Alabama

1994年美国广播唱片公司宣布阿拉巴马乐队的专辑在全球已经销售600万张，这意味着他别是最受人们欢迎的乐队之一。当阿拉巴马乐队在20世纪70年代出现时，在乡村音乐领域实际上还没有一支成功的乐队。阿拉巴马改变了这一切，为后来者开了个好头。在乡村音

音乐历史上他们成为最著名的乐队，主宰了整个80年代，同时发展为90年代的主力。
朗地·欧文(Randy Owen)和达地·金崔(Teddy Gentry)是一对表兄弟，在阿拉巴马州的阿达姆斯堡(Adamsburg)两个邻近的农庄上长大，前者生于1949年12月13日，是一名歌手兼吉他手；后者生于1952年1月22日，是一名低音歌手。他们俩就象亲兄弟一样，从小老在一起玩弄吉他，偶尔参加当地乐队的演出。当他们十几岁的时候，遇到了离他们农庄五英里远地方的一位当地的著名音乐家，叫做杰夫·柯克(Jeff Cook)，他生于1949年8月27日，是一位电子琴手和小提琴家，后来知道他也是他们的一名表兄弟。杰夫邀请他们到自己家中，家里满是价格昂贵的乐器。他们中的一位拿起了吉他，并唱了起来。其他两位也加入了这悦耳的小合唱。1969年，他们参加了一次比赛，自称为"青年乡村乐队"(Young Country)。他们取得了成功，很快就招聘了一名鼓手约翰·瓦特连(John Vartanian)，最后更名为"狂热乡村乐队"(Wild Country)。
瓦特连和南卡罗莱那州的马特海滩城(Myrtle Beach)的人有来往。于是从1973年起，他们每年在那儿演出半年，直到上了全国排行榜。在这些年里，他们把朗地和达地的南方乡村摇滚和杰夫的摇滚乐风格揉合在一起，形成了他们自己的协调一致的特色。
在1973到1977年期间，他们自制了三张专辑，并在演出时销售。后来他们又改名为"阿拉巴马乐队"，简称"阿拉巴马"。这时GRT唱片公司发行了他们的单曲，歌名为《今晚我想和你在一起》(1 Wanna Be With Tonight)，上了排行榜。这次成功使GRT唱片公司继续与他们合作。后来约翰·瓦特连离开了乐队，鼓手瑞克·斯考特(Rick Scott)短期与他们合作过。
后来有一段时期乐队不景气。柯克到其他乐队干零活；金崔和斯考特则打算去纳希维尔 (Nashvi11e)写歌。看来要散伙了，而这时朗地和达地创作了一首歌，起名为《我的家在阿拉巴马》(My Home's in Alabama)。这首歌唤起了其他人的激情，他们决定要让阿拉巴马乐队起死回生。
1979年，马克·赫恩登(Mark Herndon)(出生于1955年5月11日)出任鼓手，他们和MDJ唱片公司签了公同。结果他们的两首曲子上了全国40首流行歌曲排行榜:《我要来》(I Wanna Come Over)在1979年排名第33；《我们家在阿拉巴马》在1980年排名第17。乐队里的人说："这给了我们一个位置。歌名和乐队的名字紧密相联，这使人们能记住我们。"
1980年，他们在美国广播唱片公司出的第一张专辑《田纳西河》在全国排行榜上排名第一。它连续20次在1980年到1986年期间排名第二，打破了桑尼·詹姆斯(Sonny James)连续16次排名第一的记录。
成功的原因很多。哈罗拉·赛得(Harola Shead)直到1988年一直出版他们的唱片。他说："他们是四个自己写歌，自己演奏的小伙子，带着南方山村的摇滚风味，无拘无束，很有鉴赏力。"朗地·欧文领唱很受欢迎。他是一个很好的独唱演员，但是他不愿意朝这个方向发展。他说："我把生命和血液都灌注在乐队里，我是阿拉且马的 一部分。"
阿拉巴马乐队出现的时期很合适。在70年代乡村音乐与流行歌曲之间的显明界限已经模糊。对听众来说，阿拉巴马乐队是这两种音乐的吸引人的混合。热衷于纯乡村音乐的听众不是很快接受他们。欧文回忆道："大多数人不理解。当我们开头演出时，我们穿着T恤衫，披着长头发，手捧吉他在台上蹦来蹦去。好多人皱起眉头。"
使他们能扎下根来，从80年代红火一直到90年代初的源泉是他们音乐中的强大的乡土风味。他们把熟悉的和新颖的，很深蒂固的和创新的揉合在一起。阿拉巴马重新诠释了乡村音乐，对乡初音乐在本世纪末的流行作出了重大贡献。

