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Alabama's Music Achievers
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MUSIC ACHIEVERS
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- Eddie Levert (Birmingham, AL) and Walter Williams sang together as a gospel duo before forming a doo-wop group, the Mascots, with William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles in 1958. They became the O'Jays in 1963
- During the 1960s the band found success with "Stand For Love" (#12 R&B, 1966), "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow" (#8 R&B) in 1967, "One Night Affair" (#15 R&B, 1969) and "Looky Looky (Look at me, Girl)" (#17 R&B, 1970).
- In the 1970s, the O'Jays began an impressive string of gold and platinum recordings. They had eight #1 R&B singles from 1972 to 1978, including "Back Stabbers" (#3 Pop) in 1972; "Love Train" (#1 Pop) in 1973; "Give The People What They Want" (#45 Pop) and "I Love Music (Part 1)" (#5 Pop) in 1975; "Livin' For The Weekend" b/w "Stairway To Heaven" (#20 Pop), "Message In Our Music" (#49 Pop) and "Darlin' Darlin' Baby" (#72 Pop), in 1976; and "Used Ta Be My Girl" (#4 Pop) in 1978.
- Eight of their LPs of this period were certified gold, 1978's "So Full Of Love" going platinum.
- The band was one of the most popular black vocal groups of the Seventies.
JOHNNY O'NEAL - Birmingham, Alabama
- At 19, he made his first recording and went on to perform at New York's Blue Note club. As a member of Art Blakey's prestigious Jazz Messengers, O'Neal performed with some of the great jazz divas Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson and Carmen McRae.
- He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985.
- He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.
- Originally called the Country Cut-Ups, the Oak Ridge Boys were formed in 1942.
- They were renamed the Oak Ridge Quartet and recorded their first records in 1947
- The group disbanded in 1956 but reformed a year later by original member, Smitty Gatlin (Florence, AL). He left the group in 1966.
- They became full-time professionals in 1961 and changed from the Oak Ridge Quartet to the Oak Ridge Boys. William Lee Golden (Brewton, AL) became their baritone in 1964. He would leave the group in 1986 only to return in the 1990s.
- They established themselves as the best-loved white gospel group in the USA and they won numerous awards and Grammys.
- The Oaks had a major country hit with "Y'All Come Back Saloon", topped the country charts with "I'll Be True To You", the classic "Leavin' Louisiana In The Broad Daylight" and "Trying To Love Two Women".
- In 1981 they made # 5 on the pop charts with "Elvira" and followed it with "Bobbie Sue" at # 12.
- With wife Addie they appeared on WLAC radio in Nashville for many years
- Wrote songs recorded by Roy Acuff, Flatt & Scruggs, Cowboy Copas and others
- Wrote numerous other songs for Acuff-Rose including "Sign on the Highway," "Thirty Pieces of Silver," "From the Manger to the Cross," and "Purple Robe."
- Other compositions included "We Planted Flowers on My Darling's Grave," "That Glory Bound Train," "The Battle of Armegeddon," "Money Won't Buy This Soul of Mine" and "Radio Station S-A-V-E-D."
ODETTA - Birmingham, Alabama
- She made her first professional appearance as a folk singer at San Francisco's "Hungry i" in 1950.
- She has released numerous recordings, appeared in concert around the world, in films, and on television with Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Dick Cavett, Della Reese, Mike Douglas, Joey Bishop and David Frost.
- Her spirited performances have inspired artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Joan Armatrading.
- She performed with Count Basie, poet/playwright Langston Hughes, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, ex-Basie trumpeter Buck Clayton, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and rock & roll pianist Sammy Price.
- She has been a dynamic force in the American folk music scene for more than three decades
MARY EARLE OGLETREE - Birmingham, Alabama
- Vocalist in "The Alabama Cavaliers" while a student at The University of Alabama during the 1940s.
- Has served as vocalist for the "Auburn Knights" reunion every July in Auburn, AL. for over 20 years.
- Performed with Harry Connick, Sr., and his band in New Orleans on several occasions.
- In 1979, became the vocalist for Joe Giattina's seventeen piece band, the "Bama Cardinals".
- Inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1994.
"SPOONER" OLDHAM - Center Star, Alabama
- Oldham gained his first recording experience as a member of the rhythm section at Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals.
- His keyboard performances can be heard on recordings by Percy Sledge, James and Bobby Purify, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Maria Muldaur, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Neil Young, Dan Penn, and many others.
- He has also toured extensively with artists such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young.
- As a songwriter, he and partner Dan Penn wrote "I'm Your Puppet" (#5 R&B 1966) for James and Bobby Purify, "Cry Like A Baby" (#2 R&B 1968) for the Box Tops, "Sweet Inspiration" (#5 R&B 1968) for the Sweet Inspirations, and "Out Of Left Field" (#25 R&B 1967) and "It Tears Me Up" (#7 R&B 1966) for Percy Sledge. He has also written "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" (#4 for both Bob Luman, 1972 and Steve Wariner, 1984), "Another Night Of Love" (#5 for Freddy Weller 1971),
- Actually singer Jimmy Ellis, whose natural speaking and singing voice bore a startling resemblance to Elvis Presley's
- In 1979, Sun Records released "Save the Last Dance for Me" featuring Ellis' voice overdubbed onto the original Jerry Lee Lewis Sun recording.
- The TV show Good Morning America actually conducted a "scientific voice scan" of the unidentified singer and concluded that it was indeed Elvis.
- Two more albums were released with his voice overdubbed on old Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich cuts.
- During public appearances and performances, Ellis wore outfits similar to those worn by Elvis and donned a mask to hide his identity.
- In 1981 Cash Box magazine rated him one of the three most promising male Country artists.
- Orion recorded 11 albums and appeared on shows with the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs, Lee Greenwood, Ronnie Milsap and Dionne Warwick.
- By 1983, Ellis/Orion wanted to be taken seriously by the music industry as an artist in his own right. He stripped off the mask and ended the charade.
JOHN H. ORR - Opelika, Alabama
- He established and managed one of the first radio stations in Alabama, WJHO in Opelika.
- During World War II he became one of a team who uncovered the secrets of an amazing new recording medium developed by the Germans - magnetic recording tape.
- Recognizing its potential, Mr. Orr returned to the States after the war and began his own experiments in tape production.
- Out of his pioneer endeavors in this field came Irish Tape and ORRadio Industries - one of the first companies to produce magnetic tape in the United States.
- This discovery revolutionized the audio and video recording process.
- The Pioneer Award for The Alabama Music Hall of Fame was named in his honor.
RANDY OWEN - Ft. Payne, Alabama
- Lead vocalist for the group Alabama as well as songwriter of some of their most memorable hits.
- The group, influenced by gospel, country, bluegrass, British rock, Southern rock and a fusion of the country-blues coming out of Muscle Shoals, began playing together in 1969.
- Randy's song "My Home's in Alabama" in 1980 was the first top 20 hit by the group. Another of his songs, "Fallin' Again", was awarded BMI's Most Performed Country Song of 1989.
- Owen also wrote the number one hits, "Face To Face," "Feels So Right," "Lady Down On Love," "Tennessee River," "Mountain Music" and "Fallin' Again"
JAMES OWENS - Birmingham, Alabama
- As a member of Bobby Goldsboro's first band, The Webs Owens was introduced to his first recording studio playing guitar for a demo tape of "See The Funny Little Clown".
- Owens moved to Memphis in 1972 and recorded two records eventually rising to Number 23 in Billboard magazine, selling in excess of 100,000 copies.
- He moved to Nashville and in addition to his club dates and frequent studio work he began working as guitarist for Mel Tillis, both in his road band and in the studio.
- In 1977, Owens left Tillis and joined the Ronnie Milsap Organization. He played guitar in the road band and did studio work for Milsap, including playing guitar on Ronnie Milsap's Greatest Hits album in 1977.
- Owens became a highly demanded studio musician playing with most of the industry stars at one time or another. In late 1978, he opened his own advertising and promotion agency. In 1981, he was awarded two "Addie" awards for advertising excellence.
