Ray Stevens is a 71-year-old singer-songwriter who was popular in the 1970s and 80s for his funny novelty songs such as “Ahab the Arab” (pronounced “A-rab”) and “The Mississippi Squirrel Revival” and “It’s Me Again Margaret,” all of which your afternoon editor recommends for their high kitsch value. But now this silly song-man’s career has taken a very political turn; a turn that has taken him into the AOL inboxes of Teabaggers across the country.
Ray Stevens’ “We the People” has been hailed as “fast becoming the anthem of the Tea Party Movement.”
But that is not quite as funny as his recent issue videos:
Keep it up, Ray! And pay attention libruls: This is what American culture will look like when the Teabaggers FINALLY sweep into power. [Ray Stevens]
Read More:
- New SarahPAC Video Announces Palin Is Commanding General of Teabaggers
- Emotional Video Reminds Everyone That Sarah Palin Is the Queen Of Teabagger Ladies
- 'Tea Party News Brief': The New News Network For the Insane
- Here's the Stupid 9/12 Video!
- Sharron Angle Doesn't Understand Why the Press Isn't Her BFF
{ 91 comments }
Truly Dylanesque.
SMDH, teabaggers get all the most culturally relevant artists like Lee Greenwood, Ray Stevens, & that black guy in the leather vest from the rally.
What, no mention of “the Streak”?
There he was, comin’ out of the cheap seats, nothin’ on but a smile…
Keep on fuckin’ that squirrel Ray.
What’s with all of the Rubicon ads? Is Wonkette a math blog now?
The Global Warming denier one is very timely. Considering it’s been 1,000 degrees for months.
Hilariously indistinguishable from Sara’s video blog.
I was a great admirer of Ray Stevens’ “Gitarzan/Bagpipes: That’s My Bag” single in my pre-school/kindergarten days.
I’ve improved since then. He hasn’t.
[re=628376]Keram2[/re]: If Dylan was a crack baby suffering from fetal-alcohol syndrome.
Boxcar Willie’s cooler.
[re=628377]AbstinenceOnly Ed[/re]: Additionally, I am pretty sure Norm Crosby polishes her speeches…
A horse, a naked KGB agent, and Ray Stevens walk into a bar…
It’s like I’m watching the ad for his greatest hits (only $19.99!) during UHF mid-afternoon Gilligan’s Island re-runs again, only it’s offensive instead of just unfunny.
When I was a young whipperfapper I was given a VHS with all of his “hits,” which I watched repeatedly. I had a sad, sad childhood.
[re=628381]Rumproast[/re]: I think you’re thinking about the Rubikscubicon.
[re=628381]Rumproast[/re]: Every day Wonketters boldly try to make rational maps of the insanely hyperbolic. Sometimes we haz to pull out our modularity theorem and other big maths gunz, but only in self defense.
[re=628377]AbstinenceOnly Ed[/re]: Hey dont forget Ted Nugent, who had a hit about 30 years ago, Charlie Daniels, maybe 35 years ago. Teabagger entertainment—I’ll take lunatic has-beens for 1,000 Alex.
Not clicking…not clicking…not clicking.
[re=628401]Dashboard_Buddha[/re]: Isn’t the Rube’s icon Sarah Palin?
He said she read the Constitution?
I grew up in one of those families where someone would yell “Don’t look Ethel!” and everyone would laugh their guts out. This continued until at least 1979. I fucking hate Ray Stevens.
Dang, for a minute there I thought it said “Cat Stevens”
Until Basil Marceaux comes out with a hit single, I can’t think of a better songsperson for the Teabagger movement.
We the purple? What the hell was that?
Don’t look, Ethel!
The 3-4 hardcore fans on the Ray Stevens “webboard” have frightened me.
[re=628377]AbstinenceOnly Ed[/re]: You failed to mention Victoria Jackson!
Her hit single “There’s a Communist Living in the White House!!” is a ukelele larf riot of Ipecac proportions!
[re=628422]Extemporanus[/re]: “Ukulele” is a stupid fuking word.
[re=628422]Extemporanus[/re]: Not clicking…not clicking…not clicking.
Silly me, I thought he was dead. Turns out it’s just his career that’s toes-up.
What about that 70′s icon “The Streak”? God, how pathetic. I thought this guy was a douche when I was in 3rd grade.
[re=628414]Gorillionaire[/re]: Word.
[re=628415]comicbookguy[/re]: Teabag for the Tillerman is easily his best album.
Poor ol’ Ray. His voice is completely shot, and his brain’s not far behind.
[re=628404]EdFlinstone[/re]: Don’t forget the least talented Monkee and Pat Boone!
It’s from Ray’s new album, “The President is a Kenyan N*gger.”
I got a mixed message from Caribou Barbie…he seems to love her, but if you took out the lyrics and just showed the parts with the Palin lookalike in it, you might as well have a Tina Fey SNL skit. I guess it’s just that anti-Elitism that loves idiots.
This guy makes Wierd Al look like fucking Mozart.
