Alabama (band)

Alabama
	; Alabama
	General information
Genre (s)	Country music
founding	1977
Website	www.thealabamaband.com
Current occupation
Vocals , guitar	Randy Owen
Vocals, lead guitar	Jeff Cook
Vocals, bass	Teddy gentry
former members
Drums	Rick Scott (until 1979)
Drums	Mark Herndon (from 1979 to 2008)

Alabama is an American country rock - band with 41 No. 1 hits and more than 65 million records sold one of the most successful bands of all time.

Beginnings

Cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, who grew up on neighboring farms in rural Alabama , played music together from early childhood. They later went their separate ways for a while and joined different bands. In high school they met another cousin, Jeff Cook , who also had some musical experience, mastered several instruments and also worked as a disc jockey.

In 1969 they formed the band "Young Country". In one of their first appearances, the trio won a talent competition. Randy and Jeff went to college, and Teddy became the manager of a carpet business. The musical activities faded into the background in those years. Only after completing their studies was it possible to try harder for a music career.

First steps

In 1972 "Young Country" was renamed "Wildcountry". At the same time a drummer was hired for the first time with Bennet Vartanian. A hard time began, during which the band was only able to stay afloat through strenuous club appearances. Their new drummer soon dropped out, and his successors didn't last long either. It wasn't until 1974 that a drummer was found in Rick Scott, who stayed with the band for a few years.

In 1977 the name was changed to "Alabama". In the same year, a record deal was signed with the GRT label. The first single, I Wanna Be with You Tonight , just barely made it into the country top 100. Shortly thereafter, the record company went bankrupt. Alabama was still contractually bound to the label. It took another two years until the four musicians had enough money together to buy themselves out of the contract. The drummer gave up again. Rick Scott was replaced by Mark Herndon from Massachusetts , who brought rock influences into the band and thus made important contributions to a new, promising sound.

Career

With their own money, an album and the single I Wanna Come Over were produced in 1979 . The independent MDJ label took over the distribution. The single eventually advanced to number 33 on the country charts. A year later, My Home's made it into the top 20 in Alabama . RCA became aware of these successes on Alabama and signed them in 1980.

This began a series of 21 consecutive number 1 hits, unique in the history of country music. Numerous titles were also able to place in the pop charts. It all started with the single Tennessee River in 1980 . Why Lady Why followed in the same year and Old Flame , Feels So Right and Love In The First Degree in 1981 . The series of top hits, interrupted only by an out-of-order Christmas single, lasted until 1987 and continued into the 1990s. Many of the songs were written by the group members themselves. In addition to the singles, the albums were also successful. Virtually every release achieved gold or platinum status. During those years, the band was literally showered with awards. So they won the coveted CMA Award "Entertainer of the Year" three times in a row . More often than not, they were named "Group of the Year" (both instrumental and vocals).

The high chart positions could no longer be achieved from the mid-nineties, although the band still achieved a number of top 10 successes. In return, the albums achieved some spectacular sales figures. Above all, samplers like Greatest Hits , Superhits or For the Record - 41 Number 1 hits were very popular. A total of 41 number 1 hits were achieved and over 65 million records were sold. On October 16, 2003, Alabama said goodbye to the concert stage as part of their "American Farewell Tour", but announced a tour for 2013 to mark the 40th stage anniversary. In 2008, the band split from drummer Mark Herndon during a legal battle.

In 2008 a memorial was erected for the band in Fort Payne (Alabama). It shows the four musicians as life-size bronze figures in front of Union Park on the corner of Gault Avenue and 4th Street North.

