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| Music of the United States |
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Alabama has played a central role in the development of bothblues andcountry music.Appalachian folk music,fiddle music,gospel,spirituals, andpolka have had local scenes in parts of Alabama. TheTuskegee Institute's School of Music (established 1931), especially the Tuskegee Choir, is an internationally renowned institution. There are three major modern orchestras, theMobile Symphony, theAlabama Symphony Orchestra and theHuntsville Symphony Orchestra; the last is the oldest continuously operating professional orchestra in the state, giving its first performance in 1955.
Thestate song of Alabama is entitled "Alabama". It was written byJulia Tutwiler and composed by Edna Gockel Gussen. It was adopted as the state song in 1931.
A State Senate bill (SB-458) was passed 32–1 in 2000 to move "Alabama" to the status of State Anthem, with "Stars Fell On Alabama", a song written in 1933 whose most popular release was byJimmy Buffett in 1972 becoming the new State Song, and "My Home's in Alabama" (1980) by theCountry groupAlabama would become the State Ballad, but the bill failed in the State House.[1]
Other grass roots efforts to make "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) byLynyrd Skynyrd the state song have also failed, but the song's potential official status made a comeback when the State Tourism Agency chose the song as the centerpiece of its 2008 marketing campaign.[2]
Muscle Shoals, Alabama is renowned worldwide as one of the epicenters of the music industry, having been the birthplace of a number of classic recordings. The studios of theMuscle Shoals area (Florence,Sheffield,Muscle Shoals, andTuscumbia) figure prominently in the history of rock, country and R&B through the 1960s, 70s & 80s.FAME Studios,Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Wishbone Studios, Quinvy Studios, East Avalon Recorders/ClearDay Studio, and others have recorded local musicians and international superstars alike. Notable artists have includedAretha Franklin,Rolling Stones,Lynyrd Skynyrd,Otis Redding,Wilson Pickett,Bob Dylan,Paul Simon,Rod Stewart,Willie Nelson,Hank Williams Jr,Roy Orbison, and countless others have recorded there. The notable studio house bands includeThe Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section,The Swampers, The Muscle Shoals Horns, and The Fame Gang.
Though not as popular a recording center as before,Muscle Shoals continues to be an important contributor to American popular music and is home to a number of the world's most successful songwriters, musicians and producers.Single Lock Records currently operates a recording studio, record label, and performance venue in the area.
TheHangout Music Festival (est. 2010) is an annual 3-day music festival held at the public beaches ofGulf Shores, Alabama.
TheAlabama Music Hall of Fame was created by the Alabama state legislature as a state agency in 1980. A 12,500 square foot (1,200 m²) exhibit hall opened inTuscumbia in 1990.
TheAlabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHoF) is located inBirmingham, housed in the historicCarver Theatre. It was founded in 1978 and opened amuseum in 1993.
Many artists in the realms ofrhythm and blues andsoul music have emerged from Alabama over the past 50 years, includingWilson Pickett,Percy Sledge,Martha Reeves ofMartha and the Vandellas.Rick Hall established FAME Studios. In 1966, Rick Hall helped licensePercy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", produced byQuin Ivy, toAtlantic Records, which then led to a regular arrangement under which Atlantic would send musicians to Hall's Muscle Shoals studio to record.[3] The studio produced further hit records forWilson Pickett,James & Bobby Purify,Aretha Franklin,Clarence Carter,Arthur Conley, and Otis Redding enhancing Hall's reputation as a white Southern producer who could produce and engineer hits forblack Southern soul singers.[4] He produced many sessions using guitaristDuane Allman. Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote "I'm Your Puppet" forJames & Bobby Purify.[5] Members ofThe Commodores are fromTuskegee.
Rock and pop musicians from Alabama areSouthern rock/pop/R&B bandWet Willie, the rock bandBrother Cane, the power pop bandHotel of Birmingham,Bill McCorvey of the country bandPirates of the Mississippi, songwriter/producerWalt Aldridge, andTommy Shaw of the rock bandStyx. Dan Penn, from Alabama , worked with the Box Tops. The Birmingham area has had more than its fair share ofAmerican Idol contestants do well, including second season winnerRuben Studdard (who played football forAlabama A&M University).
WC Handy, often referred to as the "father of the blues", was born and raised inFlorence, Alabama, which since 1982 holds an annualWC Handy Music Festival "to preserve, present, and promote the musical heritage of Northwest Alabama". The festival is usually held in the summer, and cake and other foods are typically served.
Piedmont andcountry blues singer, guitarist, and songwriterEd Bell was born nearFort Deposit.
