b/w "Make a Few Memories"
"Freddie Feelgood (and His Funky Little
Five Piece Band)"
b/w "There's One in Every Crowd" (Non-album track)
96 91 22 Gitarzan
1967 "Answer Me, My Love"
b/w "Mary My Secretary"
95 Face the Music: The Complete Monument Singles 1965-1970
1968 "Unwind"
b/w "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
44 52 29 Even Stevens
"Mr. Businessman"
b/w "Face the Music"
15 28 7 33
"The Great Escape"
b/w "Isn't It Lonely Together"
88 114 43 34
1969 "Gitarzan"
b/w "Bagpipes - That's My Bag"
7 8 10 3 Gitarzan
"Along Came Jones"
b/w "Yakety Yak"
24 27 28 13
"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"A
b/w "The Minority" (from Even Stevens)
76 81 59 34 Have a Little Talk with Myself
"—" denotes released that failed to chart or were not released
  • A^ "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" peaked at number 55 on U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles and number 46 on Canada RPM Country Tracks.

1970s

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Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US
[4]
US AC US CB UK CAN Country CAN CAN AC AUS
1970 "Have a Little Talk with Myself"
b/w "The Little Woman"
63 123 115 50 Have a Little Talk with Myself
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
b/w "The Fool on the Hill"
112 117
"Everything Is Beautiful"
b/w "A Brighter Day"
39 1 1 1 6 1 1 Everything Is Beautiful
"America, Communicate with Me"
b/w "Monkey See, Monkey Do"
45 12 38 34 Unreal!!!
"Sunset Strip"
b/w "Islands"
81 17 79 68 30
1971 "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues)"
b/w "Night People" (from Unreal!!!)
50 43 2 37 61 Boogity Boogity
"A Mama and a Papa"
b/w "Melt" (Non-album track)
82 4 66 72 6 Turn Your Radio On
"All My Trials"
b/w "Have a Little Talk with Myself" (from Have a Little Talk with Myself)
70 6 74 82
"Turn Your Radio On"
b/w "Loving You on Paper" (from Unreal!!!)
17 63 24 102 33 10 3 99
1972 "Love Lifted Me"
b/w "Glory Special"
"Losing Streak"
b/w "Inside"
Losin' Streak
1973 "Nashville"
b/w "Golden Age"
37 44 70 29 83 Nashville
"Love Me Longer"
b/w "Float"
1974 "The Streak"
b/w "You've Got the Music Inside" (from Nashville)
3 1 12 1 1 1 1 1 2 Boogity Boogity
"Moonlight Special"
b/w "Just So Proud to Be Here"
73 55 59 26
"Everybody Needs a Rainbow"
b/w "Inside" (from Losin' Streak)
37 18 83 16 All-Time Greatest Hits
1975 "Misty"
b/w "Sunshine"
3 14 8 16 2 2 15 6 5 Misty
"Indian Love Call"
b/w "Piece of Paradise" (Non-album track)
38 68 63 34
1976 "Young Love"
b/w "Deep Purple"
48 93 44 87 47
"Lady of Spain"
b/w "Mockingbird Hill"
108
"You Are So Beautiful"
b/w "One Man Band"
16 101 17 Just for the Record
"Honky Tonk Waltz"
b/w "Om"
27 38
1977 "In the Mood"
b/w "Classical Cluck
Shown as "Henhouse Five Plus Too"
39 40 38 37 31 Ray Stevens Greatest Hits Vol. 2
"Get Crazy with Me" / 81 Feel the Music
"Dixie Hummingbird" 44 43
1978 "Be Your Own Best Friend"
b/w "With a Smile"
36 50 16 Be Your Own Best Friend
1979 "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow"
b/w "Daydream Romance"
85 49 11 34 63 92 The Feeling's Not Right Again
"—" denotes released that failed to chart or were not released

