On March 22, 1977, at Brushy Mountain Prison in Tennessee Richard Sprague (Chief Counsel for the House Select Committe on Assassinations), Robert Lehner (Deputy Chief Counsel), Jack Kershaw (Counsel to James Earl Ray), Mary Noel-Kershaw, Gary Revel and others began the first HSCA interview of James Earl Ray. All those present were commissioned by Chief Counsel Richard Sprague of the House Select Committee on Assassinations to investigate Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in an effort to prosecute any and all conspirators involved. Richard Sprague was soon replaced by G. Robert Blakey.
Later that year Gary Revel and attorney Mary Noel-Kershaw wrote the song, THEY SLEW THE DREAMER, that contained a story of a conspiracy related to the King killing. In a few months Gary recorded the song and released it as a single 45 rpm record on the Rebel Label.
The song was published by Milene Music Inc. the ASCAP arm of Acuff-Rose Music and soon received front page publicity as a James Earl Ray Promotion Gimmick in the newspaper the Nashville Banner. Later Opryland Music Group bought the publishing. In 2002 the publishing was sold to SONY/ATV TUNES LLC-SONY/ATV MILENE MUSIC. Sony continues to publish the song and the new recording remixed with the April 4, 1968 Memphis Police Dispatch recording announcing 'The Reverend King has been shot' is available on this webpage. The lyrics to the song are here as well.
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