alabama`s top music icon

T
hink Alabamians are passionate about sports? Just ask them to weigh in about music.
That’s exactly what we’re doing to decide
Alabama’s Top Music Icon. Our state has produced
plenty of key figures in the music world, past and
present. These include singers, composers, producers,
instrumentalists, conductors and even an MTV VJ.
The tournament will play out like the upcoming NCAA
basketball brackets. We’ve come up with a list of 63 star
players (plus one readers’ choice), spreading the net wide
to cover several music genres, geographic areas and time
ALABAMA’S TOP
MUSIC ICON
By MARY COLURSO
♦
News staff writer
BRACKET 2
BRACKET 1
1
Hank Williams
Mount Olive-born country star
whose hits in the 1930s and ’40s
included “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
and “Hey Good Lookin’.”
16 Willie King
Jimmy Buffett
2
Justin Brown
15
Pop-rock powerhouse
(“Margaritaville”) and
entrepreneur, grew up in South
Alabama and attended Auburn
University.
Blues guitarist with Old Memphis
roots, frontman of the Liberators,
organizer of annual Freedom
Creek Festival.
Grammy-nominated music
director of the Alabama
Symphony Orchestra, has
international resume as a
conductor.
8
Dorothy Love
Coates
7
10
Hugh Martin
Birmingham-born composer
and lyricist with many Broadway
credits, wrote “Have Yourself a
Merry Little Christmas.”
Birmingham singer, member of
The Original Gospel Harmonettes,
strongly identified with
civil-rights movement.
9 Drive-By Truckers
Taylor Hicks
Gray-haired soul singer and
songwriter, won the fifth season
of “American Idol,” earned
devoted fans called the
Soul Patrol.
5
Sun Ra
Jim Nabors
12 Vestal Goodman
Hanky-waving singer from Fyffe
and member of Happy
Goodman Family, earned
reputation as “Queen of
Southern Gospel Music.”
4 Wilson Pickett
Soul singer and songwriter
from Prattville, best known for
crossover hits (“Mustang Sally,”
“In the Midnight Hour”).
13 Ray Sawyer
Chickasaw native and lead
singer of 1970s rock band
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show,
saw his face on the cover of
Rolling Stone.
Lionel Richie
2
16 Henry Panion
“Country Boy
Eddie” Burns
15
Sonny James
7
3
Free-thinking composer and
bandleader born in Birmingham,
infused jazz and electronica with
cosmic philosophy.
8
Tommy Shaw
Rock guitarist and songwriter
from Montgomery, high-profile
member of Styx, also played in
Damn Yankees.
9 Little Big Town
Contemporary-country hit-makers, includes Jimi Westbrook of
Sumiton and two singers with
ties to Birmingham’s Samford
University.
5
Odetta
Blues-folk singer from
Birmingham, renditions of
protest anthems and spirituals
linked her to the civil rights
movement.
Singer, songwriter and producer
born in Tuskegee, forged a
high-profile solo career in
pop and R&B after leaving the
Commodores
Country singer, TV host and
multi-instrumentalist from
Warrior, star of long-running
“Country Boy Eddie Show.”
Hackleburg native and
singer-songwriter called
“the Southern Gentleman,”
prominent in country music
for three decades.
Hank Williams Jr. 3
5 Percy Sledge
Rowdy country-rocker who lived
in Cullman in the ’70s and ’80s
and boogied to fame with partyhearty tunes.
Nell Carter
6
4 Muscle Shoals
Rhythm Section
Louvin Brothers 6
13 Jamey Johnson
Eddie Floyd
Country singer-songwriter
from Enterprise, earned three
Grammy nominations for 2008
breakthrough disc,
“That Lonesome Song.”
8 Bobby Goldsboro
9
Birmingham R&B singer won
“American Idol” in 2003, has
scored on Billboard charts,
earned Grammy nomination.
Country singer with roots in
central Alabama, charted with
1970s and ë80s radio singles such
as “I Keep Coming Back”.
Elkmont natives were
country-music pioneers in the 1930s
and regulars on the Grand Old Opry
(“Alabama Lullaby”).
16 Hotel
Ruben Studdard 10
Bluegrass singer-guitarist who
spent many years in north
Alabama, was one of few female
bandleaders in traditional genre
during 1970s.
Delmore Brothers 11
Hardscrabble hit-maker from
Red Bay (“Stand By Your Man”),
partnered with George Jones
and became known as
“First Lady of County Music.”
Country-pop singer (“Honey”)
with roots in Dothan, started as
guitarist for Roy Orbison, earned
greatest fame in 1960s-’70s.
14
Skilled studio musicians, key in
creation of Muscle Shoals Sound
during recording sessions of the
1960s-’70s.
1 Tammy Wynette
Power-pop group from
Birmingham (“You’ll Love Again”),
signed deals with MCA and
Mercury, favorite on nightclub
circuit in 1970s.
Razzy Bailey
Tony-winning singer (“Ain’t
Misbehavin’”) and actress
(“Gimme a Break!”) from
Birmingham, known for big voice
and expansive personality.
12 Claire Lynch
Vote and comment at
blog.al.com/bn/madness
You have until 11 p.m. Wednesday to make your selections
for the first round, narrowing the field to 32.
First-round winners will be revealed online Friday at al.com,
the online home of The Birmingham News.
Then you’ll be able to vote on the next round.
The tournament continues throughout March.
BRACKET 3
Alabama
Grammy-winning country-rock
band from Fort Payne, No. 1
singles include “Mountain Music”
and “Dixieland Delight.”
Grammy-winning composer and
producer, member of UAB music
faculty, has worked with Stevie
Wonder and Aretha Franklin.
