I can honestly say, that this song speaks the truth. One custom that is no longer practiced. But I too remember a coffin in our living room when I was a kid. Needless to say, I didn't stay home that night.😂😂😂😂❤❤❤
@tobysmith33519 ай бұрын
Yup. During 1800's very common to have home wakes
@renep22209 ай бұрын
@@tobysmith3351 Even during the Great Depression. My moms sister died in 1932. They had the showing in the parlor. THEY had people from out of town, so some of them had to sleep on cots in the same room as the casket. NO THANKS!
@UTubeHandlesSuck9 ай бұрын
@@renep2220 Depression? Pffft...last person I knew who had to sit up was a friend in junior high school- in *_1981._*
@daveowens98499 ай бұрын
Sat up with my uncle Dallas all night and he died in 2010. It's still a practice in Appalachian families.
@akastarchild9 ай бұрын
I was so hoping that no one would say that this thing was still going on. But truthfully, not really surprised. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@TracyfromNC9 ай бұрын
We all need to hear Ray Steven's Grammy award song from 1971...Everything Is Beautiful...great for today's world as well
@suewilliamson53829 ай бұрын
This is one of my favorites. The message in this song is still relevant today. This version with the children and diverse people singing along is the one to watch . kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZsdkaN2Qra2Xh4k.htmlsi=3s_cKdjYBJHa0j7j
@louisb55639 ай бұрын
Yes, yes, YES!
@mollycaz19 ай бұрын
Yes that is amazing song for everything going on in the world. I wish they play everything is beautiful. They need to hear his true voice. They think he is just funny singer.
@kathylivedinthe80s149 ай бұрын
Absolutely love that song
@DouglasHall19478 ай бұрын
He also did a version of Misty
@stevefloyd97409 ай бұрын
Im a 74 year old man and YES we did use to set up with the dead!
@jillmcclellan28442 ай бұрын
In the house
@prointraining12 ай бұрын
Correct me if im wrong please but I was told you did that because there was no AC so windows would often be left open. Sitting up with the dead was to make sure critters didnt get to them.
@fkinney39 ай бұрын
The casket was placed in the home in the room called the "Parlor." Which is where the term Funeral Parlor came from. Even after funerals started being held outside the home, the term Parlor still held a negative connotation due to it being equated with death and funerals. For this reason, the parlor in the home started being called the "Living Room."
@jadefire2817Ай бұрын
*OR* you had a "parlor" and a living room. The parlor being where you had "company" if you were having a big to do. (Mammaw would keep the parlor furniture covered in plastic just in case, lol )
@ewrekzz73609 ай бұрын
100% accurate. As a matter of fact, residential architecture included design elements to accommodate this exact thing. It was very common for homes to have a specific wall in the house where the windows were up high to cast favorable light on the deceased - typically where a fireplace might be, and then built in pew style bench called a "deacon seat". So named because this is where a church deacon would set at the end of the receiving line after people had visited the body to help them deal with their overwhelming grief. It also sets the stage for why funeral homes were called "homes" - because when funerals began to be practiced outside the home the process took place in converted houses.
@billclisham86689 ай бұрын
The house I grew up in had years earlier belonged to the town's mortician and was the first "funeral parlor" in the area. I had a small shop area in the back where I would rebuild and sell bikes and it had originally been the embalming room.
@triman959 ай бұрын
Didn't know about the deacons seat! Very interesting. I was aware that the reason so many homes had double doors leading into the parlor was to make it easier to move the casket in and out of the room.
@karenvanpelt28909 ай бұрын
Yes , when I was a child, when someone died they brought the body to the house until the body was taken to the church for the funeral.
