"Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens' albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, "Jesus Loves the Little Children", are from the Oak Hill Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee. This group includes Stevens' two daughters. The song was responsible for two wins at the Grammy Awards of 1971: Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Ray Stevens and Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance for Jake Hess. Stevens' recording was the Number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in the summer of 1970. The song also spent three weeks atop the adult contemporary chart.[1] Many country stations played the song, with it peaking at number 39 on Billboard's chart.[2] Billboard ranked the record as the No. 12 song of 1970. The song includes anti-racist and pro-tolerance lyrics such as "We shouldn't care 'bout the length of his hair/Or the color of his skin."[3]
| "Everything Is Beautiful" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ray Stevens | ||||
| from the album Everything Is Beautiful | ||||
| B-side | "A Brighter Day" | |||
| Released | March 1970 | |||
| Genre | Pop, country | |||
| Length | 3:29 | |||
| Label | Barnaby | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Stevens | |||
| Producer(s) | Ray Stevens | |||
| Ray Stevens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
This song was a major departure for Stevens, as "Everything Is Beautiful" is a more serious and spiritual tune, unlike some of his earlier ("Gitarzan" and "Ahab the Arab") and later ("The Streak") recordings, which were comedy/novelty songs. While Stevens would continue to perform novelty songs throughout his career, the success of "Everything Is Beautiful" would allow Stevens to record more serious material throughout the 1970s.[4]
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Jody Wayne cover
South African singer Jody Wayne covered "Everything is Beautiful" in early 1972. His version reached number 20 in his home nation.[11]
Other cover versions
- Bing Crosby recorded the song for his 1972 album Bing 'n' Basie.
- Neil Sedaka performed a version of this selection on his 1976 album Live in Australia.[12]
- Dana Rosemary Scallon also did a version reached #42 in the UK & Ireland charts in 1986.
- Foster & Allen recorded a version of the song for their album Songs We Love to Sing (1994)[citation needed] which reached number 41 on the UK Albums Chart[13] that year and number 66 on the Irish albums chart.
- Cledus T. Judd also did a version for the album Boogity, Boogity – A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens. It featured Michael English, Wynonna Judd, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Dobie Gray, Erika Jo, and SHeDAISY as accompanying vocalists.
- Jim Nabors covered the song in 1970, for his vinyl album of the same name. Reaching #124 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.
American idol season 4 top 10 Finalisis cover that song during results show and was featured in their album The Showstoppers
References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 231.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Everything Is Beautiful - Ray Stevens (Lyrics and Chords)". Guntheranderson.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- ^ "Everything Is Beautiful by Ray Stevens Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 3 August 1970
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 6, 1970". Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
- ^ "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
- ^ Musicoutfitters.com
- ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1970". Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
- ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "45worlds.com". 45worlds.com. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- ^ British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. 2005. p. 195. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
External links
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