Alabama plays the Fox Theatre at 8 p.m. May 17-18.
Long before groups like the Dixie Chicks, Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum were old enough to hold a guitar, the quartet known as Alabama was laying road for countless country-rock crossover acts. And they did it at a time in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, when solo artists (Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn) were all the rage.
Formed by cousins Randy Owen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Teddy Gentry (bass guitar, background vocals) and Jeff Cook (lead guitar, fiddle, keyboards), the band began in their hometown of Fort Payne, Ala., under the name Wildcountry. In an effort to get discovered, they moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C., where they landed a gig as the house band at beach bar called the Bowery. It was there — playing for tips six nights a week, seven summers straight — that band members honed the razor-sharp vocal harmonies for which they became known.
In April 1980, Alabama’s performance at a Country Radio Seminar talent showcase earned the group a recording contract with RCA, which quickly released their debut album, My Home’s in Alabama (which the band had recorded themselves the year before). The title track rocketed to No. 17 on the country charts, and by the end of the year, Alabama had two No. 1 singles, “Tennessee River” and “Why Lady Why.”
The group’s unique mixture of country, Southern rock, gospel and pop music gave it a unique appeal. Within a year, they’d earned high-profile appearances on such TV shows as “American Bandstand,” “Hee Haw” and “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.” In 1981, they scored their first gold record, Feels So Right, and won Country Music Association awards for instrumental group and vocal group of the year.
Alabama went on to collect 21 consecutive No.1 hits (including “Love in the First Degree,” “Mountain Music” and the perennial holiday favorite “Christmas in Dixie”), making it one of the most successful bands in country music history.
Alabama released more than 20 albums in the 1980s and ‘90s, selling more than 70 million copies and writing more than 30 chart-topping songs. Band members capitalized on their success by launching numerous entrepreneurial ventures in the ‘90s, including the successful Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach and a chain of Alabama Grill restaurants (Myrtle Beach, Nashville and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.). In 2003, after 30 years together, the group went on what was to be its farewell tour.
Of course, Alabama didn’t go away completely. In 2005, the group was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2008, other members split with longtime drummer Mark Herndon during a very public lawsuit over alleged payment discrepancies. And in 2010, Alabama returned to the studio for the first time in 10 years to record “Are You Sure Hank Done It That Way” for a Waylon Jennings tribute album.
But it was a 2011 reunion to record “Old Alabama” with Brad Paisley and a live performance of the song at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas that ultimately led to the band’s first full-fledged tour in a decade. In subsequent interviews, co-founder Jeff Cook said that the band regretted having ended its 2003 farewell tour in North Dakota, rather than their native Alabama. After live performances at the 2012 Stagecoach Festival in California and the We Fest in Minnesota, there seemed to be little doubt that the country legends would reunite.
Now the band has hit the road for its Back to the Bowery Tour, which began with a free fan appreciation concert on the same Myrtle Beach stage where the bandmates first earned a name for themselves four decades ago. Later this year, they’ll host their first-ever Alabama & Friends Festival at Sea Cruise, offering fans a chance to party with them all the way from Miami to the Bahamas.
No new album plans have been announced, but with 150 industry awards including eight entertainer of the year honors, two Grammys, and recognition from the Recording Industry Association of America as country group of the 20th century, Alabama has earned the right to cruise a little.
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Bret Love, an Atlanta-based freelancer, writes for more than a dozen national and international publications. He is the founder of ecotourism/conservation site GreenGlobalTravel.com, the national managing editor of INsite magazine and music editor for Georgia Music Magazine. He also does improv with Jackpie at Relapse Theatre.
