various country music artists including Don Gibson, Connie Smith, Jeannie C. Riley, and Randy Cornor. Raven began recording for ABC Records in 1974 after Acuff-Rose songwriter and producer Don Gant became head of artists and repertoire (A&R) for that label. His first charted single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, his own composition "The Last of the Sunshine Cowboys", came in 1974 on ABC. Raven charted seven more singles for the label between then and 1975, the most successful being "Good News, Bad News", which achieved a peak of number 27 there. ABC also issued one album, This Is Eddy Raven, in early 1976. The album, also produced by Gant, was reviewed favorably by Cash Box magazine. This review stated that his "natural musical ability, coupled with the emotional levels of his voice, captures the full flavor of each selection on this appealing album." Raven left ABC in 1976 when Gant also departed the label. He signed with Monument Records in 1978 and two singles for them: "You're a Dancer" was a minor entry on Hot Country Songs, but "Colinda" did not chart and Monument closed its country division soon afterward. After leaving Monument, Raven was encouraged by singer Bob Luman to travel to Texas and draw inspiration from that state's music scene. This resulted in his 1980 album Eyes on Dimension Records, an independent label founded by his then-manager. Ray Pennington produced the album, with assistance from Don Gant's brother Ronnie Gant on three tracks, and Raven wrote or co-wrote every song on it. The album charted five singles on Hot Country Songs: "Sweet Mother Texas", "Dealin' with the Devil", "You've Got Those Eyes", "Another Texas Song", and "Peace of Mind". The last of these was the most successful of the five, reaching number 23 in 1981. "Dealin' with the Devil" was also one of the first country music songs to be promoted via music video; specifically, Dimension Records shipped videocassettes of Raven performing the song to 54 stations that were surveyed by Billboard at the time. Record World published positive reviews of the singles "Another Texas Song" and "Peace of Mind", calling the former a "plucky, self-penned tune that displays more of his writer-artist talents", while calling him "one of the smoothest country singers around" in a review of the latter. In 1981, record producer Jimmy Bowen heard "Dealin' with the Devil" and helped Raven sign to