@UTubeHandlesSuck9 ай бұрын
Oh yes, sitting up with the dead was 100% real and went 100% as Ray described it. Okay, Uncle Fred's antics were a bit unique- but sitting up was waaaaay too real. You did NOT leave Grandma lying in there all by her lonesome! Oh, and in a couple of months, Ray can give y'all another good chuckle with _Santa Clause is Watchin' You._
@surlechapeau9 ай бұрын
Jay & Amber, you'll love his "Everything Is Beautiful", "The Streak" and "Misty"!! Nice backing choir on "Everything Is Beautiful" ( a serious song).
@michaelairheart69219 ай бұрын
Don't forget "Guitarzan".
@spantle38889 ай бұрын
Everything is Beautiful is completely different but real good. The Streak is the best. Please listen to both.
@rharvey21249 ай бұрын
DON'T LOOK ETHEL!!!!!!!!
@cosmiccowboy77649 ай бұрын
Too late -She had already been mooned!
@carolyncappitelli14609 ай бұрын
And she liked it!@@cosmiccowboy7764
@debbowers57699 ай бұрын
Hey guys, yes, this custom was definitely done. In 1979 my grandpa passed and the day before his burial, his coffin was in the living room, open, with folding chairs included. Relatives and friends brought food and we did sit around, eat, cry and tell stories about our dearly departed. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, I loved that man more than any other, even to this day, so it didn't bother us that we slept in the house that night with him, one last time. Back then it was commonplace so, not as nerve wracking as it would be now-a-days probably. It was sort of comforting to the family back then. Close family members would stay over too. Personally, I got more closure from that than from leaving my loved one at a funeral home. I'm not saying that it was easy, because losing anyone we love is terribly hard, but back in the day, especially for people who lived out in the country like we did, it was just how it was normally done. Sorry if that freaks y'all out, but then again, I'm "way, way older" than y'all are. You can never go wrong with Ray Stevens, but I think you two already know that. God bless!
@richardkint65319 ай бұрын
I know my grandparents stated back in the 1930's and 40's that it was common to have the funeral in the dead person's home. I know I would not sleep in that house! Ray's hits were mostly comical or novelty although I know 2 songs that were not. His #1 hit "Everything is Beautiful" and "Misty". Good reaction. First time I heard this song also. 👻
@jojokrako78189 ай бұрын
As said so many times here already, it is the truth. When someone died, the body was prepared by the family members.....bathed, dressed and flowers/scented herbs used to freshen up the rooms in the house. With my parents generation and older, the coffins were handmade by local carpenters. As a child and young teen, I attended a few of those old fashioned funerals. The coffins were laid out usually in the living room of the house for up to 3(even 4) days so that kinfolks who lived away would have a chance to come and pay their respects. The body was never left alone. Someone or multiple family members would stay there in shifts throughout the entire night(s). My very first funeral was when I was 6 years old. My great grandpaw's brother had died....he was born in 1882, died 1971. I remember all of the mirrors in the house being covered with black cloth, which was to keep the spirit of the deceased from seeing their self in the mirror and remaining on earth rather than moving on to the afterlife. The preacher would come on the final day and preach a sermon, give the last rites, and old hymnals were sung. From there, they departed to the graveyard for the burial. For 7 days after, men in the community would come by and help with chores about the house and the women would take time about cleaning the house and bringing foods they had cooked. That was the relief given during the mourning period for the family. By the 1980's those old rituals had pretty much stopped.
@user-dc2tp3tk1m9 ай бұрын
Believe it or not but Rays got some bangers ! You should randomly do one sometime. I mean legit songs and not always funny . He can SANG ! And he can smack the keys right out of the top of a piano .
@mw75849 ай бұрын
One song that combines the comedy with excellent vocals and piano is I Need Your Help Barry Manilow
@waynecatterton51279 ай бұрын
Classic, Ray Stevens is hilarious, one song you must do is "Southern Air" "Aha The Arab" "The Streak" "Shriners Convention" "Gitarzan" "I'm My Own Grandpaw" "I'm Kissing You Goodbye" "It's Me Again Margaret" "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" "Net Nostril" "Erk The Awful" I know that's more than 1, but he has A LOT of songs.
