At the age of 15, he landed a job as a disc jockey at a local Ohio radio show on Saturday mornings.
The duo failed but McCall soon found work as a background singer during recording sessions for various artists including Faron Young, George Jones and Ray Price.
Later in the year he performed the theme for the film Hud, which starred actor Paul Newman.
During his acting career, McCall also traveled to the American Southwest to perform in rodeos as a cowboy.
Hank Williams Jr. recorded a song penned by McCall in 1971 entitled "Eleven Roses."
1 hit for Williams and resulted in a songwriting contract offer from "Tree International Publishing" for McCall, who accepted.
During this period his popularity grew due to the Outlaw Country sound being pushed into the mainstream.