Before Alabama, bands were usually relegated to a supporting role in country music. In the first part of the century, bands were popular with audiences across the country, but as recordings became available, nearly every popular recording artist was a vocalist, not a group. Alabama was the group that made country bands popular again. Emerging in the late 70s, the band had roots in both country and rock; in fact, many of Alabamas musical concepts, particularly the idea of a performing band, owed more to rock and pop than hardcore country. However, there is no denying that Alabama is a country band — the bandmembers pop instincts may come from rock, but their harmonies, songwriting, and approach are indebted to country, particularly the Bakersfield sound of Merle Haggard, bluegrass, and the sound of Nashville pop. A sleek, country-rock sound made the group the most popular country group in history, selling more records than any other artist of the 80s and earning stacks of awards.

First cousins Randy Owen (born December 14, 1949; lead vocal, rhythm guitar) and Teddy Gentry (born January 22, 1952; vocals, bass) form the core of Alabama. Owen and Gentry grew up on separate cotton farms on Lookout Mountain in Alabama, but the pair learned how to play guitar together; the duo also had sung in church together before they were six years old. On their own, Gentry and Owen played in a number of different bands during the 60s, playing country, bluegrass, and pop on different occasions. During high school, the duo teamed with another cousin, Jeff Cook (born August 27, 1949; lead guitar, vocals, keyboards, fiddle), to form Young Country in 1969. Before joining his cousins, Cook had played in a number of bands and was a rock & roll DJ. Young Countrys first gig was at a high-school talent contest; performing a Merle Haggard song, the band won first prize — a trip to the Grand Ole Opry. However, the group was fairly inactive as Owen and Cook went to college.

After Owen and Cook graduated from college, they moved with Gentry to Anniston, AL, with the intention of keeping the band together. Sharing an apartment, the band practiced at night and performed manual labor during the day. They changed their name to Wildcountry in 1972, adding drummer Bennet Vartanian to the lineup. The following year, they made the decision to become professional musicians, quitting their jobs and playing a number of bars in the Southeast. During this time, they began writing their own songs, including My Homes in Alabama. Vartanian left soon after the band turned professional; after losing four more drummers, Rick Scott was added to the lineup in 1974.

Wildcountry changed its name to Alabama in 1977, the same year the band signed a one-record contract with GRT. The resulting single, I Wanna Be With You Tonight, was a minor success, peaking in the Top 80. Nevertheless, the singles performance was an indication that Alabama was one of the most popular bands in the Southeast; at the end of the decade, the band was playing over 300 shows a year. After I Wanna Be With You Tonight, the group borrowed $4,000 from a Fort Payne bank, using the money to record and release its own records, which were sold at shows. When GRT declared bankruptcy a year after the release of I Wanna Be With You Tonight, the bandmembers discovered that they were forbidden from recording with another label because of a hidden clause in their contract. For two years, Alabama raised money to buy out its contract. In 1979, the group was finally able to begin recording again. That same year, Scott left the band. Scott was replaced by Mark Herndon, a former rock drummer who helped give Alabama its signature sound.

Later in 1979, Alabama self-recorded and released an album, hiring an independent record promoter to help get radio play for the single I Wanna Come Over. The band also sent hundreds of hand-written letters to program directors and DJs across the country. I Wanna Come Over gained the attention of MDJ Records, a small label based in Dallas. MDJ released the single, and it reached number 33 on the charts. In 1980, MDJ released My Homes in Alabama, which made it into the Top 20. Based on the singles success, Alabama performed at the Country Music New Faces show, where the band was spotted by an RCA Records talent scout, who signed the group after the show.

Alabama released its first RCA single, Tennessee River, late in 1980. Produced by Harold Shedd, the song began a remarkable streak of 21 number one hits (interrupted by the 1982 holiday single Christmas in Dixie), which ran until 1987; after one number seven hit, the streak resumed for another six singles, resulting in a total of 27 number one singles during the decade. Taken alone, the amount of chart-topping singles is proof of Alabamas popularity, but the band also won numerous awards, had seven multi-platinum albums, and crossed over to the pop charts nine times during the 80s.

In the 90s, their popularity declined somewhat, yet they were still having hit singles and gold and platinum albums with regularity. Even after their dissolution in 2003, its unlikely that any other country group will be able to surpass the success of Alabama.