I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like
I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like | ||||
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Studio album by Ray Stevens | ||||
Released | June 1988[1] | |||
Genre | Country, novelty | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Producer | Ray Stevens | |||
Ray Stevens chronology | ||||
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I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like is Ray Stevens' twenty-fifth studio album and his fifth for MCA Records, released in 1988. Two singles were lifted from the album: "Surfin' U.S.S.R." and "The Day I Tried to Teach Charlene Mackenzie How to Drive." The "Surfin' U.S.S.R." single was accompanied by a music video (his second). The song blends the sound of the Beach Boys with the real world events of the Soviet Union. The second single tells the story of how Stevens attempts to teach a deaf woman how to drive. The character would play an important role several years later when Stevens filmed his direct-to-home video movie, Get Serious!. Connie Freeman portrayed Charlene Mackenzie in the movie.
The album cover shows Stevens as Will Rogers performing a rope trick. Rogers' most often quote is "I never met a man I didn't like" which served as the obvious inspiration for the album's title.
The third track, "Mama's in the Sky With Elvis," was previously featured on the second volume of the Greatest Hits package of Stevens' hits; it makes its first appearance on a studio album.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Surfin' U.S.S.R." | William Martin | 3:04 |
2. | "The Booger Man" | Stevens, C.W. Kalb, Jr. | 4:34 |
3. | "Mama's in the Sky With Elvis" | Cinde Borup, Bruce Innes | 3:15 |
4. | "Language, Nudity, Violence & Sex" | Kalb | 3:19 |
5. | "Bad" | Michael Jackson | 3:41 |
6. | "The Day I Tried to Teach Charlene Mackenzie How to Drive" | Kalb | 3:49 |
7. | "Blood and Suede" | Martin | 2:59 |
8. | "Ethelene (The Truckstop Queen)" | Kalb | 2:39 |
9. | "I Don't Need None of That" | Kalb | 3:12 |
10. | "Old Hippie Class Reunion" | Stevens, Kalb | 5:16 |
Album credits
Compiled from liner notes.[2]
- Produced and Arranged by Ray Stevens
- Recorded at Ray Stevens Studio (Nashville, Tennessee).
- Engineer – Stuart Keathley
- Mastered by Glenn Meadows at Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee).
- Mastered using the JVC Digital Mastering System.
- Art Direction – Ray Stevens and Slick Lawson
- Design – Barnes & Company
- Photography – Slick Lawson
- Wardrobe and Styling – Susan Lawson
- Stage Manager – Bubba Crigler
Musicians
- Ray Stevens – vocals, synthesizers
- Gary Prim – keyboards
- Mark Casstevens – rhythm guitars, banjo
- Steve Gibson – electric guitars, dobro, mandolin
- Larry Sasser – steel guitar, dobro
- Stuart Keathley – bass
- Tommy Wells – drums
- Terry McMillan – harmonica
- Lisa Silver – fiddle, backing vocals
- Sheri Huffman – backing vocals
- Wendy Suits – backing vocals
- Diane Vanette – backing vocals
Chart performance
Album
Chart (1987) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 52 |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions |
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US Country | ||
1988 | "The Day I Tried to Teach Charlene Mackenzie How to Drive" | 88 |
References
- v
- t
- e
- 1,837 Seconds of Humor
- This Is Ray Stevens
- Even Stevens
- Gitarzan
- Have a Little Talk with Myself
- Everything Is Beautiful
- Unreal!!!
- Turn Your Radio On
- Losin' Streak
- Nashville
- Boogity Boogity
- Misty
- Just for the Record
- Feel the Music
- There Is Something on Your Mind
- Be Your Own Best Friend
- Shriner's Convention
- One More Last Chance
- Don't Laugh Now
- Me
- He Thinks He's Ray Stevens
- I Have Returned
- Surely You Joust
- Crackin' Up!
- I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like
- Beside Myself
- Funny Man
- #1 With a Bullet
- Osama—Yo' Mama: The Album
- The Best of Ray Stevens (1967)
- The Best of Ray Stevens (1968)
- Greatest Hits (1983 Ray Stevens album)
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Ray Stevens album)
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Ray Stevens album)
- His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits
- The Very Best of Ray Stevens
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Ray Stevens
- "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills"
- "Ahab the Arab"
- "Gitarzan"
- "Along Came Jones"
- "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
- "Have a Little Talk with Myself"
- "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
- "Everything Is Beautiful"
- "All My Trials"
- "The Streak"
- "Misty"
- "Indian Love Call"
- "Young Love"
- "You Are So Beautiful"
- "In the Mood"
- "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow"
- "Shriner's Convention"
- "Mississippi Squirrel Revival"
- "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex"