After striking out on their own, Davis and McDade enlisted vocalist/guitarist Russell Smith, keyboardist Billy Earheart, Dobro player Barry Burton, and pianist James Hooker to develop a sound composed of equal parts pop, country, and blue-eyed soul.

Stacked Deck, the Amazing Rhythm Aces' debut album, appeared in 1975; it produced two significant crossover hits, "Third Rate Romance" and "Amazing Grace (Used to Be Her Favorite Song)," the group's lone Top Ten country single. A year later, the hit "The End Is Not in Sight (The Cowboy Tune)," from the LP Too Stuffed to Jump, won the Aces a Grammy for Country Vocal Performance by a Group. Following the release of 1977's Toucan Do It Too, Burton left the group, and was replaced by Duncan Cameron.

In 1978, the Aces released Burning the Ballroom Down, followed a year later by a self-titled effort featuring cameos by Joan Baez, Tracy Nelson, and the Muscle Shoals Horns; both were met with critical approval, but sold poorly. They released one final record, How the Hell Do You Spell Rhythum?, before disbanding. While Smith went on to become a successful songwriter, Earheart joined Hank Williams, Jr.'s Bama Band, and Cameron joined Sawyer Brown -- a group that, ironically enough, would find significant chart success in the 1980s with a sound similar to what the Amazing Rhythm Aces had created a decade earlier.

After a hiatus of some 15 years, the Amazing Rhythm Aces re-formed in 1994. The Aces, now comprised of Smith, Davis, McDade, Earheart, Hooker, and new guitarist/mandolinist Danny Parks, marked their return to duty by releasing Ride Again, a collection of newly recorded renditions of their biggest hits. In addition, they also began composing new songs for a projected comeback album; although McDade's cancer-related death on November 29, 1998, temporarily halted that plan, Chock Full of Country Goodness finally appeared in mid-1999. ~ Jason Ankeny