How do you capsulate a career that to date has resulted in 21 Gold®,
Platinum®, and Multi-Platinum® albums, 43 #1 singles, and over 73
million records sold? Add to that over 150 industry awards including
eight country music "Entertainer of the Year" honors, two Grammys, two
People's Choice Awards, and their very own star on the "Hollywood Walk
of Fame." For Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and Jeff Cook - the members of
Alabama – it’s been 30 years of unprecedented success that still
continues to this day.
In the late '60s, cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry discovered they
shared a common interest in music. Joined by Jeff Cook - another local
veteran musician - they started playing clubs and venues on a regular
basis. In March of 1973, the band said goodbye to their daytime jobs and
part-time weekend gigs. Bravely, "Wildcountry", as the band was formerly
known, left their Lookout Mountain and Fort Payne roots to hone its
burgeoning talent on the club scene in coastal South Carolina and the
surrounding area.
During the ensuing years, playing such popular nightspots as The
Bowery in Myrtle Beach, the band underwent a name change, added a new
drummer, as an employee, named Mark Herndon in (April 1st) 1979 and
began setting its sights on Nashville, after an appearance on the New
Faces Show at the Country Radio Seminar in 1980 that also featured
newcomer Reba McEntire. RCA's Joe Galante came back to his office raving
about a young band he'd seen.
On April 21, 1980, Alabama signed with industry giant RCA, the label
that turned the likes of Elvis Presley into a megastar and cultural
icon. The label quickly pressed Alabama's autobiographical anthem "My
Home's in Alabama" as a single. That May, RCA Records released
"Tennessee River" as the first #1 Alabama hit. Starting with "Tennessee
River", they would rack up a string of 21 consecutive #1 hits. (Up until
that time the record was held by Sonny James with 16 consecutive #1
singles.) 21 more singles would follow, rewarding the band with 42 #1
singles. Alabama became, seemingly overnight, a driving force in country
music, essentially changing it forever.
The group began taking the genre in new directions and reaching out
to an incredibly diverse fan base, many of which had never before
listened to country music. Alabama was among the first to court a youth
market for country music. (Previously, an older consumer characterized
the format with more mature concert audiences.) With its vibrant stage
energy and casual, working-class attire, the group presented a newly
youthful image and thereby opened the door to the titanic sales that
country music enjoyed in the 1990s. Teenage boys and 20-something men
who had been sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the names of bands like
Yes, Boston and Lynyrd Skynyrd in the late-70’s had Alabama's trademark
logo across their chests by the time they left high school and graduated
college a few years later. At the same time, the group's soulful
southern ballads stirred emotions in women of all ages, drawing huge
female audiences to their shows.
Alabama concerts became immediate sell-outs whenever and wherever
tickets went on sale. Many of those who flocked to Alabama's live
performances with their state-of-the-art production were not necessarily
fans of country music and did not listen largely to country radio.
Because of Alabama's impact on the country genre, however, more and more
new listeners were being attracted to the format. Alabama's
multi-Platinum® record sales, and their energetic concert approach,
helped to stamp a new identity on the country music industry. Alabama
was leaving its legendary mark in concert arenas, record stores and on
country radio.
Their approach to country music attracted fans of all ages, and
continues to do so even today as represented on their most recent
collaboration – the #1 hit, “Old Alabama” with Brad Paisley. Alabama's
live concert approach mirrored the band's club days while playing for
tips at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach. Being able to react immediately to
song requests meant money in the tip jar. The band's upbringing on
country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, rock-n-roll and southern
rock enabled them to perform with ease everything from Acuff to ZZ Top.
Alabama was, quite simply, blazing a path that would take country music
to new places and in new directions. Sure, established country
superstars like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers were enjoying crossover
success at the time, but the foursome-relative newcomers in 1981-made
their way into the Top 20 on the pop charts as well. "Feels So Right,"
"The Closer You Get," "Love In The First Degree," "Lady Down On Love"
and "Take Me Down" all received pop airplay.
"It's really hard to measure or quantify, because the fact is they
opened the door for a lot of the modern-day bands that are there. And at
the same time, musically, they pushed the boundaries," RCA Label Group
Chairman Joe Galante remembers. "They opened a whole generation's ears
to what became country music and drew them into the format - it was
enormous. They really have a way of saying something different," Galante
adds. "I'm always amazed at how they can come up with a little turn of a
phrase or a little guitar lick or an entire approach to a melody that is
different. And there was an energy and a personality that they put into
it. They're a band that all of us will talk about for a long, long time
to come."