Ray and Ted Nugent should team for some tunes and die horribly while recording them.
victoria jackson , ray stevens , ted nugent – these people are idols here in the teabagger hotspot known as utah . esp the management staff at wells fargo . glenn beck is a god here . why did i move here ? i miss oregon , i wanna go home …..
Another part of my teen years has died horribly. I used to like Ray Stevens.
/snark off/”Mr Businessman” was one of the greatest songs of the 60s. The Chicago radio stations banned the m-f for being too radical and probly for having the word “harlot.” Bet the New Ray is turrible ‘shamed of that record.
/end of snark off/[re=628441]mookworthjwilson[/re]: Hey, man, Weird Al *is* fucking Mozart. Wait, I mean, he is the fucking equal of Mozart, not–oh, enoughski.
I could not have the sound on whilst watching. It looks that they used Lady lips for Keith Olbermann. *rolls eyes*
To all you nice fols up above in Wonkette-Comment Land: there is so much that I relate to and so much funny comedy win in this thread that I couldn’t respond to you all. Is there a lol thing for doing that spit-take sound out loud?
[re=628405]Dashboard_Buddha[/re]: [re=628429]Dashboard_Buddha[/re]: You know you WANT to click – quit pretending you don’t… go on, Mate… click the button, the beau-ti-FUL SHINY BUTTON – the joll-y CANDY-LIKE BUTTON…
Will [re=628405]Dashboard_Buddha[/re]s tortured mind give in to it’s uncontrollable desires?
Can he withstand the temptation to push the button, that even now, beckons him ever closer?
Will he succumb to the maddening urge to eradicate history, at the mere push of a single button?
The beautiful shiny button…
The jolly candy-like button…
Will he hold out, folks?
Can he hold out?
I love how in the “I Hate Foreigns” video the “press 1 for Spanish” voice on the phone is a live human being instead on an automated script. He will listen carefully for the tone, and then speak the appropriate language to you.
Benincasa is overacting in that Caribou video.
How can an entire new generation of voters who would sooner slash their wrists than vote for a Repuke ever compete with these 70yo has beens and their silver haired stupid fat diabetic old white trash fans.
Yeah, this guy was really something down in the hollar back when AM radio still played music.
Ahem…correction.
Ray’s big hit, “Ahab the Arab”, was released in 1962. His other big hits were “Guitarzan” in 1969, “The Streak” and “Misty” (both 1975) and the “Everything is Beautiful” in 1970.
From Wikipedia, another reason to not like Ray Stevens:
“In July 2010 and running through August most PBS stations will air a special titled “Marvin Hamlisch Presents The 1970′s: The Way We Were” during pledge drive fundraisers. The special celebrates the music of the 1970′s and Ray Stevens participated in the proceedings. Stevens’ contributions include “Everything Is Beautiful”, “The Streak”, and “Misty”.”
This is the worst wingnutterization of a mildly amusing has-been music act since the Royal Guardsmen shat out “Snoopy vs. Osama.”
I thought Ray Stevens had a sausage company and died recently.
[re=628458]Bearbloke[/re]: Nice try…but no way. I have clicked too many links to horrible horrible videos here at Wonkette that my brain if forever seared.
[re=628476]Johnny Zhivago[/re]: You’re thinking of Oscar Myer.
[re=628471]coolcatdaddy[/re]: “The 1970s: The way WE were”? Sounds like PBS is admitting that their primary prime time audience is comically old (the other audience can’t tie their own shoeless yet).
[re=628458]Bearbloke[/re]: dear dashboard , do not listen to bearbloke . he is attempting to seduce you unto hell . i pushed the button because he said it was ‘pretty’. he said it was ‘shiny’. and it is indeed both ‘pretty’ and ‘shiny’ but now i’m in utah .
[re=628450]chaste everywhere[/re]: yes…i know…wierd al is a talent…I actually do appreciate what he has given us over the years.
Wasn’t he the lead in My Favorite Martian?
Also, who did you expect to play for the Teabaggers, who are more or less the Depends Generation? Most of their entertainment faves are probably dead by now.
I can’t believe you folks made me remember “The Streak”. years of therapy down the tubes. What next, Billy Don’t be a Hero? Seasons in the Sun?
ray always had a stinky old pervert wannabe aura . 40/50 years later , he’s finally blossomed . watch out willow . watch out piper . uncle suck-up is coming , muhahaha
[re=628398]JMP[/re]: remembers those days…how did we become smart and teabaggers just become dumb as shit…
[re=628414]Gorillionaire[/re]: yeah, why didn’t they mention his biggest hit “The Streak” — I mean he’s basically praising gay nudism in front of American families etc…
Check out, “The Day I Taught Charlene McKenzie How to Drive”, an old Dr. Demento classic and you’ll see how far this yutz has fallen.
I overheard two of these bums/homeless persons in the supermarket last night. They decided they could buy 5 pounds of ground beef in a tube and “we kin cook if all at oncet”. I’ll bet that was a real gourmet meal. That was all they bought. They both looked like Ray Stevens. I used to think he was funny but that was before the senility took him.
