Ray Stevens

Harold Ray Ragsdale was known professionally as Ray Stevens, an American country and pop singer. He was known for his Grammy winning recordings “Everything is Beautiful” and “Misty.” He also recorded “Gitarzan” and “The Streak.” His first hit “Ahab the Arab” was written the night before a session, in sheer panic. He had songs for the session but didn’t like any of them, so the night before, he realized that he had to do something and out of the blue the lyrics came to him. And in 1970 he was signed to host the Andy Williams summer show on NBC and needed a theme song for the show. He chained himself to his piano and in three days finally came up with “Everything is Beautiful.” To me he was one crazy interview.