Cledus T. Judd

In the sphere of country music, Cledus T. Judd adopted a parody method akin to that of Weird Al Yankovic, creating instrumental backings designed to replicate the source recordings as closely as feasible. He likewise produced a measure of original material, though his staple remained spoofs of current country chart successes; in the same vein as Yankovic, many of the acts he targeted came to treat a Judd reworking as a point of pride. He entered the scene in 1995 via the Razor & Tie release Cledus T. Judd (No Relation), a title underscoring his unrelated status to Wynonna and Naomi. His commercial arrival arrived with the next project, 1996’s I Stoled This Record, which underscored his sustained fascination with Shania Twain—not only converting her “If You’re Not in It for Love (I’m Outta Here)” into “I’m Not in Here for Love (Just Yer Beer),” but also issuing the new track “If Shania Was Mine” and securing her appearance, joined by Joe Diffie, on “(She’s Got a Butt) Bigger Than the Beatles.”

The 1998 album Did I Shave My Back for This?, whose title track reworked Deana Carter, arrived next and incorporated further adaptations of Brooks & Dunn and Tracy Lawrence, among additional sources. Issued in 1999, Juddmental revealed an expansion into pop through both a Ricky Martin spoof and a Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines lampoon, alongside yet another Twain tribute, “Shania I’m Broke.”

Although Judd’s projects never achieved blockbuster scale, their steady sales secured him a major-label deal with Sony’s revived Monument imprint. His 2000 debut for the label, Just Another Day in Parodies, took aim at the Dixie Chicks, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and Kid Rock. The successor, 2002’s Cledus Envy, supplied send-ups of Faith Hill and Billy Gilman together with “Man of Constant Sorrow” from O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Later that same year he delivered his first seasonal collection, Cledus Navidad. He followed in 2003 with the shorter Six Pack of Judd. In 2004 he shifted to the Koch label for Bipolar & Proud, which contained his strongest-performing single to that point, “I Love NASCAR,” a reworking of Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar.” Koch soon shuttered its Nashville operations just as Judd prepared to issue his homage to novelty mainstay Ray Stevens; the set Boogity Boogity finally surfaced in 2007 on Curb. In 2009 he transferred to E1 for Polyrically Uncorrect, spotlighting the single “(If I Had) Kellie Pickler’s Boobs.” His 2012 album Parodyziac!! appeared on Warner Bros. bearing the NFL nod “Tebow” and “Living Single in a Double Wide.” Shortly after the 2014 single “Luke Bryan,” a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” Judd stated via his Facebook page that he intended to step away from recording to concentrate on family. The spoken-word memoir Things I Remember Before I Forget reached stores in November 2016.