Alabama band members- Randy Owen is lead singer and rythm guitar, Teddy Gentry is back up singer and bass, Jeff Cook is guitar and violin and back up singer , Mark Herndon is drums. Randy, Teddy and Jeff are cousins.
The way the band started out is Randy, Teddy and Jeff formed the band for a talent show in High School. They called the band Young Country. They won the talent show contest. After high school Randy and Jeff went to college. Then after college they formed the band again to pursue there dream. This was one dream that there parents could not stop them from doing. They loved there music and they believed in themselves.
In 1972 they reunited and they called the band Wildcountry. They played in clubs across the Southeast coast. The one place they mainly played was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. While the group had this name for the band they had gone through three drummers. At this time of there career it was really hard for them to get a record deal with a recording company.
In 1977 they finally got to sign a one album recording contract with General Recorded Tape Inc.. Then they changed there name to Alabama. The album that they made with this company was I Wanna Be With You Tonight. A year later the company went bankrupt and on the contract it said that the group could not sign with another label. So what the group did was try to get this company paid off so they could find another record label. What it is called is buying out the contract and that took over a year to do.
In 1979 when the last drummer quit they went looking for a new drummer. Teddy had heard Mark playing and he went and talked to him asked him if he would be interested in playing for them. Mark said yes and then Teddy had told Randy and Jeff about him and they wanted to hear him play. So Mark played for them and then they hired him.
In 1980 Alabama signed with RCA. This is when there career really took off. But before they signed with them Randy was about to quit the band. His father passed away and it really hit him hard. When he went to sign the contract he said he was doing this for his father. I am so glad that Randy did go and sign the contract otherwise we would never have this band. From 1980-2003 they have a lot of great music.
They band has over 30 number on hits, sold over 73 million albums. The Awards that they have received are Album of the year, Entertainer of the year, Favorite group of the year, Instrumental group of the year, Vocal group of the year, Presidents Award in 2000, Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, Inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004. The are also all the charities that they work with.
This band has a lot of great songs and here are some of my favorites. I like Feels so right, Dixieland delight, 40 hour week, Roll on, Mountain Music, Love in the first degree, If your gonna play in Texas, Down home, Why lady why, Pass it on down and Forever is as far as I will go.
There signature song is My homes in Alabama. I Love this song too.
I think the reason why I like this band so much is because they are so down to earth. They love there fans and they have taught there kids how to earn there money. I have read the biography about the band and in there they have said for the kids to earn there money they would take them along the roads to pick up the cans and take them in. Yes the band had the money to buy the kids anything but they wanted to teach the kids how it was for them.
In 2002 the band announced that they were going to be doing a Farewell Tour. I know that Randy was having medical problems at this time. That on stage he could only sing or play the guitar. So during 2003 and 2004 they did the Farewell tour. I know that they showed it on T.V. and I have it on tape. It was a great concert and I will never tape over that.
In 2006 they did record another album called 16 Greatest Hits and in 2007 The Very Best of Alabama. These are there last two albums and they also have one 2003 called In The Mood: The Love Songs. There are a lot of good albums for the band.
I know that there is an autobiography about the group. I had read it a long time ago and it is a really good book. It really goes into detail how the band started out and when they had gotten married about there families and life on the road away from the families. I had just found out that Randy Owen has a new book out it is called Born Country: How Faith, Family and Music Brought Me Home. I hope I can get this book and read it then I will do a revue on how that book is.
These are my thoughts about Alabama. I hope that you like what I had to say about the band.
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