A native of Alabama, Cliff had his first chart success at the age of 19 while still attending the University of Alabama. After moving to Nashville upon graduation, Cliff began to write and record demos which led to a pop record deal at Atlantic Records in New York. Cliff and Randy Goodrum wrote and produced several songs for EMI Artist Wendy Moten, which went to number one in Japan. Cliff had two songs recorded by Wynonna Judd and has also written songs for jazz artist Richard Elliott. In addition, he has had songs recorded by B.J. Thomas, Bad Company, Glenn Campbell, as well as number one songs for contemporary Christian artists “Sierra” and “Lisa Bevill.”