Ray Stevens - I Need Your Help Barry Manilow (Live)

Yesterday was Barry Manilow's Birthday! To celebrate, here's a live performance of Ray singing his hit song "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow" (which reached number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100) from the 1979 album "The Feeling's Not Right Again". Happy Birthday, Barry!!!

[deni..]

Im in a nursing home, on a tablet. Many good things I find are by accident, this song is one of them, I laughed so hard nurses came in to see if I was okay! Ray is soo special! He helps me get thru the day! 😍😍

[ElliottMichaels]

I am a major Fanilow and I think this song is hilarious!

[JenniferSelah-pzmx]

Great song Ray Stevens! I have always liked your music and I am a Barry Manilow fan! Thank you Ray!

[ablestmage]

I am a big fan of Barry Manilow, and this is truly a great parody of his actual style and key change formula.. most of Barry's songs are in this peculiar key and are regretful/mournful.. this took lots of work to so genuinely mimic 🙃

[kathyflorcruz]

Holy moly, Ray, you need no one's help. You're spectacular. And I AM a Manilow fan! 👍🇺🇸👍

[ACcountryFan]

When I heard this song for the very first time on a 1987 collection called 'Greatest Hits, Volume Two' on MCA I instantly fell in love with the song...something about it made me love it...as I got older I realized it was Ray's vocalization, of course, but the production. Strangely enough this song caused me to find out who Barry Manilow happened to be...being only a country music fan since childhood I didn't know the names of too many pop and rock acts...so once I came across a Manilow cassette tape and looked at the song titles it dawned on me that a number of song titles from that album are mentioned in this song...making it even more comical. I've got a number of albums that Barry recorded...and all thanks to this song.

[TimothyStidham]

I think I was 12 when I heard this song and I laughed so hard at the ending I could not catch my breath. But what makes it great is how well it honors the Manilow with the complex key changes, especially the “sing it sweet and low” although I think I just found another joke in this song by typing that out, lol. The famous artificial sweetener.

[barrygioportmorien]

Excellent, as so many of Ray's songs are. A true singer/songwriter genius.

[tomb]

Great song. Heard this in my youth and still enjoy it today. I thought the lyrics were I need your hair, Barry Manilow. But yeah, help makes more sense.

[tammyhargis]

I love this song, you Ray and Barry Manilow. Awesome song.

[WinslowLeach]

Barry Manilow must have liked this song enough to remember it, because the chorus of it sounds a real lot like the chorus of Barry's song "I'm Comin' Back" off of his 2001 album "Here at the Mayflower." 🎼

[johnmarlin]

Best Ray Stevens song ever! Okay, after Misty ...

[mcfrdmn]

Lovely song and wonderful musical performance !

[Rockchild]

This is just an indication of how popular Barry Manilow was at that time. I wonder what Barry thought of it?

[cards]

Barry’s answer to that was, ”Well, I beat out Neil Diamond.”

[rockintetster]

Awesome right down to the parody of Lady Flash in the background!

[kiwihib]

Ray brilliant as you have been since the 60's when I heard you.

[theresaewald]

lol I'm still so torn about this song! It's not really as bad, or mean, of a parody or whatever, as I used to believe it was. There's not really an insulting nature to the lyrics, just a light jab about the fact that Barry sings and writes a lot of contempative songs! I think it's actually cool that he mentions all those hits of Barry's (which were only a handful of Barry's hits at that time!). Did Ray and Barry ever meet?

[joanmorris]

He s so crazy, but good🎓📎📞📞📞📞📞📞📞📞📞📞📞📞

[TedSeeber]

It is an early version of First World Problems!