Discography and chart successes

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	title	US	Country	Remarks
1980	My Home's In Alabama	US71 × 2 Double platinum (21 weeks)US	Country3 (214 weeks) Country
1981	Feels so right	US16 × 4 Quadruple platinum (161 weeks)US	Country1 (174 weeks) Country	28 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1982	Mountain Music	US14th × 5 Quintuple platinum (114 weeks)US	Country1 (269 weeks) Country	28 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1983	The Closer You Get	US10 × 4 Quadruple platinum (70 weeks)US	Country1 (206 weeks) Country	At number 1 in the country charts for 21 weeks
1984	Roll on	US21st × 4 Quadruple platinum (62 weeks)US	Country1 (194 weeks) Country	13 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1985	40 Hour Week	US28 × 2 Double platinum (40 weeks)US	Country1 (104 weeks) Country	14 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1985	Alabama Christmas	US75 × 2 Double platinum (12 weeks)US	Country8 (23 weeks) Country
1986	The touch	US42 platinum (30 weeks)US	Country1 (81 weeks) Country	10 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1987	Just Us	US55 platinum (28 weeks)US	Country1 (60 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1989	Southern Star	US62 platinum (21 weeks)US	Country1 (78 weeks) Country	3 weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1990	Pass It On Down	US57 platinum (41 weeks)US	Country3 (115 weeks) Country
1992	American Pride	US46 platinum (51 weeks)US	Country11 (80 weeks) Country
1993	Cheap seats	US76 platinum (38 weeks)US	Country16 (69 weeks) Country
1995	In Pictures	US100 platinum (21 weeks)US	Country12 (57 weeks) Country
1996	Christmas Volume II	US117 (6 weeks) US	Country18 (10 weeks) Country
1997	Dancin 'On The Boulevard	US55 platinum (26 weeks)US	Country5 (58 weeks) Country
1999	Twentieth Century	US51 gold (10 weeks)US	Country5 (36 weeks) Country
2001	When It All Goes South	US37 (8 weeks) US	Country4 (28 weeks) Country
2006	Songs Of Inspiration	US15 (7 weeks) US	Country1 (29 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
2007	Songs Of Inspiration II	US33 (1 week) US	Country3 (7 weeks) Country
2014	Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites	US33 (10 weeks) US	Country6 (47 weeks) Country
2015	Southern Drawl	US14 (6 weeks) US	Country2 (18 weeks) Country

more publishments

1976: Wild Country
1977: Deuces Wild
1979: Alabama Volume No. 3
2017: American Christmas

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	title	US	Country	Remarks
1986	Greatest hits	US24 × 5 Quintuple platinum (38 weeks)US	Country1 (271 weeks) Country	5 weeks at number 1 in the country charts, compilation
1991	Greatest Hits Vol. 2	US72 platinum (31 weeks)US	Country10 (81 weeks) Country
1994	Christmas With The Judds And Alabama	-	Country61 (3 weeks) Country
1994	Greatest Hits III	US56 × 2 Double platinum (49 weeks)US	Country8 (117 weeks) Country
1996	Great hits	US- gold US	Country46 (91 weeks) Country
1997	The Encore Collection - Born Country	-	Country75 (1 week) Country
1998	Super hits II	-	Country59 (11 weeks) Country
	The Essential Alabama	US- gold US	Country63 (12 weeks) Country
	For The Record: 41 Number One Hits	US13 × 5 Quintuple platinum (33 weeks)US	Country2 (105 weeks) Country
2003	In The Mood: The Love Songs	US15 (11 weeks) US	Country4 (37 weeks) Country
2003	The American Farewell Tour	US64 (5 weeks) US	Country6 (58 weeks) Country
2004	Ultimate Alabama: 20 # 1 Hits	US52 (5 weeks) US	Country10 (48 weeks) Country
2005	The essential	-	Country52 (64 weeks) Country
2006	Livin 'Lovin' Rockin 'Rollin': The 25th Anniversary Collection	US120 (1 week) US	Country28 (5 weeks) Country
2006	Alabama: Christmas Collection	-	Country62 (4 weeks) Country
2007	16 Biggest Hits	-	Country40 (43 weeks) Country
2008	Playlist: The Very Best Of Alabama	-	Country68 (4 weeks) Country
2013	Country: Alabama	-	Country59 (9 weeks) Country
2013	The Classic Christmas Album	-	Country46 (2 weeks) Country

more publishments

1993: For Our Fans
2009: Mountain Music: The Best of Alabama

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	title	US	Country	Remarks
1988	Alabama Live	US76 platinum (19 weeks)US	Country1 (74 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts, compilation
2010	Setlist: The Very Best Of Alabama: Live	-	Country72 (2 weeks) Country
2014	Alabama & Friends: At The Ryman	-	Country29 (2 weeks) Country