WILL OWSLEY - Anniston, Alabama
- In 1987, he moved to Nashville to look for work as a session musician and landed a job as the guitarist for funk artist Judson Spence. He had a video on MTV and VH-1 and toured Japan and Europe.
- He began working with pianist and songwriter Ben Folds who introduced him to Millard Powers and they all started writing and working together. That collaboration led to the power-pop band called The Semantics. The group also included drummer Zak Starkey, son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
- Amy Grant asked Owsley to play guitar in her touring band. He spent almost two years on the road and also performed on her 1997 album, "Behind the Eyes."
- Producer Mutt Lange recruited Owsley to sing and play guitar with Shania Twain for several TV appearances following the release of her debut album, "The Woman in Me." They appeared on TV with Jay Leno, Letterman, Regis & Cathy Lee, Conan O'Brien, and the American Country Music Awards Show.
- Owsley has also toured with Contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith.
- He wrote and served as lead singer for all of the songs on his solo rock album, "Owlsey." He also helped with engineering the album which was nominated for a Grammy award in the best-engineered album category.
| Achiever | Style | Instrument | Worked With | Date Of Birth | Date Of Death | Place Of Birth | Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Connor, Dave | Country | Vocals | IL | Florence, AL | |||
| O'Dell, Mac | Gospel, Country | Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica | aka Odell McLeod | May 31, 1916 | Jan. 11, 2003 | Roanoke, AL | |
| O'Neil, Danny | Pop | Vocals | Dec. 12, 1920 | May 20, 2002 | Birmingham, AL | ||
| O'Neal, Johnny | Jazz | Piano | Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame | Detroit, MI | Birmingham, AL | ||
| Oak Ridge Boys | Country, Gospel | Group | |||||
| Odetta | Folk | Vocals, Guitar | aka Odetta Holmes Gordon | Dec. 31, 1930 | Dec. 2, 2008 | Birmingham, AL | New York, NY |
| Ogletree, Mary Earle | Jazz | Vocals | Joe Giattina Orchestra | Oct. 28, ???? | Hattiesburg, MS | Birmingham, AL | |
| Ojays | R&B | Group | |||||
| Oldham, Dewey Spooner | R&B, Country, Rock | Keyboards | Aretha Franklin, Neil Young | June 14, 1943 | Sheffield, AL | Center Star, AL | |
| Oldham, Ronnie | R&B, Country, Rock | Keyboards | Percy Sledge, Hank Williams, Jr. | April 3, 1947 | Florence, AL | ||
| Achiever | Style | Instrument | Worked With | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Place of Birth | Home |
| Olds, Jerome | Gospel | Songwriter, Vocals | Tina Turner, Mylon Lefevre | Montgomery, AL | |||
| Orange, Walter Clyde | R&B | Drums, Vocals | Commodores | ||||
| Orion | Rock, Pop | Vocals | aka Jimmy Ellis | 1945 | Dec. 12, 1998 | Orrville, AL | |
| Orr Family | Gospel | Group | Courtland, AL | ||||
| Orr, John Herbert | Magnetic Tape | Aug. 19, 1911 | May 6, 1984 | Opelika, AL | |||
| Owen, Noel | Country, Pop, Rock | Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb | Courtland, AL | ||||
| Owen, Randy | Country | Vocals, Guitar | Alabama | Dec. 13, 1949 | Fort Payne, AL | ||
| Owens, James | Country | July 12, 1945 | Birmingham, AL | ||||
| Owens, Marshall | Blues | Vocals, Guitar | 1880 | May 1974 | |||
| Achiever | Style | Instrument | Worked With | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Place of Birth | Home |
| Owens, Rick | Motown/Blues/ Country | Vocals,Guitar, Bass | Rock Killough, Bill Austin, Jimmy Porter & Hank Williams Memorial Inc. | 12/31/1950 | Tallassee, AL | Montgomery, AL | |
| Owings, Bryan | Mobile, AL | ||||||
| Owsley, William III | Pop, Country, Gospel | Songwriter, Vocals | Shania Twain, Michael W. Smith | Anniston, AL |