Alabama's career sales have topped 73 million records. This ranks it
as one of the 10 biggest-selling bands in the annals of popular music -
ahead of such rock greats as Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Queen, Pink Floyd
and The Who. Alabama has more No. 1 records than any band in
country-music history and has sold more concert tickets than any other
country group. 17 of its albums are Platinum® sellers. Mountain Music,
released in 1982, is Quintuple-Platinum®, as is 1986's Greatest Hits.
Roll On (1984), The Closer You Get (1983) and Feels So
Right (1981) are all Quadruple-Platinum ®. Christmas (1985),
Greatest Hits III (1994), 40 Hour Week (1985) and the
act's debut album, 1980's My Home's In Alabama, were joined by
For the Record as Double-Platinum ® sellers.
Citing highlights among Alabama's 70-plus charted singles is tough,
but the following illustrate its musical diversity and evolution.
"Dixieland Delight" (1983) and "Mountain Music" (1982) showcased the
group as cheerful Southern rockers. "Roll On" (1984) and "40 Hour Week"
(1985) presented the boys as blue-collar heroes. The delightfully peppy
"She and I" (1986), "Here We Are" (1991) and "I'm In a Hurry" (1992)
proved the band's pop chops, yet "Jukebox in My Mind" (1990) and "Old
Flame" (1981) are as stone-country as it gets. Hits such as "Song of the
South" (1988), "High Cotton" (1989), "Pass It On Down" (1990), "The
Cheap Seats" (1994) and "In Pictures" (1995), are demonstrations of
Alabama's lifetime commitment to quality "message" lyrics.
But the band can also have innocent fun with fare such as the summery
"Beach Music" and "Dancin', Shaggin' on the Boulevard" (1997). They're
separated by decades, but several songs are eloquent proof of Alabama's
mastery of the love ballad -- from 1981's "Feels So Right" to 1990's
"Forever's As Far As I'll Go" to 1998's "How Do You Fall In Love."
In May 2002, Alabama stunned the world, announcing to Dick Clark
during the Academy of Country Music Awards telecast plans for a Farewell
Tour in 2003. It hardly seems possible. But, true to form, as we've come
to expect from Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, Jeff Cook, they made their
departure from touring with class and grace. Every night's American
Farewell Tour show was unique; reflecting new, live interpretations and
arrangements of the band's long list of hits in their set list. Each
show was specially tailored for that particular night and that
particular audience. The band could also weave an instant request, if
necessary, into their set just as they had done during their nightclub
days.
Randy Owen says, "We really tried to push the boundaries of our
music. We worked very hard at trying to make every live performance a
special experience for our fans. We still feel the same way. It was
important to all of us that we never got comfortable with what we were
doing at the time. We constantly developed new arrangements and a new
approach to our live shows without losing the feeling that made these
songs hits in the first place."
Alabama's music was broad based, attracting a huge fan following of
varied ethnic backgrounds and musical tastes. Jeff Cook adds, "Every
night was different, no two shows were the same so we wanted to give the
audience a performance that wasn't just like the one before. Many times
we did two sold out shows in the same place on the same day so we pulled
songs in and out and added new ones to change things around."
Teddy Gentry agrees, "Every night before I walk on stage I know that
there will be people in the audience who have never seen Alabama before.
I want us to be able to do something that will make them feel good about
having been there and that they will always remember us by. We've always
kept our level of expectations high. We've always been our best and
worst critics."
Alabama was the first group in history to win the Country Music
Association's "Entertainer of the Year" award and the only artist to win
this award for three consecutive years. They were "Entertainer of the
Year" for five straight years for the Academy of Country Music. The
Academy of Country Music named Alabama their most awarded artist during
the ACM 40th Anniversary telecast in December 2005.
Alabama has chosen to use its celebrity to benefit a multitude of
worthy causes across America and beyond. Particularly noteworthy is
Alabama's June Jam, the annual music festival in Ft. Payne, Alabama,
which the band conceived in 1982. Although the June Jam concert was
discontinued in 1997, the work of the Alabama June Jam lives on through
the Alabama June Jam escrow account and the ongoing June Jam Songwriters
Showcase. The band continues to play an integral role in raising
millions of dollars for schools, public service organizations,
hospitals, youth ranches and scholarships.
