Hey, you remember Ray Stevens? That's right: The guy who recorded all those weird, semi-country songs and a couple of more mainstream ones. Ray seems to be pretty much retired now, having spent the last decade or two doing shows in and around Branson, but he sold an amazing number of records in his lifetime. And CDs. And music video tapes. When people talk of the most successful musical performers of the last twenty or thirty years, he seems to be unjustly off the radar. If someone did the math though, they'd probably find him in the Top Fifty, maybe the Top Twenty of the best-selling recording artists. (Not long ago, a reporter called to ask me what the best-selling comedy record of all time was. I wasn't certain but I told him that if one counted Mr. Stevens' tune, "The Streak," as a comedy record, that might well be it.)
If you doubt what I'm telling you, take a look at this discography and see how many records and CDs and tapes this man has had. You don't have a list like that unless you're selling a helluva lot of product.
Here's Ray in a recent performance — on a benefit to raise cash for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Around the same time, he also recorded a new song about the tragedy called "The New Battle of New Orleans," which I haven't heard. As far as I know, these are the last two things he's done.