@wordgiesworld54839 ай бұрын
LOVE Shriner’s Convention!
@NeetkaAbru9 ай бұрын
The Streak still makes me laugh (Ethel is my heroine)
@cassianfalkener37069 ай бұрын
The Haircut Song and The Pirate Song are both some of my favorites.
@blankbruno709 ай бұрын
I see you listed two of my favorites, I'm Kissing You Goodbye and Erik The Awful--they always put a smile on my face!
@Falcun219 ай бұрын
Can't do Southern Air until they listen to Jerry Clower and watch some Hee Haw. Without those two, the jokes won't land.
@gkiferonhs9 ай бұрын
Guitarzan is another silly song of Ray's that you would like. His "Everything Is Beautiful" is another song that is really good, but serious (as in not goofy, not that it's a sad song)
@jeffeckhard4609 ай бұрын
One of Ray Stevens biggest hits was a more serious song called "Everything is Beautiful," a nice song about what the title suggests.
@joycarlson2492Ай бұрын
This song is actually based on a story told by Southern comedian Lewis Grizzard. I heard it on the radio and had to pull my car over, I was laughing so hard.
@taun8569 ай бұрын
His song "I'm My Own Grandpa" is both hilarious and disturbingly thought provoking. Back in the late 60's and 70's Ray was the king of comedy music, but his serious/gospel side was just as impressive. "Everything is Beautiful" is a wonderful song.
@Shellgrit9 ай бұрын
"The Streak" is one from Ray Stevens that you'll find really funny
@pamcrumpler91693 ай бұрын
Absolutely. I would love to hear the streak😊
@LC-ck8xc9 ай бұрын
For Christmas you should do Ray Steven's "Santa Clause is Watching You". And yes, in the old days they laid out the dead at home and people would have to set up with them. My grandmother used to talk about it.
@nnyjim9 ай бұрын
my niece worked at a hospital and she still tells everyone about the time, she and another nurse was working the late shift and had to take a drowning victim down the morgue in the hospital basement. when they elevator door closed. rigorous set in and the drowning victim sat up on the gurney. she almost dropped dead of a heart attack.
@jephybean9 ай бұрын
Yes. that used to be the custom. They used to cover up mirrors with cloths to make sure the soul of the loved one crossed over and didn't get stuck in the mirrors or was confused as to where to go. Also, some regions actually used to sit the deceased up in a chair and the living would take final photos with their loved one - before the funeral the next day. You can see some of these old photos online if you look and notice the eyes of the deceased - some were open and the eyes of the dead are filled with a milky black abyss from the camera flash. Ah, the good ol' days lol
@stevedavis57049 ай бұрын
On my fathers side of the family back in the last of the 1800’s and the first half of the 1900’s they had a family farm where they not only sat with the dead but then they buried them in the side yard by the flower bed. They had nine family members and one guy my grandpa had hoboed around the country with in the 30’s who died while visiting. You can go past the old house all falling down and still see the head stones in the weeds.
@rayj10119 ай бұрын
My grandpa hoboed around about that time. He "rode the rails." Even as a child, I remember "wakes" being held in homes in my area.
@jackedwards74209 ай бұрын
Yes, this is still practiced to this day in many areas, especially here in West Tennessee and many parts of Appalachia !!
@TerrieAllred20239 ай бұрын
It's true. I remember my grandparents talking about sitting with the dead at the house. "Everything is Beautiful' is a wonderful song he sang!