In 2001, Alabama donated a check for $100,000 to the Fort Payne City
School System from June Jam funds. Over $45,000 from the escrow account
was donated in 2003 to agencies including Dekalb County Public Library,
John Croyle Big Oak Ranch, DeKalb County Children's Advocacy Center,
Partnership for a Drug Free Dekalb County and The Chattanooga Speech and
Hearing Center. The 2005 June Jam Songwriters Showcase raised $36,857.00
for John Croyle's Big Oak Ranches and Alabama's songwriter benefit in
Montgomery generated more than $150,000 for victims of Hurricane
Katrina. In addition to the humanitarian efforts the group engages in as
a whole, each band member is actively involved in his own individual
causes which include: the more than $280 million that lead singer Randy
Owen has helped raise in partnership with Country Radio for St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital through his establishment and leadership
role in Country Cares for St. Jude Kids. Additionally, nearly $1 million
has been generated through the Randy Owen Alabama Sheriffs' Youth
Ranches Golf Tournament since 1985 for ranches throughout the state; the
foundation that Mark Herndon has established to benefit hearing-impaired
children in conjunction with The Chattanooga Speech and Hearing Center;
Teddy Gentry's commitment to fundraising on behalf the DeKalb County
Children's Advocacy Center; and Jeff Cook's contributions to the Helen
DiStefano Breast Cancer Foundation and Camp Smile-a-Mile, for kids with
cancer.
Collectively, group members also continue to be long time friends and
supporters of the John Croyle Big Oak Ranch for neglected and abandoned
children. In recognition and appreciation of the group's philanthropic
commitment, Alabama has been honored with such distinguished
recognitions as the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, Country Radio
Broadcasters' Humanitarian Award, Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award and
the B.M.I. President's Trophy for public service. (In the country music
realm only three other people (and no other group) have been given this
sterling-silver loving cup: Country Music Hall of Fame members Harlan
Howard and Frances Preston, and singer/songwriter icon Willie Nelson.)
Fittingly, the band is enshrined in the Alabama Hall of Fame and is one
of the inaugural recipients of the "Spirit of Alabama" medal awarded by
Governor Bob Riley.
Alabama has also been the recipient of 23 American Music Awards since
1983, including their prestigious Award of Merit, making the group the
most awarded artist in the history of the American Music Awards. In
2003, Alabama was honored with the Academy of Country Music Pioneer
Award. In December 2003, the group received the International Quality of
Life Award from Auburn University in ceremonies held at the United
Nations Building in New York City. Alabama was presented the Country
Radio Broadcasters Career Achievement Award On March 2, 2004. Alabama is
the seventh of nine Country music artists to be recognized with the
Artist Career Achievement Award. Joining them in this honor are Ronnie
Milsap (2006), Dolly Parton (2005), Reba McEntire (2003), Sonny James
(2002), Buck Owens (2000), Loretta Lynn (2000), Eddy Arnold (1999), and
Chet Atkins (1998).
On March 23, 2004 Alabama was awarded the USO-Metro Washington Merit
Award for their service of volunteerism and support of our Military.
Alabama has volunteered through USO-Metro numerous times, visiting
wounded soldiers at Walter Reed and injured troops at National Naval
Medical Center at Bethesda, honoring the memory of service members at
the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery by participating
in the "Laying of the Wreath" ceremony, and allocating time during their
concerts to recognize the sacrifice of service members and their
families. Alabama gave a special military tribute to U.S. service men
and women on August 24, 2003 at their farewell tour concert held at
Nissan Pavilion in Washington, DC. Alabama lead vocalist Randy Owen led
the band in an emotional rendition of "America the Beautiful" after
military personnel wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq were called on stage
and introduced to the audience.
Following their performance Alabama was honored with the USO Rising
Star Award and the Pentagon 9/11 Medallion for their continued support
of our men and women in uniform. Presenting the awards were Florida
Congressman Bill Young, former Chairman of the US House of
Representatives Appropriations Committee and West Virginia Congressman
Alan Mollohan, also a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Alabama continued to recognize service men and women who were in
attendance at the band's American Farewell Tour Concerts nationwide.
In June 2011, Alabama and an All-Star cast of top entertainers
(including Dierks Bentley,
Luke Bryan, The Commadores, Sheryl Crow,
Brad
Paisley, Darius Rucker and more) raised more than $2.1 million for the Bama Rising Fund which was created to support the long-term recovery for
those affected by the tornados that ravaged the state of Alabama earlier
in the year.
Attempting to find a numerical means to "sum up" Alabama's success
actually becomes a staggering prospect until you realize that all you
need is one figure, one statistic, to say it all. Set aside the millions
of albums, the awards, the accolades, even their unprecedented
collection of hits, look simply to the fans, the countless fans they've
touched over the years. Look at those people, add up those numbers,
count every person who's been touched by the music of Alabama. Then -
and only then - will you truly see the incredible legacy these men have
created. Alabama's magic will always be preserved in its music and it
will always live in the hearts of their fans.
"We've done a lot of things in our career by pure accident,
there's been a lot of luck involved," says a humble Randy Owen. But
there's one other rule that Randy knows has served Alabama well -
"Following our hearts and our feelings. We did it all just by being
ourselves."
