Eddy Raven

A Louisiana native born Edward Garvin Futch saw a record executive rechristen him Eddy Raven for his debut single on the minuscule Cosmo label toward the end of the 1960s. Cajun sounds from his home state, blues encountered while working alongside Johnny Winter, rock & roll modeled after idol Elvis Presley, and the unadulterated country of the Grand Ole Opry blended into a style that defied easy description. After Jimmy C. Newman extended friendship, Raven began repeated Nashville visits in 1970 yet waited another couple of years before settling there permanently. A publishing agreement with Acuff-Rose enabled him to compose material for Don Gibson and Roy Acuff while he resumed recording under his own name in 1974. Peer recognition notwithstanding, Raven waited until the 1981 Desperate Dreams album to score his initial hit as a performer. Following the 1983 merger that eliminated his Elektra contract, he spent the ensuing year reorganizing his affairs; during that interval the Oak Ridge Boys reached the charts with his composition “Thank God for Kids.” Emerging from the enforced hiatus, Raven joined RCA and secured his maiden number-one single, “I Got Mexico.” Over the subsequent six years he stayed a reliable presence on country radio, frequently pushing boundaries yet consistently engaging.

Raven’s musical journey began in childhood in Lafayette, Louisiana, where at age thirteen he joined a garage rock group. Three years afterward the family relocated to Georgia, and Raven obtained employment at a local radio station while also releasing his original song “Once a Fool” on the independent Cosmo imprint. Issued under the name Eddy Raven, the record prompted Edward Futch to adopt that stage name permanently. Returning with his family to Lafayette in 1963, he took a position at the La Louisianne record shop; its proprietor operated a label of the same name, and Raven cut multiple sides for it, among them his 1969 debut album That Cajun Country Sound.

Impressed by That Cajun Country Sound, Jimmy C. Newman arranged a publishing contract with Acuff-Rose for Raven, who subsequently sang with Jimmie Davis’ band. By 1971 other artists were covering Raven’s songs: Don Gibson guided “Country Green” into the Top Five and also recorded “Touch the Morning,” Jeannie C. Riley released “Good Morning, Country Rain,” and Roy Acuff performed “Back in the Country.” The resulting acclaim as both writer and interpreter led Don Gant, newly an ABC Records A&R executive, to offer Raven his own deal in 1974. Minor chart entries followed for the next two years, the most successful being the number-27 single “Good News, Bad News” in 1975. Raven departed ABC in 1978, spent one year at Monument, then moved to Dimension in 1979; neither association yielded major successes, and he exited Dimension in 1981.

Later that year Elektra signed him, delivering his first substantial hit, the number-13 single “I Should’ve Called.” Three additional Top 20 entries arrived over the next two years, paving the way for Top Ten breakthroughs beginning in 1984. After addressing legal and managerial matters throughout 1983, Raven joined RCA and issued “I Got Mexico” in the spring; the track not only reached the Top Ten but became his first number-one hit. The remainder of the decade brought a steady sequence of Top Ten singles for the label, among them the chart-toppers “Shine, Shine, Shine” in 1987, “I’m Gonna Get You” in 1988, and “Joe Knows How to Live” in 1988. He transferred to Universal in 1989, securing two further number-one singles, “In a Letter to You” and “Bayou Boys.” When Universal folded later that year, Raven moved to parent company Capitol, yet radio’s preference for newer artists caused his Capitol releases to be overlooked; the 1991 album Right for the Flight marked his final major-label project. Independent releases commenced with 1994’s Wild Eyed and Crazy, and over the ensuing decade he maintained a steady recording pace that included the 1996 duet album Cookin’ Cajun with Jo-El Sonnier, 2001’s Living in Black and White, and 2005’s Knowin’ How to Live. He continued touring into the 2010s. In 2017 Raven resumed recording via the collaboration All Grassed Up with Carolina Road.