more publishments

1993: Gonna Have a Party ... Live

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
year	Title album	UK	US	Country	Remarks
1977	I Wanna Be With You Tonight Deuces Wild	-	-	Country78 (8 weeks) Country
1979	I want to come over my home's in Alabama	-	-	Country33 (12 weeks) Country
1980	My Home's in Alabama My Home's in Alabama	-	-	Country17 (13 weeks) Country
	Tennessee River My Home's in Alabama	-	-	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Why Lady Why My Home's in Alabama	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1981	Old Flame Feels So Right	-	-	Country1 (14 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Feels So Right Feels So Right	UK91 (1 week) UK	US20 (22 weeks) US	Country1 (13 weeks) Country	two weeks at number 1 in the country charts
	Love In The First Degree / Ride The Train Feels So Right	-	US15 (21 weeks) US	Country1 (16 weeks) Country	two weeks at number 1 in the country charts
1982	Mountain Music Mountain Music	-	-	Country1 (18 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Close Enough To Perfect Mountain Music	-	US65 (12 weeks) US	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Take Me Down Mountain Music	-	US18 (13 weeks) US	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Christmas In Dixie / Christmas Is Just A Song For Us	-	-	Country35 (19 weeks) Country	with Louise Mandrell , RC Bannon re-entries 1997, 1998 and 1999
1983	Dixieland Delight The Closer You Get ...	-	-	Country1 (16 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	The Closer You Get The Closer You Get ...	-	US38 (11 weeks) US	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Lady Down On Love The Closer You Get ...	-	US76 (6 weeks) US	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1984	Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler) Roll On	-	-	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	When We Make Love Roll On	-	US72 (10 weeks) US	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	If You're Gonna Play In Texas Roll On	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	(There's A) Fire In The Night Roll On	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1985	There's No Way 40 Hour Week	-	-	Country1 (21 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	40 Hour Week (For A Livin ') 40 Hour Week	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Can't Keep A Good Man Down 40 Hour Week	-	-	Country1 (22 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1986	She And I Greatest Hits	-	-	Country1 (21 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1986	Touch Me When We're Dancing The Touch	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1987	"You've Got" The Touch The Touch	-	-	Country1 (22 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Tar Top Just Us	-	-	Country7 (17 weeks) Country
	Face To Face Just Us	-	-	Country1 (22 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1988	Fallin 'Again Just Us	-	-	Country1 (17 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1988	Song Of The South Southern Star	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1989	If I Had You Southern Star	-	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	High Cotton Southern Star	-	-	Country1 (23 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	Southern Star Southern Star	-	-	Country1 (26 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1990	Pass It On Down Pass It On Down	-	-	Country3 (21 weeks) Country
	Jukebox In My Mind Pass It On Down	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	four weeks at number 1 in the country charts
	Forever's As Far As I'll Go Pass It On Down	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
1991	Down Home Pass It On Down	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	three weeks at number 1 in the country charts
	Here We Are Pass It On Down	-	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
	Then Again Greatest Hits Vol. II	-	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
	Born Country Greatest Hits Vol. II	-	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
1992	Take A Little Trip American Pride	-	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
	I'm In A Hurry (And Don't Know Why) American Pride	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	two weeks at number 1 in the country charts
	Once Upon A Lifetime American Pride	-	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
1993	Hometown Honeymoon American Pride	-	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
	Reckless Cheap Seats	-	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country	one week at number 1 in the country charts
	TLCASAP Cheap Seats	-	-	Country7 (20 weeks) Country
	Angels Among Us Cheap Seats	-	-	Country28 (20 weeks) Country
1994	The Cheap Seats Cheap Seats	-	-	Country13 (20 weeks) Country
	We Can't Love Like This Anymore Greatest Hits Vol. III	-	-	Country6 (20 weeks) Country
	Give Me One More Shot Greatest Hits Vol. III	-	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
1995	She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl In Pictures	-	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
1995	In Pictures In Pictures	-	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
1996	It Works In Pictures	-	-	Country19 (20 weeks) Country
	Say I In Pictures	-	-	Country38 (7 weeks) Country
	The Maker Said Take Her In Pictures	-	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
1997	Sad lookin 'moon dancin' on the boulevard	-	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
	Dancin ', Shaggin' On The Boulevard Dancin 'on the Boulevard	-	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
	Of Course I'm Alright Dancin 'on the Boulevard	-	-	Country22 (20 weeks) Country
1998	She's Got That Look In Her Eyes Dancin 'on the Boulevard	-	-	Country21 (20 weeks) Country
	How Do You Fall In Love For the Record	-	US82 (5 weeks) US	Country2 (21 weeks) Country
	Keepin 'Up For the Record	-	US69 (8 weeks) US	Country14 (20 weeks) Country
1999	God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You Twentieth Century	-	US29 (20 weeks) US	Country3 (23 weeks) Country	feat. 'N Sync
1999	Small Stuff Twentieth Century	-	-	Country24 (20 weeks) Country
2000	Twentieth Century Twentieth Century	-	-	Country51 (3 weeks) Country
	New Year's Eve 1999	-	-	Country55 (1 week) Country	with Gretchen Peters B-side from Twentieth Century
	We Made Love Twentieth Century	-	-	Country63 (3 weeks) Country
	When It All Goes South When It All Goes South	-	-	Country15 (20 weeks) Country
2001	Will You Marry Me When It All Goes South	-	-	Country41 (11 weeks) Country
2002	I'm In The Mood In the Mood: The Love Songs	-	-	Country48 (9 weeks) Country
2010	Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings	-	-	Country53 (4 weeks) Country
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement:
1995	Sweet Home Alabama Skynyrd Frynds	-	-	Country75 (1 week) Country
1997	The Blessings Alabama Christmas Vol. II	-	-	Country72 (2 weeks) Country
1999	Santa Claus (I Still Believe In You) Alabama Christmas	-	-	Country71 (1 week) Country
1999	Rockin 'Around The Christmas Tree Alabama Christmas Vol. II	-	-	Country64 (3 weeks) Country

more publishments

2002: The Woman He Loves
2013: All American
2015: Wasn't Through Lovin 'You Yet
2016: Come Find Me (with Alison Krauss )