@LMmccallL579 ай бұрын
Guys, having a wake in a person's home was absolutely a very popular thing. Many people did so because of financial issues, and some did and still do because of cultural tradition. My great-grandmother attended wakes at houses a couple of times when she was young. I'm still waiting for comedic songs like... "Big Cockroach" - Kip Adotta "Wet Dream" - Kip Adotta (it's not a dirty song at all!) "Rappin' Rodney" - Rodney Dangerfield (a quick cameo of Pat Benetar) "You Look Marvelous" - Billy Crystal (pay attention to each celebrity and see if you notice something they have in common. Also, he's known as Fernando in the video and on SNL, as a take on actor Fernando Lamas. "Sorry" - Arsenio Hall "Boogie In Your Butt" - Eddie Murphy "King Tut" - Steve Martin "I Can't Stop My Leg" - Robert Klein
@karendoss60269 ай бұрын
Yes that is the way it use to be back in the day. I can remember as a small child going with Mom and Dad to visit their elderly dead kin folks in their homes until time to take them to the church for the funeral. Sometimes if the church allowed it the bodies would be taken to the church and someone would have to sit up with them in the church also, just to make sure no one would bother the deceased. Love y'alls reaction to Ray. He is the best at telling these stories!! Some true, some may be a little true.
@rexredmonwalkingintheword98926 ай бұрын
Never forget too that Ray Stevens is the one who wrote and performed the unbelievably wonderful song.
@AngelaKearney9 ай бұрын
Elvis Presley was carried back to Graceland for the 2 days between his death and funeral. Thousands of public walked through the living room to see the casket, and his body guards have talked about sitting up with his casket overnight. Elvis died in 1977.
@cherylgoss58499 ай бұрын
Back in the day they did lay them out in the house
@shirleybuffington64209 ай бұрын
He has so many great comedy songs but he dose have one really great song called Everything is Beautiful
@heidibrown3429 ай бұрын
For his best humorous songs is THE STREAK andf or the best of his serious songs EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL
@hobbypassionАй бұрын
My wife is Romanian and her father passed away there a few years ago. No embalming and the body was in the house until burial.
@paulwalker94219 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens is a great singer of hilarious songs but Y'all need to hear" Every Thing Is Beautiful" for his serious side. .Thank you
@jamessullivan58609 ай бұрын
I have stayed overnight with a dead relative in a funeral home because you weren’t supposed to leave them alone. Family members would do sitting shifts when possible.
@timbuckingham67344 ай бұрын
Im 66 yrs old to the best of my knowledge all of Ray Stevens songs are funny, the first one i remember hearing was the streak,
@johnniebradley310129 күн бұрын
I'm 58. Sat up with my grandmother when she passed. My dad and uncles sat up with her and dad asked me to join them.
@xzonia19 ай бұрын
Yeah, wakes used to be a common practice to make sure the dead were actually dead (before embalming became the new common practice). You don't want to bury someone who's still alive, so people would sit with the dead for a day or two to make sure they hadn't just passed out or something they couldn't be shook awake from. Ray Stevens made it funny, though! :) X)
@caryriggs57199 ай бұрын
Everything is beautiful. We need this song now.
@Georgia_Outlaw_Vinyl9 ай бұрын
While I’ve never done it settin’ Up with the dead at home was at one time a southern tradition. While looking through family records I found that in my great grandfather’s obituary it says his visitation was at home & the service was at church.
@roypartible97599 ай бұрын
I can't believe you haven't reacted to Ray Steven's "Everything is Beautiful." One of the most uplifting and biggest hits of the 70's. I mean, I constantly have to shake my head and ask, "Who are these people you pull your requests from?"
@Rose-ko1pw9 ай бұрын
The Walker Brothers ... The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore ... Fab song 🎵
@halidenenberg14499 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens does a wide range of music from comedy to gospel to covers of standards. He even did a whole Sinatra album. You should really check out his show on KZfaq called "Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville." The music history alone on the show is amazing, as is Ray's music and his guest stars.
