Ray Stevens was born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939, in
Clarkdale, Georgia, a small town west of Atlanta. Stevens recorded a
series of hit records in the 1960s that included songs such as "Ahab
the Arab", "Harry the Hairy Ape", "Funny Man",
the original recording of "Santa Claus is Watching You", and "Jeremiah
Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting
Green and Purple Pills". In 1980 he recorded the Shriners
Convention and in 1984 he followed with the Mississippi Squirel Revival.
Ray's final chart record on the country charts came in 2002 with "Osama
Yo' Mama" which made the Top 50 and became Ray's first gold record
since "The Streak" in 1974.
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