[re=628492]mookworthjwilson[/re]: That’s weird.
Is he related to Cat Stevens? It’s just funny that Cat went from “Peace Train” in the 70′s to praising the fatwa on Salman Rushdie years later. Ray Stevens went from “Everything Is Beautiful” in the 70′s to praising the teabagger causes.
Well, “Guitarzan” was pretty cool, but with this crap he has crossed the Rubicon.
OK, did I win a prize?
Didn’t Ray Stevens do “Please, Mr. Custer, I Don’t Want to Die,” with the Big Bopper doing the Indian whooping in the background? Never liked him.
this’ll blow up in the ‘bagger’s faces like everything else when they find the videos of ray stevens and ted nugent doing absolute homosexuality w plenty of fapping off in the mix . and yes , they both ‘sing’.
Looks like Ray Stevens’ old brain forgot that he made his career mocking rednecks.
Based on the evidence of the last 30 years, I think conservatism should be considered a symptom of senility.
Hooray for “We the People”! There’s nothing better than when a singer is about to say a terrible word, but then there’s a funny noise or they go to the next verse before they do. Especially when that terrible word is “ass”. I can’t wait for the song that is all words that rhyme with “teleprompter” and record-zipping noises.
I saw Ray Stevens in 1971 at the Heart of Illinois State Fair in Peoria. I’m sure everyone there were future Tea Partiers.
[re=628415]comicbookguy[/re]: For a moment I saw “Rat Stevens”, which I suppose would be a severely down-market Cat Stevens tribute/parody band.
[re=628461]Aguacatero[/re]: If only. Benincasa would have written much better lyrics.
[re=628420]jodyleek[/re]: Nice ‘un!
Anita Bryant handled the video.
Jeff Gannon licked the envelopes.
Reagan’s spirit poured into every package.
Just $49.99 at all Stuckey’s thru 2012.
Get yourn now, yeeeeeeee, hawwwwwwwwww………….
[re=628501]maven[/re]: May I recommend Too Much Joy’s cover of “Seasons in the Sun”? It cleanses the mental palate.
Omg! I thought he died like 10 years ago.
Don’t forget Mr. Ragsdale’s biggest hit, “The Streak” or “Guitarzan.” Both of them featured ‘makin’ fun of hippies’ in them.
Ray was never before a protest singer, but after age 70, the danger of stroke increases dramatically.
Is he mocking her or supporting her.. I can’t really tell
Why is it that whenever the GOP has some sort of cultural moment it always involves white trash singers? Think about it, McCain took Lee Greenwood and Hank Williams Jr. along with him on the campaign trail and now Ray Stevens. I hope Liberals are better than this.
“This video is not available in your country.”
(Thank fuck for that.)
Fuck. “Everything is Beautiful” only made me want to puke in my mouth. With these, alas, we have achieved follow-through.
all of those videos are the same song.
refund please.
[re=628653]Can O Whoopass[/re]: Ah, Anita Bryant. Now there’s one classy lady: beauty queen, witnessing Christian, orange juice spokesperson, and raging homophobe. She was a gal ahead of her time. And when the times finally caught up with her, she was bankrupt and demented. God must have wanted it that way.
[re=628745]Miss Kublik[/re]: Anita Bryant became Joan Crawford?!?
In the Caribou number, why was she shooting cattle? I did being raised a Southren boy keep me from learning that cows and moose sound just alike.
[re=628702]billy rubin[/re]: You must be Messican!
Ray don’t wont yur kined hearin’ his freedumb songs.
“We’ve Got Meat Tonight, Kids!”
Wasn’t that supposed to be Todd’s line?
I’m not trying to be being partisan here, but are there any genuinly cool right-wing entertainers? Toby Keith is an ass but he does have some decent songs. I think Clint Eastwood is Republican but he stays away from this kind of bullshit.
Oh, yes, they call him The Shill
Pouring out the ‘Baggers’ swill
He’s just as proud as he can be
Of being a Nazi
And he’ll give Limbaugh a thrill
Ray Stevens as the embarrassing ethnic stereotype…of a white guy. I’m sorry America, I bought his Greatest Hits when I was 7. I didn’t know it would end like this. Oh god, I want to die…Why did I click? Why?
Like most of you, I thought he was funny…when I was 7. And I’m embarrassed for that. Like bedwetting, it’s not something I like to talk about and remember.
He makes Hee Haw look like ‘An Evening at the Kennedy Center”.
[re=628501]maven[/re]: “Seasons in the Sun”? Oh, gee thanks a lot. How about some other ear gouging brainstickers, perhaps, I Honestly Love You, Midnight at the Oasis, or The Night Chicago Died (nanananananananananah). No wonder ABBA sounds good.
[re=628468]martinette[/re]: I was all, “meh,” until Ray rhymed Pelosi with Hokey Pokey and then took the joke all the way to “pull the left one out.” That’s just fearless.
Comments on this entry are closed.