Search - Ray Stevens :: Mississippi Squirrel Revival

... "that squirrel made laps inside her dress..."

Jerry McDaniel | 09/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this CD is a re-issue of Ray's first MCA album in 1984. Originally called "HE THINKS HE'S RAY STEVENS", MCA decided to re-title it and release it on CD format...which was great...but why the new title and different album cover? why not release it as a CD under it's original name and album cover? the original cover shown Ray as Napoleon Bonaparte...anyway, all ten tracks are funny in their own special way. As far as laugh out loud is concerned, seek track #7 called "The Monkees" in which these two wacky German singers perform the theme from the Monkees TV show. {remember it? "Hey, hey we're the monkees..."}. However, in Ray's hands, the song is turned into a German romp with Wolfgang and Fritzy...double-entendre humor is abundant when Wolfgang exclaims: "not in that key, boy, you're hurtin' my little Weinerschnitzel..." and "you can take my Leiderhausen and stick it up the goat hole...". In typical German fashion the two singers dissolve into an argument as the accordion plays on. "Erik the Awful" is a brilliant history lesson about a viking who travels all over the globe before settling down in an area now known as Washington, DC. Erik, as we're told, later makes a fortune posing for Molly Hatchet album covers...Displaying his often-overlooked talent at mimicry, Ray delivers a dead-on impression of the late Johnny Cash on "Ned Nostril". It goes to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues"...right down to Cash's trademark humming.However, this album will always be known as the one that introduced the world to "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" and "It's Me Again, Margaret". On the first one, we hear the story of a southern church called The First Self-Righteous in Pascagoula, Mississippi. a squirrel gets loose and runs up Harv Newland's pants and does so much gnawling that poor Harv thinks he has a weed eater loose in his Fruit of the Looms! Sister Bertha has the unlucky happen when the squirrel runs up her dress and does laps...the squirrel is credited with causing miracles as each church goer decides to re-dedicate themselves to the lord. On the second mentioned song, "It's Me Again, Margaret", we hear the tale of Willard McBain calling up poor Margaret nearly everynight and asking her dirty questions. "Are you nekkid?" Willard asks... {Ray once said in an interview that "naked" means someone has on no clothes while "nekkid" means someone has on no clothes but they're up to something!}. "Happy Hour" is a satire on an alcoholic couple...who "used to get hammered every afternoon at five". It's more of a narrative than an actual song as Ray narrates in a drunken exaggeration about how could she leave him... "it's not as though we were alcoholics. 10 or 15 cocktails before dinner, a couple bottles of wine, a brandy nightcap, we knew our limits..." he narrates...One of Ray's first pop hits, 1962's "Furthermore", is remade as a bluesy song and it closes out this GOLD selling album {the 1984 original, which i'm speaking about}. The only songs which some might not like is "Joggin" and "I'm Kissin' You Goodbye". The reasons are because "Joggin" is a satire on excercise freaks and the latter is a run of the mill love ballad which might disgust some with the lyric "get your tongue outta my mouth 'cause I'm Kissin' You Goodbye"...i like it because it's pure low-brow novelty that doesn't mean anything other than being odd...which is what a real novelty song is anyway. "Fred" is an ode to a dog with human characteristics.all in all an excellant album..."

Crazy and Funny

V. VanCamp | Ithaca, New York USA | 10/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The title song is the best on this album. It is completely silly and you will roar with laughter the whole way through! Who knew a squirrel could ever create such chaos!? Ray Stevens is incredibly funny and has a great talent!The next best song is "It's Me Again, Margaret" This one is really nutty... you really have to listen to it! It cannot be described!If you need a laugh, this cd is the ticket!
Go ahead, give it a try - you will not regret it and you will feel a whole lot better after all of that laughing!"

Silly Fun

John A Lee III | San Antonio, TX | 11/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of Stevens' older albums which is notable for not being some permutation of a "best of" album. All of the pieces are original to this album.



I remember really liking this one but after not having heard it for over 20 years, I don't like it nearly as well as I thought I would. The songs are silly, that is part of the fun, but they didn't crack me up the way they used to. Three stand out in my mind. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" was one of his hits and is the title piece. "Erik the Awful" was my favorite way back and I still like it. The theme song from the Monkees, with a Germanic twist was also funny. The rest are mildly amusing but forgettable.



If your really like musical comedy, this is a fine addition. If you are looking for pieces that don't appear on his many "best of" albums this is a good buy. If you are just a big fan, it's a great deal.

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