1980s and 1990s

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Year Single (A-side, B-side) Peak chart positions Album
US Country CAN Country
1980 "Shriner's Convention"B
b/w "You're Never Goin' to Tampa with Me"
7 2 Shriner's Convention
"Night Games"
b/w "Let's Do It Right This Time"
20 11 One More Last Chance
1981 "One More Last Chance"
b/w "I Believe You Love Me"
33 46
1982 "Written Down in My Heart"
b/w "Country Boy, Country Club Girl"
35 Don't Laugh Now
"Where the Sun Don't Shine"
b/w "Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Love"
63
1983 "Mary Lou Nights"
b/w "Piece of Paradise Called Tennessee"
Me
1984 "My Dad"
b/w "Me"
64
"I'm Kissin' You Goodbye"
b/w "Joggin'"
He Thinks He's Ray Stevens
1985 "Mississippi Squirrel Revival"
b/w "Ned Nostril (and His South Seas Paradise)"
20 32
"It's Me Again, Margaret"
b/w "Joggin'"
74
"The Haircut Song"
b/w "Punk Country Love"
45 I Have Returned
"Santa Claus Is Watching You" (re-recording)
b/w "Armchair Quarterback"
1986 "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone"
b/w "Vacation Bible School"
50
"Southern Air" (with Jerry Clower and Minnie Pearl)
b/w "The Camping Trip"
63 Surely You Joust
"People's Court"
b/w "Dudley Dorite (Of the Highway Patrol)"
70
"Can He Love You Half as Much as I"
b/w "Dudley Dorite (Of the Highway Patrol)"
1987 "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex"
b/w "Cool Down Willard"
41 45 Crackin' Up
"Three Legged Man"
b/w "Doctor Doctor (Have Mercy on Me)"
"Sex Symbols"
b/w "The Ballad of Cactus Pete and Lefty"
1988 "Surfin' U.S.S.R."
b/w "Language, Nudity, Violence and Sex"
I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like
"The Day I Tried to Teach
Charlene Mackenzie How to Drive"
b/w "I Don't Need None of That"
88
"I Saw Elvis in a UFO"
b/w "I Used to Be Crazy"
Beside Myself
1989 "There's a Star Spangled Banner"
1990 "Help Me Make It Through the Night"[5] Lend Me Your Ears
1991 "Workin' For the Japanese" 62 #1 with a Bullet
"Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens"
1992 "Power Tools" 72
1993 "If 10% Is Good Enough for Jesus" Classic Ray Stevens
"The Motel Song"
"Super Cop"
1997 "Mama Sang Bass" Hum It
"Too Drunk to Fish"
"Virgil and the Moonshot"
"Nightmare Before Christmas" Ray Stevens Christmas: Through a Different Window
From 1989 on, tracks were released as CD singles
"—" denotes released that failed to chart or were not released

2000s, 2010s, & 2020s

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Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country
2002 "Osama - Yo' Mama" 48 Osama - Yo' Mama: The Album
2004 "Thank You" Thank You
2005 "We're Having a Baby" Box Set
2006 "The New Battle of New Orleans" Non-album single
2008 "Hurricane" Hurricane
2009 "Concrete Sailor" One for the Road
"Cooter Brown"
"If 10% Is Good Enough for Jesus" We The People
"We the People"
2010 "Thank You"
"Caribou Barbie"
"Come to the U.S.A."
"Throw the Bums Out!"
"The Global Warming Song"
"God Save Arizona" Spirit of '76
2011 "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore"
"Obama Budget Plan"
"Mr. President - Mr. President"
2012 "Obama Nation"
"Grandpa Voted Democrat"
"Guilt For Christmas" Non-album single
"Blue Christmas"
"White Christmas"
"Merry Christmas"
"Redneck Christmas"
2013 "Red Hot Chili Cookoff"
"Unchained Melody"
2014 "If You Like Your Plan" Here We Go Again
"Nero Fiddled"
2015 "Taylor Swift Is Stalking Me"
"You Didn’t Build That"
"Come to the USA"
2016 "Dear America" Non-album single
"Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me" Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me
2020 "Everything Is Beautiful (50th Anniversary Edition)" Non-album single
"The Quarantine Song"
2021 "Gas" Ain't Nothin' Funny Anymore
"Hoochie Coochie Dancer"
"—" denotes released that failed to chart or were not released