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
year	Title album	UK	US	Country	Remarks
1987	Deep River Woman Dancing on the Ceiling	-	US71 (8 weeks) US	Country10 (15 weeks) Country	with Lionel Richie
2011	Old Alabama This Is Country Music	-	US38 gold (20 weeks)US	Country1 (15 weeks) Country	with Brad Paisley
2016	Forever Country	-	US21 (4 weeks) US	Country1 (18 weeks) Country	as part of Artists of Then, Now & Forever

statistics

Chart evaluation

	US	Country
Number one albums	US-US	Country11Country
Top 10 albums	US1US	Country26thCountry
Albums in the charts	US31US	Country44Country

	UK	US	Country
Number one singles	UK-UK	US-US	Country33Country
Top 10 singles	UK-UK	US-US	Country51Country
Singles in the charts	UK1UK	US11US	Country75Country

Awards for music sales

Golden record

Canada Canada
- 1987: for the album The Touch
- 1993: for the album American Pride
- 1993: for the album For Our Fans
- 1994: for the album The Cheap Seats

Platinum record

Canada Canada
- 1983: for the album Mountain Music
- 1983: for the album Feels So Right
- 1983: for the album The Closer You Get
- 1985: for the album 40 Hour Week
- 1985: for the album Alabama Christmas
- 1986: for the album Greatest Hits
United States United States
- 1986: for the video album Alabama's Greatest Video Hits
- 1990: for the video album Pass It On Down

2 × platinum record

Canada Canada
- 1987: for the album Roll On
- 2000: for the album For the Record
United States United States
- 1996: for the album Alabama Christmas

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	4 × gold4th	10 × platinum10	1,200,000	musiccanada.com
United States (RIAA)	4 × gold4th	47 × platinum47	47,200,000	riaa.com
All in all	8 × gold8th	57 × platinum57

The most important awards

year	Org.	Award	title
1981	ACM	Album Of The Year	"Feels So Right"
1981	ACM	Entertainer Of The Year
1981	CMA	Instrumental Group Of The Year
1981	CMA	Vocal Group Of The Year
1982	ACM	Entertainer Of The Year
1982	ACM	Top vocal group
1982	CMA	Entertainer of the Year
1982	CMA	Instrumental Group Of The Year
1982	CMA	Vocal Group Of The Year
1982	TNN	Album Of The Year
1983	ACM	Album Of The Year	"The Closer You Get"
1983	ACM	Entertainer Of The Year
1983	ACM	Top vocal group
1983	CMA	Album Of The Year	"The Closer You Get"
1983	CMA	Entertainer of the Year
1983	CMA	Vocal Group Of The Year
1983	grammy	Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group	"Mountain Music"
1983	TNN	Top vocal group
1984	ACM	Album Of The Year	"Roll On"
1984	ACM	Entertainer Of The Year
1984	ACM	Top vocal group
1984	CMA	Entertainer of the Year
1984	TNN	Album Of The Year
1985	ACM	Entertainer Of The Year
1985	ACM	Top vocal group
1985	grammy	Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group	"The Closer You Get ..."
1990	Billboard	Country Group or Duo of the Year

Web links

Website of the band
Alabama in the Country Music Hall of Fame
Alabama in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e
chart sources:
- Alabama in the Official UK Charts (English)
- Alabama on the US Billboard 200 chart
- Alabama on the US Top Country Albums chart
- Alabama on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart
- Alabama is on the US Hot Country Songs chart

[charts-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e chart sources:

Alabama in the Official UK Charts (English)

Alabama on the US Billboard 200 chart

Alabama on the US Top Country Albums chart

Alabama on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart

Alabama is on the US Hot Country Songs chart

[2] Alabama in the Official UK Charts (English)

[3] Alabama on the US Billboard 200 chart

[4] Alabama on the US Top Country Albums chart

[5] Alabama on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart

[6] Alabama is on the US Hot Country Songs chart

Alabama
Alabama
General information
Genre (s)	Country music
founding	1977
Website	www.thealabamaband.com
Current occupation
Vocals , guitar	Randy Owen
Vocals, lead guitar	Jeff Cook
Vocals, bass	Teddy gentry
former members
Drums	Rick Scott (until 1979)
Drums	Mark Herndon (from 1979 to 2008)