Jeff Cook, Alabama co-founder and guitarist, dead at 73

Jeff Cook Founding member and lead guitarist of Al Balad Group Alabamadied Tuesday at his vacation home in Destin, Florida, after protracted disease. Cook’s representative confirmed the death. He was 73 years old.

Jeffrey Alan Cook was born on August 27, 1949 in Fort Payne, Alabamahis teenage musical ambitions will eventually take him to the top Country charts Several times with Alabama classics such as “Mountain Music”, “Take Me Down”, “First Class Love” and “Dixieland Delight”.

With his cousins, singer Randy Owen and bassist Teddy Gentry, Cook formed a band called Wildcountry that gained some popularity throughout the South. They were especially popular in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and eventually moved there, where they played folk parties at a place called Bowery.

The band was renamed Alabama in 1977, and with the addition of full-time drummer Mark Herndon, they began to gain traction in the country music industry at the end of the 1970s.

The group’s main group career at RCA has been nothing short of impressive, beginning with eight number one singles including “Tennessee River”, “Feels So Right” and “Mountain Music”. In total, they achieved over 30 #1 hits, including one song a year from 1980 to 1993—among them classics like “Dixieland Delight,” “Song of the South,” and “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t I know why.) Their albums sales exceeded 75 million and they were the rare group to win the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award, receiving the prestigious award in 1982, 1983 and 1984.

Cook brought great guitar skills to the equation in Alabama, along with the ability to play many instruments including keyboards, violins, and mandolins, adding vocal harmony to Owen’s key melodies as well. He even brought a touch of rock and roll to country music with his frequent use of the double-necked electric guitar. In 2005, the group was entered into Country Music Hall of Fameshortly after announcing their retirement. They returned to the tours, with the exception of Herndon, in 2013.

After receiving his broadcaster’s license at the age of 14, Cook also spent time on radio and studied electronic technology at Gadsden State Community College. Later, he built his home studio, Cook Sound Studios, in his home in Fort Payne, where he worked with other aspiring musicians. Cook also put together a few individual projects that began in the mid-2000s, including 2008 only bikin and 2011 2 Rock 4 Country.

In 2012, Cook was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and broke the news a few years later in 2017. He maintained a busy touring schedule with Alabama until 2018, at which time he decided to retire permanently from the road.

Brad Paisley, who collaborated with Alabama on his song “Old Alabama”, remembers Cook in the post on social media. “One of the highlights of my life has been recording and crowding with you guys. I fought this terrible disease so mercifully, Jeff,” Beasley wrote. “My heart goes out to your wife, children and band. We will miss you.”