Music videos

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Ray Stevens recognized the power of the music video in the mid-80s and has been releasing them ever since. Ray released a direct-to-video collection of these videos in 1992 called Ray Stevens Comedy Video Classics, which won Billboard Home Video of the Year in 1993. In 1995, Stevens released his film Get Serious! which consisted of several music videos. A series of animated videos were released between 2004 and 2008 which revisited many of Stevens' most popular hits. Ray returned to live action with a series of direct-to-YouTube music videos starting with 2009's "We The People". Some of Stevens' music videos have gone viral and most of them have garnered millions of unique views. In 2012, Stevens released a series of non-album Christmas music videos. Since then he has continued to sporadically release direct-to-YouTube music videos.

Year Video
1985 "Santa Claus Is Watchin' You"
1988 "Surfin' USSR"
1990 "Help Me Make It Through the Night"
"Sittin' Up With the Dead"
1992 "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival"
"It's Me Again, Margaret"
"Everything Is Beautiful"
"The Streak"
1995 "Shriner's Convention"
"Gitarzan"
"The Woogie Boogie"
"Dudley Dorite of the Highway Patrol"
"The Dooright Family"
"We Don't Take Nothin' Off Nobody"
"Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens"
"Can He Love You Half as Much as I?"
"I Used to Be Crazy"
"Ahab the Arab"
1997 "Virgil and the Moonshot"
"Too Drunk to Fish"
2000 "Juanita and the Kids"
"The Pirate Song"
"The Haircut Song"
"Freddie Feelgood (and His Funky Little Five Piece Band)"
"The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone, Parts 1 and 2"
2002 "Osama Yo' Mama"
"Hello Mama"
2003 "Bridget the Midget (Queen of the Blues)"
"Deerslayer"
"Hang Up and Drive"
"Erik the Awful"
"Gone for Good"
2004 "Thank You"
"Power Tools" (Animated)
2006 "Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens" (Animated)
"Misty" (Animated)
"Harry the Hairy Ape" (Animated)
"Along Came Jones" (Animated)
"Barbeque" (Animated)
"Gourmet Restaurant" (Animated)
"This Ain't Exactly What I Had in Mind" (Animated)
"Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills" (Animated)
"The Ballad of Cactus Pete and Lefty" (Animated)
"Can He Love You Half as Much as I" (Animated)
"Smokey Mountain Rattlesnake Retreat" (Animated)
"Hugo the Human Cannonball" (Animated)
"The Moonlight Special" (Animated)
"The Camping Trip" (Animated)
2009 "We the People"
2010 "Caribou Barbie"
"Throw the Bums Out!"
"Come to the USA"
"The Global Warming Song"
"God Save Arizona"
"Nightmare Before Christmas"
2011 "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore"
"Obama Budget Plan"
"Mr. President - Mr. President"
2012 "Obama Nation"
"Grandpa Voted Democrat"
"White Christmas"
"Blue Christmas"
"Merry Christmas"
"Redneck Christmas"
2013 "Red Hot Chili Cookoff"
"Aba Daba Honeymoon"
"Doctor Doctor (Have Mercy On Me)"
"Guilt For Christmas"
"Nashville"
"Unchained Melody"
2014 "If You Like Your Plan"
"Nero Fiddled"
2015 "Taylor Swift Is Stalking Me"
"You Didn't Build That"
"Come To The USA"
2016 "Dear America"
"Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me"
2020 "Everything Is Beautiful (50th Anniversary Edition)"
2021 "Hoochie Coochie Dancer"

References

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  1. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 293. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2014). Cash Box Pop Hits: 1952-1996. Record Research.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2014). Cash Box Looking Ahead:1959-1993. Record Research.
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 854. ISBN 978-0-89820-188-8.
  5. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box: 22. December 8, 1990.