Though born in Frayser, a community in North Memphis, Tennessee,Johnny Shines, Blues singer and guitarist, moved to Holt, Alabama, in Tuscaloosa County, in 1969, where he lived until he died. Shines died on April 20, 1992, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[1] He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame later the same year.
Alabama has a richjazz heritage, being the birthplace of such greats asErskine Hawkins,Nat King Cole,Cleveland Eaton,James Reese Europe,Cootie Williams,William Manuel Johnson,Urbie Green,Ward Swingle,Cow Cow Davenport, members ofTake 6 and many more. TubistHoward Johnson of theSaturday Night Live band hails fromMontgomery. The museum of theAlabama Jazz Hall of Fame honors many of these fine musicians. In the 1930s and 40s, college dance bands, such as the Alabama Cavaliers, theAuburn Knights and theBama State Collegians played an important role in the history of jazz in the South.Birmingham, Alabama boasts several active big bands, including the SuperJazz Big Band, the Joe Giattina Orchestra, the Night Flight Big Band and theMagic City Jazz Orchestra, founded and directed byRay Reach. In addition, there is a world-class horn section, the Tuscaloosa Horns, comprising some of Alabama's finest jazz/soul/funk instrumentalists. Also the newest/youngest break out big band in Alabama which incorporates everything from Duke Ellington to Bob Marley; the New South Jazz Orchestra which prominently features the Tuscaloosa Horns and the composing/arranging skills of members of the Tuscaloosa Horns.
Ward Swingle, world-famous multiple Grammy Award-winning jazz vocal composer and pianist, hails fromMobile.
Birmingham contributed prominently to the history of jazz in America. It is the hometown of numerous influential jazz musicians, including bassistCleveland Eaton, pianist and vocalistRay Reach, guitaristJohnny Smith, trumpeter and bandleaderErskine Hawkins, trumpeter and arrangerTommy Stewart, trumpeterNelson Williams, composerHugh Martin, arrangerSammy Lowe, bandleaderSun Ra, vibraphonist and bandleaderLionel Hampton, singer and guitaristOdetta, John Propst (pianist forPete Fountain andBoots Randolph) and many more. Historical areas such asTuxedo Junction and the Fourth Avenue Historic District played an important role in the evolution of jazz in Birmingham and the United States.
Gospel music has an especially long tradition in the state, among both thewhite andblack populations. Given the strongly religious coloring of Alabama's population historically, the genre is one example of many shared phenomena between the historically segregated cultures of the state. The two traditions are, however, distinct, and entail key distinctions, with Southern gospel incorporating elements of bluegrass and country music more strongly than "black" gospel.
The state also has aCeltic music scene, which has produced bands likeHenri's Notions, After Class, and the Birmingham-basedharpistCynthia Douglass, as well as a number of piping bands and promotional Celtic organizations.
Alabama is the leading state forSacred Harp singing. More annual singings are held in Alabama than in any other state.[6]The Sacred Harp: Revised Cooper Edition, a version ofThe Sacred Harp used across the southern parts ofGeorgia, Alabama,Mississippi, andTexas,[7] is published by the Sacred Harp Book Company ofSamson, Alabama.[8] The Sacred Harp/Shape Note Music and Cultural Center is located inBessemer, Alabama.
The State of Alabama has a rich history incountry,bluegrass andold-time music. The influence of MississippiDelta blues to the west and the ancient sounds of Appalachian Folk Music to the north blend with native Jazz sounds to form a brand of country music with a unique Alabama flavor. "Country music may be recorded in Nashville, but it was born in the Heart of Dixie." (Will Vincent, Tall Pines Bluegrass).
North Alabama's contribution to bluegrass music over the years has been exceptional. From former "Bluegrass Boys"Rual Yarbrough and Jake Landers, mandolin virtuoso Hershel Sizemore, fiddling legend Al Lester and the incomparable Claire Lynch, to modern day country-star-turned-bluegrass artistMarty Raybon, the list goes on and on.
Probably one of the most well-known musicians to ever hail from Alabama isHank Williams Sr., born inGeorgiana. Hank's hits include "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Lost Highway" and "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)". Hank and his wife Audrey are both buried inOakwood Cemetery inMontgomery where the Hank Williams Museum resides downtown. A section ofInterstate 65 between Georgiana and Montgomery was commemorated the "Lost Highway" in memory of Williams in 1997.
Other notable residents includeJimmy Buffett, though born inPascagoula, Mississippi, grew up in theMobile area. Country starTammy Wynette was born on the Mississippi/Alabama line.The Louvin Brothers were pioneers of tight harmony country and bluegrass vocalizations.Vern Gosdin is another influential country music legend who came from the state of Alabama.Emmylou Harris was born in Birmingham.Shenandoah from Muscle Shoals became major stars. The groupAlabama from Fort Payne 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.
