Ray Stevens

• Genre: Country Humor
• Hometown: Clarkdale
• Ray Stevens Website

About

Have you ever been listening to an oldies station and almost choked upon hearing "Ahab The Arab"? You were probably thinking to yourself (especially in the wake of September 11), "Who could have written such a song?" Well, Ray Stevens has been writing such novelty (and parody) material since 1961. That's right, he predated such geniuses as Weird Al Yankovick and Cledus T. Judd. For a while it seemed Stevens was entertaining notions of hanging up his novelty hat -- he found chart success with a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and his own songs "Everything Is Beautiful" and "The Streak." Fear not; Stevens returned to Country Humor in the '80s and has stayed there ever since.

- Eric Shea