| Name |
Alabama |
| Height |
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| Naionality |
American |
| Date of Birth |
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| Place of Birth |
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| Famous for |
Singing |
Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen (lead vocals, Rhythm Guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry (bass guitar, background vocals), soon joined by Jeff Cook (Lead Guitar, fiddle, keyboards).
In 1973, after Owen's graduation from Jacksonville State University, they gave up their day jobs and weekend gigs. The group, formerly known as "Wildcountry", left Fort Payne and Lookout Mountain to explore the possibilities of the club scene in surrounding coastal South Carolina. The band is often credited with bringing country music groups (as opposed to solo vocalists) into the mainstream, paving the way for the success of today's top country groups. Since its change in name in 1972, Alabama has included Owen, Cook and Gentry. Mark Herndon was not the original drummer but was a member of the band throughout their period of fame and chart success. The band's blend of traditional country music and southern rock combined with elements of gospel music, and pop music gave it a crossover appeal that helped lead to their unprecedented success. They also toured extensively and incorporated production elements such as lighting and "sets" inspired by rock concerts into their shows. The band has over 30 number one country records on the Billboard Magazine charts to their credit and have sold over 73 million records to date. In 1973 they decided to pursue music full-time. The band had an opportunity to play for the summer, and although Randy was still enrolled in college, he pleaded his case with Jacksonville State, and was able to finish in absentia.
The rest of the band quit their day jobs and moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where they had a job playing at The Bowery. The band was asked to play the entire summer as the house band, requiring them to move to Myrtle Beach. When they got to the bar, the Bowery had already hired a singer, making Wildcountry the backup band. Each member of Wildcountry eventually had a chance to sing due to the fact that they would play for hours on end, playing for free, taking home only what they earned in tips. The group had a hard time keeping a drummer, but found Mark Herndon at a club in Florence, South Carolina in 1978. Mark's mother had been working at the club and heard the group needed a drummer. Mark joined in 1979. In 1977, they signed a contract to record a one shot record with GRT (General Recorded Tape, Inc.), and changed their name from Wildcountry to The Alabama Band at GRT's request. The Bowery had small signs that wrapped around the stage with the names of the fifty states on them. The band grabbed the Alabama sign and put it on the wall behind them because that was where they were from. Wildcountry didn't have any signs or banners, just the sign that said, "Alabama" hanging on the wall behind them. When it came time to rename the band, Randy looked no further than the sign on the wall.
The Alabama Band recorded "I Want to be With You Tonight", which broke the Top 80. A year later GRT declared bankruptcy. Surprised to find that a contractual clause forbade them from recording with another label, the band bought out their contract, touring in a beat up van they called, "The Blue Goose" working for more than a year to raise the funds to buy out their contract. Due to all of the financial woes the band had faced, Randy decided that Teddy, Jeff and he should be equal partners in the band, and at no time would they ever make another person an equal member of the band. Any drummer that was brought in to work, would simply be a hired hand.
They eventually recorded "My Home's in Alabama" and attempted to sell it to local radio stations. In 1979, the band self-recorded an album and hired a promoter to help get radio airplay for their single, "I Wanna Come Over". The band hired Wade Pepper in Atlanta to promote the single regionally. Band members and wives wrote hundreds of letters to radio stations begging them to play the song.
