WBA Hall of Famer Bob Barry ruled Milwaukee's airwaves in the '60s and '70s. He interviewed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Dolly Parton, Sophia Loren, Gregory Peck, Dick Clark, Cher and many more. If a band or musician came to town, he met them with a microphone. Barry has collected remarkable recordings of these encounters which he’s now sharing with the public. SUBSCRIBE! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | TuneIn | Google Podcasts | Pocketcasts | RSS

Bob Barry’s Unearthed Interviews Podcast: Ray Stevens

Harold Ray Ragsdale was known professionally as Ray Stevens, an American country and pop singer. He was known for his Grammy winning recordings “Everything is Beautiful” and “Misty.” He also recorded “Gitarzan” and “The Streak.” His first hit “Ahab the Arab” was written the night before a session, in sheer panic. He had songs for the session but didn’t like any of them, so the night before, he realized that he had to do something and out of the blue the lyrics came to him. And in 1970 he was signed to host the Andy Williams summer show on NBC and needed a theme song for the show. He chained himself to his piano and in three days finally came up with “Everything is Beautiful.” To me he was one crazy interview.

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One Comment

  1. That was fun to hear!! I’m a huge fan of Ray Stevens. He’s still making records, he has an active Facebook and YouTube page, and he has a concert showroom in West Nashville called the CabaRay. It’ll re-open in September.

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