Jeff Cook, the founding Alabama guitarist and fiddle player whose fleet-fingered licks helped define country music’s most successful band, would have turned 76 today.
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Born on August 27, 1949, in Fort Payne, Alabama, Cook spent more than four decades on stages worldwide before his death on November 7, 2022, at the age of 73. Known for his versatility as a musician and brightly colored custom instruments, Cook was a driving force behind the Country Music Hall of Fame group. He remained a beloved figure until Parkinson’s disease forced him off the road in later years.
Since Alabama debuted on a national level in 1980, the group has sold more than 75 million albums and singles, nabbed 43 No. 1 songs, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The group’s biggest hits include “Mountain Music,” “Dixieland Delight,” “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)” and “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why).”
“At any show when Jeff broke out that fiddle, people were dancing all over the place,” former Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante told The Tennessean. “People just jumped up. His contribution, while he wasn’t front and center all the time, his contributions really made a difference when you listen for the hook. Those are hallmarks of records that will last well beyond our lifetimes.”
“People Just Jumped Up” for Jeff Cook
Alabama is a three-time Country Music Association entertainer of the year, a five-time Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year, and the ACM’s Artist of the Decade in 1988. Cook revealed his condition in 2017 – about four years after he was diagnosed. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and causes tremors. Because of how the disease impacted his body, Cook chose to step back from touring with the group about two weeks after the band shared his diagnosis in April of that year.
“This disease robs you of your coordination, your balance, and causes tremors,” Cook wrote in a prepared statement for fans. “For me, this has made it extremely frustrating to try and play guitar, fiddle, or sing. I’ve tried not to burden anyone with the details of my condition because I do not want the music to stop or the party to end, and that won’t change, no matter what. Let me say, I’m not calling it quits, but sometimes our bodies dictate what we have to do, and mine is telling me it’s time to take a break and heal.”
When Cook quit touring, Alabama’s current fiddle player, Megan Mullins, stepped up. However, Cook’s bandmates Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry kept his microphone on stage for him for years in case he decided he wanted to show up and sing.
Jeff Cook is Irreplaceable
“We could hire 10 people, but we can’t replace Jeff Cook in the group Alabama,” Gentry told The Tennessean. “Like Jeff said, when this is all you’ve ever known and you love the music, you want to see it go on as long as possible. Alabama has surpassed what any of us ever dreamed of, but I still love to play more or as much as I did (yesterday), and I know Jeff does, too.”
Cook’s first hint that he had Parkinson’s disease was when the avid fisherman could no longer accurately cast his fishing lure. Then, he struggled to play his guitar solos. He thought he might have a pinched nerve, and Gentry and Owen worried he might have had a stroke. Cook’s doctor was the first one to suggest Parkinson’s disease. A test confirmed it, and Cook said he felt empty.
“He Wants Us to Go On”
He told Owen and Gentry immediately. The trio knew Cook might have to step back – and because they had already faced the possibility of losing a member when Owen was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 – they knew what they would do. The remaining members would keep playing – with Cook’s blessing.
“He wants us to go on,” Owen said. “We want the music to go on. I’m going to be very honest. I don’t know if I have the fire. The only way I do is knowing that Jeff is totally, ‘Go get it.’”
Alabama has tour dates posted through December.
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum)
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