Ray Stevens Gets Serious About Goofiness

Lights … camera … idiocy.

Ray Stevens, seller of 3.6 million video units of chortling goofiness, is back with more: Goofiness, the Movie. Titled “Get Serious!” the feature-length (110-minute) film shot on location in and around Nashville is already being marketed in Stevens’ trademark manner, via an 800-number.

“After our success with ‘Comedy Video Classics’ and ‘Live!,’ we wanted to take our videos a step further,” says Stevens, who was mobbed at Nashville’s recent annual Fan Fair.

“We looked at the way the public embraced these projects. We listened to the people who called our offices thanking us for something their children could watch, and we searched for an idea that would combine story, song and characters in a way that would be appealing to every member of the family, including children.

“I’m proud to say I think we’ve succeeded.”

With its cartoonish tendencies, this latest project is sure to appeal to the single-digit age group, but there is wordplay that may interest adults and even music businesspeople. The plot is basically a distortion of real life - Stevens fighting since his childhood classical music training against exhortations to take his art seriously. It also casts him as the victim of modern political-correctness doctrines because his songs poke fun at such groups as Arabs, Shriners, highway patrolmen and chickens.

The plot itself pokes fun at the phenomenon of a Japanese conglomerate owning a large Nashville record label. At the start of “Get Serious!” the Integrity label is gobbled up by a company called Sosumi. Its new top Nashville record executive then tries to make Stevens a straight man.

The storyline winds through 10 music videos of hits as well as new songs: “Gitarzan,” “Ahab the Arab,” “Shriner’s Convention,” “The Dooright Family,” “Dudley Dorite of the Highway Patrol,” “Can He Love You Half as Much as I,” “Woogie Boogie,” “Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens,” “I Used to Be Crazy” and “We Don’t Take Nuthin’ Off Nobody.”

In cameo roles are legendary guitarist Chet Atkins, TNN “Music City Tonight” co-host Charlie Chase, singer Johnny Russell and comedians George “Goober” Lindsey, Jerry Clower, James Gregory and Williams & Ree.

It’s available for $19.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling by calling (800) 235-8900. Stevens says he expects to release a soundtrack album, too. He also expects to sell much of the merchandise through television and print mail-order ads.

“We have had a ball doing this movie, and if it is as successful and well received as the early returns indicate, we’ll soon be looking for other ideas,” he says.

Krauss single sets record

Young bluegrass queen Alison Krauss has made history by achieving the highest charting single from a country tribute album.

Her “When You Say Nothing at All,” from the BNA collection “Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album,” rose to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles list, making it by far Krauss’ most successful single. The single has sold more than 200,000 copies, and BNA executives say the album will be gold, connoting sales in excess of 500,000, by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Krauss’ magnificent “Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection” on independent Rounder Records is high up on Billboard’s Top Country Albums. The album has been certified platinum, meaning it has sold more than 1 million copies, an all-but-unheard-of figure for an independent album.

The BNA single’s wide airplay resulted from dual promotion by Rounder and the major BNA, a corporate sister of RCA. A hot Nashville topic now is whether Krauss’ next single, which presumably will be handled only by the staff of Rounder, will be able to achieve the same kind of country radio acceptance.

If it doesn’t, look for more listeners to head for the alternative-country Americana format.

Naomi finds new ID

Naomi Judd was in Chicago in May just after the Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge” NBC-TV miniseries was broadcast, helping her actress daughter Ashley get settled there for the filming of another movie (one titled “Normal Life,” in which the youngest Judd has a starring role).

To stock the refrigerator, Mama Judd went down to the local Jewel grocery and did her shopping. In the checkout lane, she discovered she had left her wallet in her rented car and asked to cash a check. When the woman at the cash register asked her for identification, Judd pulled out of the magazine rack a People and a TV Guide, both of which showed her smiling from the cover.

The saleswoman apparently was so taken aback that Judd was out the door before she thought of asking for an autograph.

Stanley Brothers reissue

A definitive reissue of landmark work by the Stanley Brothers on Mercury Records has just become available.

The 18 cuts of “Angel Band: The Classic Mercury Recordings” cover the epic years 1953-57 in the career of one of the three greatest acts in the history of bluegrass music (along with Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs). Previously, the Mercury recordings of the Stanleys were available only in expensive Japanese or German collections.

“No one captured the darkness and pain that once lay at the heart of bluegrass music like the Stanley Brothers,” writes annotator Colin Escott. “When Ralph and Carter came together in harmony, it was perhaps the most thrilling sound the music has ever known.”

Carter Stanley died in 1966, and Ralph carried on solo. Stanley Brothers music has influenced countless country stars over the years.