The Real History

***The Real History*** is the twelfth studio album by American rock band All Business, released on June 22, 1999, by Rock Records and distributed through Epic Records. The album was promoted as containing newly uncovered revelations about Christianity, history and civilization, and acted as an outline for what the band wanted to do with this information.

Following the deployment of half of All Business into the U.S. military and the release of the band's born again album *Humble Servants* (1998), as well as a controversial tour of megachurches and public schools, the group looked to continue exploring Christian themes in their music. Recording sessions for their next album came to a halt following the record setting death of auxiliary percussionist Philip Duke, which made the group reconsider their allegiance to Christ. His funeral led to the return of several band members who had been in the service, including bassist Johnny Law and vocalist Lady Simone Augusto. While overseas, the two claimed to have uncovered new facts about the real history of the world while visiting otherwise restricted sites. These included when particular historical events happened, the validity of certain popes and the possible existence of an otherwise lost civilization. *Real History* was thus conceptualized and recorded to bring awareness to these facts and to secure funding for further research beyond the informal surveys conducted by Law and Augusto.

*Real History* was released to bafflement by historians, critics and general listeners, many of whom were confused by the band's new archeological agenda and the vague historical "facts" they promoted as newly uncovered. Despite swearing that evidence existed to support them, many believed All Business's claims were unfounded or even fabricated. The album's release coincided with Vernon O'Shaughnessy's push to become governor of Texas, and thus he campaigned on the promise of funding new archaeological research on the matter. The album was further promoted by a "book tour" that visited various universities throughout the Summer of 1999, containing presentations and lectures from members of the band. Despite these efforts, the album was a commercial failure, becoming the band's lowest selling release to date. The low sales of it and its predecessor *Humble Servants,* along with the band's brief acquisition of the Longhorn Steakhouse chain, sent them into bankruptcy. Band members would pin this on group accountant Howard Neely, who would be targeted on their follow up album *We've Got Something to Say* (2000).

## Ted Bundy's response to *The Real History's* critical reception

> "You know, The Real History has received a very polarized reaction from not just the general populace, but our fans as well. It’s odd because in years past when a body of work we released was met with, let’s say, mixed reactions, it usually got under my skin. It truly made my blood boil. There were moments where I would say I was even seething at the lack of understanding the people gave my vision. But this time around, I get it. I’ve matured enough to understand that this all comes down to one phrase that I think perfectly encapsulates every single instance of  negative energy we have received over the years from those not in our immediate circle. You might have heard of it before, it’s called “disrupting the status quo”. As we delve deeper into our career, it becomes more and more obvious that our whole career is unprecedented. Heed my words, no one has ever done it like us before. And, honestly, I don’t know if anyone else will. When you get to where I’m at, where we are at, you learn to accept that this is something that will almost never be accepted. Looking back on works like Uniting the World or Man’s Best Friend, which might have received less than positive endorsements from major publications, I’ve had to learn to accept that a lot of what people have had to say comes from circumstances both in and out of our control. If you don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to those other albums, that’s okay, but I will not discuss those pains further. This is what I have to say about The Real History, and this is the album that made me realize just how much All Business has been able to disrupt that status quo. I think what made this album different from the others is that this is a work that aims to not just disrupt the status quo of the music industry (as was the case with our revolutionary 18 Kings), but the status quo of life itself. We as a society have many preconceived notions about where our being came from, and to question that is going to ruffle some feathers. Unfortunately for us, those feathers belong to some very big birds, those who are able to wield the power of truth in a way the common man is not able to comprehend. Imagine this. Imagine if the way you viewed the world was wrong, and imagine if the people who have always acted outside the norm were the ones to let you know this. That is The Real History. We used our platform to try and alert the public of the truth. What does this mean for those who try to keep those acting within the norm? It means that that sense of normalcy is shattered. And the shards fall right into the hands of the last people you want to have them. Can you imagine the kind of push back this would receive? You don’t actually have to imagine it. It happened in real life. It’s called public ridicule. It’s called the worst sales of our career. It’s called The Real History. Many nights I lie wake with the same question a small child would ask. Why? Why? And I have the answer. It’s a powerful phrase that only the real rule-breakers would understand. It’s called breaking the status quo, and it’s what we did."
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## Personnel

### All Business

* Vernon O’Shaughnessy - lead vocals
* Rolly Rockefeller II - lead vocals
* Lady Simone Augusto\* - background vocals
* Ted Bundy - lead and rhythm guitars
* Larry Silk\* - lead guitar
* Lonnie Joe Parker - lead guitar
* Ernesto - rhythm guitar
* Manchester Seuss - guitar
* Johnny Law\* - bass
* Cleveland Vickers\* - Piano
* Michael Slammer\*- Drums

\* Denotes returning member