"The Dream Never Dies" is a song written by Richard Cooper. It was first recorded by his band

The Cooper Brothers The Cooper Brothers are a Canadian southern rock band founded in Ottawa, Ontario by brothers Brian Cooper, Dick Cooper and their long-time friend Terry King. Starting in 1974, the band released several singles under the production guidance of ...

in 1978 and included on their self-titled

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio foun ...

album. It was also released as a single, b/w "Rock and Roll Cowboys". American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer-songwriter Bill Anderson released it as a single in 1979 via

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

and had a top 40 hit single.

Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...

also recorded the song that same year and released on her Take Heart album.

Bill Anderson Background

"The Dream Never Dies" was recorded in August 1977 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The session was produced by

Buddy Killen William Doyce “Buddy” Killen (November 13, 1932 – November 1, 2006) was an American record producer and music publisher, and a former owner of Trinity Broadcasting Network and Tree International Publishing, the largest country music p ...

, who recently became Anderson's producer after many years of working with

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

. Killen would continue producing Anderson until his departure from MCA Records. It was the only song recorded during this particular studio session. "The Dream Never Dies" was released as a single by MCA Records in July 1979. The song spent nine weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

before reaching number 40 in August of 1979. It was among Anderson's final top 40 singles of his career. It was also his second single to not become a major hit since 1975. In Canada, the single only reached number 42 on the RPM Country Songs chart in 1978.

Track listings

7" vinyl single * "The Dream Never Dies" – 4:25 * "One More Sexy Lady" – 2:44

Chart performance

References

{{Bill Anderson singles 1979 singles 1979 songs Bill Anderson (singer) songs MCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Buddy Killen