Southern rock and alt-country band
has three members from the Shoals,
breakthrough disc was 2001’s
“Southern Rock Opera.”
Actor and singer from
Sylacauga, variety-show favorite
during 1960s-’70s, powerful
baritone contrasted with goofy
TV characters.
1
periods.
Now it’s up to you to decide who’s No. 1. Go to al.com,
the online home of The Birmingham News, and make
your picks for the first round in our Music Madness list.
You’ll have until 11 p.m. Wednesday.
While you’re doing that, feel free to sound off in the Web
comments section linked to the March Madness brackets.
Want to rave about your faves? That’s the place to do it.
Disagree with our seedings? Tell us why. Wondering about
artists who didn’t make the cut? On the Web, you’ll find a
list of honorable mentions.
Bo Bice
14
Southern-rock singer, songwriter
and band leader from Huntsville,
took second place on fourth
season of “American Idol.”
Gospel-country duo from
Henagar, popular during 1940’60s, regulars on Grand Old Opry,
inducted into Country Music
Hall of Fame.
11
Montgomery-born R&B singer
and songwriter, (“Knock on
Wood”), star of Stax Records
label in the 1960s and ’70s.
Martha Reeves
R&B singer from Eufaula
(“Dancing in the Street”), best
known as the leader of
Motown’s Martha and the
Vandellas.
Soul stylist from Leighton
known for romantic R&B, earned
place in music history with 1966’s
“When a Man Loves a Woman.”
BRACKET 4
The Temptations 2
1 Nat King Cole
Emmylou Harris 2
Damon Johnson 15
16 Baker Knight
Oteil Burbridge 15
Alabaster singer, songwriter and
guitarist, member of country
group Whiskey Falls, formerly of
rock band Brother Cane.
Birmingham-born songwriter
and leader of rockabilly’s The
Knightmares, credits include
“Lonesome Town” and “The
Wonder of You.”
Erskine Hawkins 7
8 Willie Mae “Big
Mama” Thornton
Wet Willie
7
9 Clarence Carter
Shelby Lynne
10
Soul singer from Montgomery,
attended Alabama School for
Deaf and Blind, recorded hits
(“Slip Away”) at FAME Studios in
Muscle Shoals.
Grammy-winning singersongwriter with roots in south
Alabama, maverick music
combines R&B with country, rock
and folk.
5 Blind Boys of
Alabama
Dinah
Washington
3
12 Chuck Leavell
Bobby Horton 14
4
Toni Tennille
6
Ty Herndon
11
Motown greats that included
Eddie Kendricks of Union Springs
and Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin
and, later, Dennis Edwards, all of
Birmingham.
Trumpet player, jazz composer
and big-band leader from
Birmingham, earned fame for
1939’s “Tuxedo Junction.”
Rick Carter
10
Guitarist and singer, former
frontman of Telluride, 30-year
veteran of Birmingham’s music
scene (Readers’ choice in
al.com poll for field of 64)
Sam Phillips
3
Music producer and founder of
Sun Records, born in Florence,
credited with discovery of
Elvis Presley.
12 Mac McAnally
Take 6
14
4 W.C. Handy
Vern Gosdin
6
13 Jason Isbell
Rebecca Luker
11
Guitarist, singer, songwriter and
producer born in Red Bay,
longtime member of Jimmy
Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band.
Florence-born composer and
cornet player, widely known as
“Father of the Blues” for
compositions of the early 1900s.
Americana singer, guitarist and
songwriter from Greenhill,
former member of Drive-By
Truckers, now a solo artist.
A cappella gospel troupe
formed at Huntsville’s Oakwood
College, winner of several
Grammys and Dove Awards
Country singer from Woodland,
known for honky-tonk style and
top 10 radio singles
(“Set ’Em Up Joe”).
Singer-actress from Helena,
has starred in several Broadway
musicals, nominated for Tonys
and Drama Desk Awards.
Velvet-voiced singer-pianist
born in Montgomery, classic
interpreter of 1940s-’50s
anthems such as “Unforgettable”
and “Smile.”
Powerful blues singer and
songwriter from Montgomery,
recorded with Muddy Waters
in 1960s.
Gospel troupe formed in 1939 at
Alabama Institute for Deaf and
Blind in Talladega, major career
resurgence 2002-present.
Birmingham-born keyboard
player, member of touring band
for Rolling Stones, also played
with Eric Clapton and the
Allman Brothers
Commodores
Funk-soul band formed at
Tuskegee University, ruled charts
in 1970s-’80s with danceable
tunes and power ballads (“Brick
House,” “Three Times a Lady”).
13 Alan Hunter
Birmingham native made music
history as one of five original VJs
on MTV (1981-87), also
co-founded WorkPlay
entertainment complex.
Country-folk songbird and
Grammy winner born in
Birmingham, known for angelic
voice and graceful guitar work.
Birmingham bassist, member
of the Allman Brothers Band,
sought-after collaborator by
several jam bands.
Southern rock band from Mobile
led by singer-harmonica player
Jimmy Hall, best known for
good-time hit in 1970s,
“Keep on Smilin.’
Tuscaloosa-born torch singer
(“What a Diff’rence a Day Makes’),
earned title as “Queen of the
Blues” during 1950s
Multi-instrumentalist and
composer from Birmingham,
wrote music for TV documentaries
by Ken Burns, longtime member
of Three on a String.
Montgomery-born singer who
teamed with Daryl Dragon in
1970s pop duo Captain & Tennille,
also hosted TV variety show.
Country singer raised in Butler,
recorded several top 10 hits
(“What Mattered Most”),
has endured despite career
controversies.