called it a classic and British music critic Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times described it as "the Sgt. Pepper of folk." But sales were again disappointing; it reached only #167 on the US charts. And Ackles himself felt he couldn't agree with Van Ness's "comparison to Sgt. Pepper" and his "overpraising". Later career After three albums for Elektra, Ackles left the label. He was signed to CBS/Columbia Records by legendary record executive Clive Davis, then president of the company and a long-time Ackles admirer. As he tried to create his first album for Columbia he felt the pressure of expectations engendered by American Gothic's glowing reviews. All too aware that his last album had been called "a milestone in pop and a study in excellence" and "a new direction in pop music" and himself "'an important artist whose work eludes categorisation,'" Ackles began to second-guess himself. "[E]very idea he came up with he discarded, thinking, 'This is not as good as American Gothic.'''" He withdrew from the recording studio and produced Five and Dime at home on a four-track recorder. Uncharacteristically he brought in "a modest and simple record" on time and under budget. But before Five and Dime was released, Clive Davis was abruptly dismissed by CBS over an expenses dispute. With the loss of the only executive who had championed it, the new Ackles album fared poorly. It was perfunctorily released—the same month Davis was—only in the US, and Columbia would not finance a tour to promote it. Columbia did not renew his contract and Ackles, hurt and frustrated, did not search for another record deal. Personal life After leaving Columbia Records in 1973, Ackles concentrated on fulfilling his publishing contract with Warner Bros., writing songs to order for the company's artists. As had been the case in Ackles's early Elektra days, none of the songs were recorded by the artists to whom they were pitched. He worked on musical theater and screenplays from the home base he shared with his wife and son, a six-acre horse farm in Tujunga, near Los Angeles. He sold some screenplays to television; one that was broadcast was Word of Honor (1981) starring Karl Malden and Ron Silver. In 1981, his car was hit by a drunk driver. Ackles's left arm was nearly severed and his left thighbone "virtually pushed out through his back." He remembered his wife "standing outside the