On Oct. 27, 1984, Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas” rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The classic was co-written by Murry Kellum and Dan Mitchell and produced by the band and Harold Shedd.
Formed near Fort Payne, Ala., in the early ‘70s, Alabama was initially billed as Wildcountry, consisting of cousins Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen. They recruited drummer Mark Herndon in 1979.
Starting with Alabama’s 1980 Hot Country Songs No. 1 “Tennessee River” and through its featured turn on Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama” in 2011, the band banked 33 leaders, among 51 top 10s, both the most among duo/groups. Also beginning with “Tennessee River,” Alabama rattled off a record 21 No. 1s in a row (counting proper, nonseasonal singles) through 1987.
“We were lookin’ for a song that would use a fiddle,” “Texas” co-producer Shedd shared in Tom Roland’s The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. “After ‘Tennessee River’ and [Alabama’s ninth No. 1, 1983’s] ‘Dixieland Delight,’ it became a trademark, so we wanted to do some of those things. If it’s working, you don’t want to get too far away from that. You gotta touch your home base. [“Texas”] was something we could out a fiddle on that would not sound manufactured or contrived.”
“Texas” was released as the third of four singles – all of which topped Hot Country Songs – from Alabama’s eighth LP, and fourth Top Country Albums No. 1, Roll On. It followed “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” and “When We Make Love” and preceded “(There’s A) Fire in the Night.”
In 2015, Southern Drawl, Alabama’s first set of new music since 2001, arrived at its No. 2 peak on Top Country Albums. It became the group’s 26th top 10 set, a sum that includes 11 No. 1s logged between 1981 and 2006.
Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Cook passed away on Nov. 8, 2022, at his home in Destin, Fla. He was 73. Currently touring, the band makes its next stop in St. Augustine, Fla., on Nov. 8.