@tonybus12889 ай бұрын
One of my favorite serious song of Ray Steven’s is Everything is Beautiful it also has children singing
@farrahlynne71219 ай бұрын
It's called a Wake! Families did do this in the old days, sitting up with the dead was very customary, family and friends would gather in a home where they'd lay the body of their loved one out at the front or Middle of the room, usually in their parlor, or living room, it's like a viewing would be at the funeral home, except it was in your own home or a neighbor's & you didn't just pay respects then leave, it was an all day/night event, and some country folk still practice it, at least in Appalachia, but very few. It was held all day and night, even up to a couple days (depending), to show honor & respect and even provoked togetherness for the family (and friends), Wakes were where those gathered to show respect & express condolences and share memories and to celebrate the deceased's former life, it was less formal & more relaxed than at a funeral home & most of the time food and drinks were also furnished along with sharing stories and memories of the deceased among each other. The sitting up with the dead part is a very true event that was widely practiced, I know there had to be true stories of wakes gone wrong, I wonder how many times something similar to this story, actually happened,? COULD YOU IMAGINE!?
@TheAbbfan9 ай бұрын
This was a real thing that people used to do. They put the coffin in the house and had the visitation there as well as some sat up with the dead all night.
@johnlong95349 ай бұрын
Don't miss Ray Stevens "Shriners Convention" Oh yeah, they did this in the house. I can remember when my uncle died. He was laid out in the front room but we did not sit up with him.
@normabreazile55009 ай бұрын
I LOVE RAY STEVENS..HIS SONGS WERE HILARIOUS GROWING!! 😂 YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO “ THE STREAK”😂
@gkiferonhs9 ай бұрын
There were funerals, etc. in a home, most often that of the deceased and it was traditional for someone(s) to sit up with them.
@j72869 ай бұрын
Yes, the dearly departed would be in your house. My sister heard a story about her in-law's family where the ground was too frozen to bury the little 4 year girl that had died in their family. So she was kept on the back porch where it was cold so her body wouldn't decay while they were waiting for the spring thaw.. Granted, that was 100 years ago. But less than two lifetimes ago.
@delorespetree32439 ай бұрын
Love ray stevens he is so funny
@thumper70478 ай бұрын
Yes, that's true. In the old days it was called a "Parlor" and it was customary to have those right in the house. When they made a business of doing it at the funeral homes, they changed the name to "LIVING room" for a reason. It was also common to have a portrait taken of the corps all dressed in their best and maybe even with family several days after they had passed.
@BrennanBarrier9 ай бұрын
Hahaha ray is so underrated. He’s an amazing pianist and I love his sense of humor. The guy who played “old uncle Fred” in this is Bill Byrge. He’s most famous for being in the Ernest movies. He’s in his 80s and still lives in Nashville. He told me those were real change and he had to lay in that box forever while they shot this video. He said Ray was very very nice. Ray is also in his 80s and owns his own theater just outside of Nashville called CabaRay and it is a great show.
@BW-jv6jg9 ай бұрын
😂😂My Great-grandfather was laid out in the parlor of his house. I was about 6 when he died and I never went back in that room.. gave me nightmares!! Yes, it was a small town, but it was about 1964.
@Friend_Of_The_Muse9 ай бұрын
Check out Ray's serious side with "Everything is Beautiful". You will love it. The song is beautiful. Ray's singing is beautiful. And Amber's Children's Choir to boot.
@texasdustfart9 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens was nominated for a Grammy 30 times and won twice. Both songs were not comedy songs, he won with Misty for best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist and Best Contemporary Vocalist Male for Everything is Beautiful. At age 84 Ray still performs and is still writing and recording music. If you want a fun project check out Play Misty for Me by Johnny Mathis (the original) then see how Ray covered it.
@sbrady539 ай бұрын
The song is "Misty," and I can't believe more people haven't suggested it. It's the one song of his you should hear before you die! It was composed and introduced by Errol Garner in 1954, and was already a jazz standard by the time Mathis recorded it in 1959. Stevens' 1975 country version won the Grammy for Music Arrangement of the Year.
@texasdustfart9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the correction, I was thinking of the movie.@@sbrady53
@user-xv9fy3nn7s3 ай бұрын
This is ABSOLUTELY true!! I was young, but we sat up with my great grandfather! Research why you sit up with the dead.
