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After a long pause, country supergroup Alabama is touring On the road again
By John Benson
Retirement is fleet- ing in the entertainment business.
Ozzy Osbourne, Tina Turner and Cher have all publicly retired only to come back a short time later. As for platinum country band Alabama, the legendary act with 43 No. 1 singles had been off the road since 2004; however, it took Mother Nature to lure the trio — Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook — back together after a 2011 tornado ravaged parts of Alabama.
“When we left the road, I full intended to stay off the road,” said Gentry, calling from Nashville. “But the morning after the tornado in our home county, we said we have to do something to help these people who lost everything. That’s really what started us back out.”
After performing charity shows in its home state, Alabama was asked by Brad Paisley to join him on stage at the 2011 ACM awards to sing his song “Old Alabama.” That’s when the mainstream started itching for the threesome’s return.
While the group played a few dates in 2012, Alabama has re-emerged on the touring circuit this year with its “Back to The Bowery Tour.” This includes a Thursday show at the State Theatre in Cleveland.
A quick check of recent set lists shows the band is playing plenty of its No. 1 hits, including “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band),” “Tennessee River,” “Dixieland Delight,” “Take Me Down,” “Lady Down on Love” and “Mountain Music.”
As for the current tour, it’s been four decades since Owen, Gentry and Cook began playing music at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Just as The Beatles honed its act at The Cavern Club, Alabama had a steady summer gig throughout the ’70s at the tourist venue.
Gentry said the group was blessed to have The Bowery to learn not only how to work a crowd but also a place to try out its songwriting. He pointed to this education as the reason why Alabama was able to enjoy longevity in the cutthroat music industry. The trio’s resume includes 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums with more than 73 million records sold.
“We took care of the fans and radio, those were the two key ingredients,” Gentry said. “We didn’t become greedy as artists. We worked hard to put out the very best song we could find. When you decide to get on the treadmill, you have to do what it takes because you’re playing 300 shows a year and recording an album. It takes a lot of work and effort.”
That effort is now being celebrated by the Music City’s biggest stars with the recent release of the “Alabama & Friends” tribute album. The star-studded affair finds Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line, Jamey Johnson, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts and Trisha Yearwood singing their favorite Alabama tunes. There are also two new Alabama songs – “That’s How I Was Raised” and “All American” – on the CD.
In some ways, Alabama’s popularity is as strong as ever. In fact, Gentry said the current tour reminded his bandmates just how much fun it is performing together.
“This tour is just for us, our own entertainment,” Gentry said. “We’re free to do what we want to do. We have no plans past this year, but as long as the other two guys want to do it, right now, I have no major issues.”