Stevens Covers Some of Country Music’s Most Iconic
Tunes on New Twelve-Track Album
Nashville, Tenn. — Country Music Hall of Fame member Ray Stevens has released the first of four new albums. Out now via Curb Records, Great Country Ballads features twelve timeless hit songs that left a mark on Stevens, not only as an artist but as a country music fan. On the project, Stevens reinvents the classic ballads in his own unique style, but also keeps the integrity of the original track intact.
“Music has been my life, my business and my great pleasure,” explains Stevens. “Whenever I would hear a record I really liked, I would soon begin to think about how I would have recorded it. Now I know because this collection is my version of my favorite songs that I grew up with. They really are the soundtrack of my life.”
The Boot recently premiered track 7 – Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” – where the GRAMMY® Award winner explained, ”If country music was a house, then ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ would be a cornerstone.”
Great Country Ballads also includes “Crazy,” “Please Help Me, I’m Falling (In Love With You),” “Room Full of Roses,” “Crying Time,” “Sweet Dreams” and several more classic country hits, reimagined by Stevens.
For more information about Great Country Ballads or the other three upcoming albums Stevens is releasing this spring – Melancholy Fescue (High Class Bluegrass), available March 26, Slow Dance, available April 23, and Nouveau Retro (What’s Old Is New Again), available May 21 – visit raystevens.com.
Stevens and Curb are also planning to release all four new albums in a special edition box set, Iconic Songs of the 20th Century (The Soundtrack of Our Lives), available for purchase on June 18.
Great Country Ballads Track Listing:
1. Please Help Me, I’m Falling (In Love With You)
2. Crazy
3. City Lights
4. I Can’t Stop Loving You
5. Bouquet of Roses
6. Room Full of Roses
7. Your Cheatin’ Heart
8. Crying Time
9. I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You)
10. Making Believe
11. Sweet Dreams
12. ‘Til I Get It Right
For more information on Ray Stevens, visit raystevens.com.
Ray Stevens, someone I’ve been a fan of for many many years, presents these great country ballads in his own arrangements. These are not simply covers of classic country music songs…Ray puts a different take on them. It’s a ballad heavy album as the title suggests so if you’re looking for a wild, zany romp you’ll be surprised at the straight, serious delivery of each song. His next album, due out later this month, is to be something of a Bluegrass project so more than likely they’ll be a lot more mid-tempo and up-tempo performances on that one.