@DewayneGore9 ай бұрын
A MUST DO - "It's ME AGAIN, Margaret!" You will love it lol One of his best and funniest songs
@samf.62989 ай бұрын
Awe, love me some Ray Stevens! Laughed for hours to him as a kid. Blue Cyclone, The Streak, Mississippi Squirrel Revival, BBQ...so many laughs!
@TXplowgirl9 ай бұрын
Yep, like a lot of others. I was 4 years old in 1968. My first memory that I can remember is my grandmother's sister had passed and they had her in her casket in my grandmother's house in the living room. I remember climbing up on a chair next to the casket and looking at her. My family didn't believe in keeping things from kids especially someone dying so they treated it as something that was normal. Just everyday life.
@Rebel96689 ай бұрын
99% of Ray's songs are funny but one notable exception is his "Everything Is Beautiful", and that is a wonderful song you simply must hear.
@CCIPres8 ай бұрын
Sitting up with the dead the night before the funeral is why the viewing before the funeral is called a "wake," as in we used to "stay awake" with the deceased.
@brianpike95899 ай бұрын
I have sat up with the dead, both in someone's house and at the funeral home, with my grandparents when i was younger. This was a real southern tradition back in the day.
@kadiummusic9 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens - Indian Love Call, one of the best vocal performances you will ever hear! ❤
@johnwilliams53019 ай бұрын
growing up we always sat up with dead. That was a way for the whole family to say goodbye to dearly departed.
@denpea-mm8zr9 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens had a huge peace anthem hit in 1970 with "Everything is Beautiful". Worth checking out for a another side of Ray Stevens.
@daveowens98499 ай бұрын
Well, it's an Appalachian custom that I've done quite a few times. One just a few years ago for my uncle, a Vietnam veteran. Grandpa Owens was in his farmhouse and his favorite clock hanging on the wall had the pendulum stop dead in mid swing when his casket was brought into the front room. And yeah, the men in our family sat up with the dead.
@cmccullough12C9 ай бұрын
This custom was also done in Canada. My grandparents were waked at home. The last in home wake I went to was about 20 years ago. I believe the Irish,Scottish and British also did this custom and there are likely many other places where this was done.
@williamfaust57699 ай бұрын
In 1974 my Papaw died and they had his body in the living room of his house. Being as our family was from out of state (along with some others) we had to stay at Mamaw's house. We were poor and couldn't afford a hotel. So all us kids had to sleep on the floor right in front of the casket. This was the custom. We were all scared to death and not a little freaked out. I will never forget it.
@davidharward89088 ай бұрын
His funniest song is Guitarzan. Everything is Beautiful is a departure for him and it is truly BEAUTIFUL.
@karenminyard5179 ай бұрын
My great-grandmother's body was at my grandmother's house when I was young. My grandmother had a mirror hanging on the wall above the casket. A lady came who was very supersitious and she told my grandmother to cover up the mirror because if you looked at yourself in the mirror you would be the next to die. Lots of people had already been there to pay their respects, but none of them died anytime soon after. 😊
@angelabowman16149 ай бұрын
Shut up and drive, Gone for Good, Red Hot Chili cook-off, Deerslayer, Juanita and the kids, family funeral fight......all great songs and videos!
@LC-ck8xc9 ай бұрын
Also Ray Stevens wrote the song Everything is Beautiful.
@paulelliott6829 ай бұрын
The Streak. Shriners convention. There's also a funny COVID song Ray did 2019 ? 2020 ?
@GaryTaylor-vy1lh9 ай бұрын
I've got a picture of my grandfather from 1963 laying in his casket unbelievable
@kenharness74309 ай бұрын
I am 58, born in 1965. My Dad died in 1969 when i was 4. We had his coffin set out in the dining room. The table had been moved out.
@rangerlobo5402Ай бұрын
Sitting up with the dead was a long standing tradition in rural areas up until I think the mid sixties. I remember a couple of coffins in the living room when I was young.
