Curb Records
2006
Box Set
About This Album
The eclectic career of gospel/country/comedy artist Ray Stevens creates a big challenge for anyone attempting to make a representational "best-of" album. He jumped from genre to genre as often as he switched labels, leaving compilers with mountains of unrelated song subjects and complicated licensing issues. When the 2005 Box Set was announced, Stevens' fans had high hopes for a comprehensive, career-spanning collection -- and it was -- kind of. After a successful television-only campaign, Curb Records released the set in 2006 and sales proved that the Stevens' market was still strong in the U.S.. Faithful fan support does not necessarily guarantee that a collection is good though. The Box Set is a sprawling three-disc affair (providing more than an ample amount of time to give the man plenty of room to show all of his facets), but the collection is plagued with glaring omissions and seemingly random sequencing. Stevens' strongest suit has always been his versatility -- blessed with a lovely voice, great musical talent, and uncanny comedic sense, Ray Stevens could (and did) successfully tackle anything that interested him. So why is so much of that good stuff missing here? Sure, there are the expected hits (both comedic and serious) like "It's Me Again Margaret," "Everything Is Beautiful," "Ahab the Arab," "The Streak," "Misty," "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival," "Nashville," and (one of his earliest outings) "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills," but the majority of the Box Set focuses on lesser-known album cuts that would be obscure even for dedicated fans.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,4 and 8)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 2,3,7 and 15)

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Disc 3 (try tracks 1,3,7 and 12)

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