Exclusive Music
On 06-30-2009
at 4:18 pm
First, we found out that Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson were elitists. Garth Brooks’ music is exclusively sold at Wal-Mart, and the gospel performance by Alan Jackson at the Ryman is only sold at Target. We will not mention all of the numerous albums that can only be found at Cracker Barrel. Now, Ray Stevens has joined the bandwagon. Ray’s new album will only be sold at Pilot gas stations. You might be thinking, “Wow, he is really narrowing his demographic.” There is a reason for his madness. This cd is a tribute album to the trucker. If you have ever wanted to know what it would sound like for Ray to cover “Convoy,” you will found out from this album. He has thrown some new ones in there as well. I am curious to hear “Hang up and Drive.” The title leaves nothing to the imagination. It is about everyone’s pet peeve, yet everyone does it, talking on the cell phone while driving. And as if you didn’t get tired of Ray re-doing his classics, you will get three bonus tracks with newer versions of “Mississippi Squirrel Revival,” “The Streak,” and “It’s Me Again Margaret.” You can also purchase this cd at Ray’s website. You can download “Concrete Sailor” for free. I have recently given this stinker a listen. Le’t hope that this below standard song does not set the tone for the rest of the album.
Come on, now…beating up on Ray Stevens of all people simply because he had his trucker CD exclusive to Pilot travel centers for a month but then it became available at his web-site’s store.
When you criticize Garth Brooks for having CD’s exclusive to Wal*Mart, what’s the big deal? It isn’t like Wal*Mart is an out of the way store nobody can find…they’re everywhere. There’s five Wal*Mart stores in a 20 mile radius where I live…so going to the store for a Garth Brooks CD wasn’t and shouldn’t have been too much of a burden.
Ray’s free download, “Concrete Sailor”, is not a ’stinker’ as you call it. Perhaps if one is only wanting to hear songs with the same instruments all the time then, of course, “Concrete Sailor” won’t be up a person’s alley. It has impeccable sound and a good lead-off for the trucker CD. I have the trucker CD and all of the songs are good. “Cooter Brown”, a song from the CD, is wonderful.
quote: “And as if you didn’t get tired of Ray re-doing his classics…”
The bonus tracks are not new re-recordings. Instead, they’re from 1992. That was the year he released his million selling home video, “Comedy Video Classics”. He re-recorded quite a few of his songs for those music video’s and it’s those 1992 recordings that are on the trucker CD as bonus tracks. Most people don’t really understand music rights and record label ownership. Ray recorded for quite a few labels in his 50+ career and because of legalities a lot of his songs aren’t available.
A lot of his songs were recorded for subsidiaries of major labels. Barnaby Records, for example…he recorded for that label during 1970-1975…but the distribution was handled by CBS at first and then by Janus Records. GRT Records, i think, handled distribution in Canada. Those recordings the last I saw were owned by a company called Celebrity and they haven’t really budged and won’t release Ray’s Barnaby recordings in any proper collection. Warner Brothers and RCA, the two labels he recorded for during 1976-1983 haven’t re-issued his material much at all…not even on MP3 in this internet age. Then we get to MCA Records…those songs and the ones he recorded for Curb in the 1990’s are available on-line.
So, it isn’t a case of a singer re-recording his hits because he doesn’t have anything new to sing which is the way it comes across in your commentary. It’s a little bit more complicated than that as to why Ray has re-recorded his hit songs in recent times.