@TSIRKLAND9 ай бұрын
For my money, the era this video is from is PEAK Ray Stevens. He's had a long career before and after, but I feel that this specific period is when he was at his absolute best. There are several music videos of his best classic songs- most of them comedic and silly, but several more serious-minded, as well. "The Streak" and "Shriners' Convention" are a couple more funny ones. "Everything is Beautiful" is one of my favorite sincere songs of his.
@robertbushee389226 күн бұрын
You would LOVE "The Streak" and "I'm My Own Grandpa". One of his earliest songs is "Bubble Gum the Bubble Dancer", also hilarious 😂
@dannyrhollingsworth42009 ай бұрын
My great grandparents were from London Kentucky. Yes they had the wake in the living room. I slept in the car at night
@dannyrhollingsworth42009 ай бұрын
Amber You would love Ray Stevens song Everything is Beautiful. It's a different side of Ray Stevens
@michaelwise72309 ай бұрын
Always love Ray Stevens. Another artist you really should check out is Bobby Russell. He sang a song called " Saturday Morning Confusion". Funny song about a family man on a Saturday morning. Very humorous. Song was recorded in 1971
@DontMindManda7 ай бұрын
This is my all time favorite Ray Stevens song! So few people react to it, and I loved y'alls responses!
@marykjones40849 ай бұрын
Several years ago, I asked my Irish grandma to tell me what life was like in the early 1900s. One story I remember: her neighbor lady was 'waking' her husband who was laid out in their home. (She and the deceased husband did not get along.) As the night wore on, she was shouting at 'dear Johnny' and her neighbors had to take her away to calm the hysterical screaming. I'm glad we don't have that type of wake in my part of the world. I'm fine to sit by the deceased in a church or funeral home and pray for them. but my grandma had such a good sense of humor, I couldn't help but laught at her description.
@spiderdog75999 ай бұрын
My grandmothers house built in 1870 had a large octagonal shaped bedroom in the front where they used to hold funerals. They actually still used it in the 1930s when my mother was a little girl. I will never forget when my brothers and I would go spend a few days with grandma on the farm we would have to stay in that room. It was pretty scary sleeping in that old house, in an odd shaped room where we were told about ancestors funerals. PS: That old house was still standing a couple of years ago and my cousin was living there. It burned down one night a couple of years back.
@rgfisher219 ай бұрын
It is true... when my grandmother died. It sometimes became hilarious after everyone got tired.
@stevetatum41699 ай бұрын
Even back in the late 60s, morticians would set up open casket viewing for visitation in people's "parlors" (living rooms). That's how my granddaddy's viewing was at grandmama's house in Tennessee. We all stayed as a family overnight at grandmama's and sat up with granddaddy's open casket body with a wake and a sitting. Tennessee tradition from the old days still practiced in the 60s before we started leaving deceased family inside fancy expensive air conditioned funeral homes with wall-to-wall carpet and expensive caretakers on sumpin' known today as "insurance". Open casket viewings inside the livingroom. That's one tradition I'm glad we stopped.
@marybartsch26509 ай бұрын
My grandpa drove the town ambulance/hearse when my dad was a kid. He brought my dad along with him one night to pick up a body to take to the funeral home. Well, it turned into a learning moment when the body suddenly sat straight up in the back of the hearse! That's the night my dad learned about rigor mortis. 😄
@leidell9 ай бұрын
😂😂😂😂😂😂
@Bill-13709 ай бұрын
Yes, this absolutely did happen and still does happen, I grew up in rural Louisiana and remember it happening back even in the 70's. It still happens in places like Appalachia even today along with certain communities down in the swamps of South Louisiana and I'm sure in other places also..
@cmccullough12C9 ай бұрын
We even did this in Canada
@w.p89603 ай бұрын
As a kid in the 50’s I sat up with 2 of my great mothers in grandma’s living room. Same living room I watched my aunt get married.
@NathanThurberMusic9 ай бұрын
This is my favorite Ray Stevens song! Had the VHS tape as a kid with all his music videos.
@quixote69429 ай бұрын
Although not a Comedic Song, One of his greatest hits was "Everything is beautiful"... It'll warm your heart! "Turn your radio on" is another non comdec hit from Ray. Then there's songs like "Little Egypt", "Guitarzan" and "yakety Yak".
@jamestassin92379 ай бұрын
absolutely true we always kept our loved ones at the house
@mikerobertson40419 ай бұрын
I am 65 years old, and live in a small town in the Deep South. When I was a child folks would sit up with the dead at the funeral home, but I don't recall it ever happening at someone's home.
@morganl.kennedy36199 ай бұрын
My grandfather lived in the Missouri backwoods during the 40s and 50s. He said he actually did that lots of times.
@patrickperry69459 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens also did some serious tunes. My favorite is “Misty”. Another one is “Everything is Beautiful”.
@musketbal9 ай бұрын
My grandmother who was 92 when she died set up all night with her grandmother when she was a girl (who was dead) and said it was exactly how it shows in this video back in the day when a family member passed away here on the East Coast and South. A lady I knew who was 98 told me that when she was young, the only way she could see the boy she liked was to meet at a "wake" and hold hands when the adults' would leave the room. In areas of the East Coast and South if you look at old houses one of the windows are usually wider than the other. It was so the casket could be passed through in what was called the "Front Room".
@Rebel96689 ай бұрын
Why yes, sitting up with the dead was a real thing and not that long ago. This particular story has been told by Southern comedians for a long time too. Lewis Grizzard did a good version of it and Jerry Clower did another, though to be fair, in Jerry's version they sat up with the dead at the funeral home and got powerful thirsty and took the dead man with 'em when they went to a bar. You gotta hear that sometime.
@farrahlynne71219 ай бұрын
Ray Stevens has his own country music show called 'CabaRAY Nashville' and he can still sing just as solid as he ever did. He mostly did comedic songs and the official music videos to them are all hilarious, but he also sang some regular themed country songs too like the song, Everything Is Beautiful. Y'all should listen to Its Me Again Margaret, The Ballad Of Blue Cyclone Pts1 & 2 (full), The Shriner's Convention, The Streak, The Pirate Song (I Want To Sing & Dance), & for Christmas this year, y'all gotta do SANTA CLAUS IS WATCHING YOU!! He also has an obviously newer song & video called Taylor Swift Is Stalking Me! lol Make sure you watch the official music video versions!
@teresacartwright54069 ай бұрын
Although Ray Stevens is noted for his novelty songs ("Along Came Jones"), he has a wonderful album of gospel songs and an unforgettable rendition of "Misty". Back in the early 1970s he had a summer show with Mama Cass that I wish I could find copies of. Thanks for playing this & your comments.
@mw75849 ай бұрын
You can find some here on KZfaq. Clips for sure.
@clare10619 ай бұрын
OMGOODNESS Ray Stevens was a goofball. You really need to dive deep into his collection.
@cbilky29149 ай бұрын
Where I am from in Kentucky, there was so many old time Appalachian burial doings. Up until the 1960s, many areas in the Appalachian Mountains were still without electricity or phones.The practice of homestead burial was still common in small mountain towns.The household clock was stopped, marking the time of death. Any mirrors in the house were turned facing the wall. It was believed that doing this would keep the soul of the dead man from being trapped in the reflective glass. Many who came to pay their respects avoided the mirrors, in fear of seeing the reflection of the dead person. If they did, they believed they would soon die. Normally the grandmother (who was the oldest female in the family) approached the body with a lit candle and a bowl. A bag of salt sat on the floor. Waving the candle over the body three times, she then placed the bowl on his chest. Dipping her hand into the salt, she scooped out three handfuls and placed them in the bowl. Since many believed the soul did not leave the body for twenty-four hours, this old Scots traditional ritual, called “saining,” was used to protect the soul from being taken by evil things.