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Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, And More Honor Alabama

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Even though snow and ice was thick on the ground in Nashville last night (1/17) and schools have been closed in the Music City all week, CMT went ahead with their tribute taping to Country Music Hall Of Fame members Alabama as scheduled.

Big stars braved the cold to pay tribute to the supergroup in the special taping of CMT Giants: Alabama. Taking the stage to perform the group’s biggest hits in person were Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Old Dominion, Pam Tillis & Lorrie Morgan, Riley Green, and Sam Hunt.

After his performance, Aldean sat in the audience at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts to watch all the acts after him. Sitting with his wife Brittany, Aldean was seated close to Riley Green and Sam Hunt, who also took in the show after they performed.

Blake told the crowd watching the show, “Tonight we honor Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and the late Jeff Cook, the undisputed greatest country music band of all-time, Alabama.”

He added, “I know it’s tough not having Jeff here with us, but he lives on in our hearts and in the incredible music you guys created together.”

RELATED: Blake Shelton’s ‘Ole Red’ Bar Opens In Vegas

After a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, Cook died in November of 2022.

The Tennessean reported at the time that Cook battled Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and causes tremors. He publicly disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. Cook died at his beachside home in Destin, Florida.

After a night of hearing their own songs sung to them by country stars, Evander Holyfield brought Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry to the stage. Before they closed the show with two of their biggest songs, Owen told the standing and cheering crowd, “I had no idea anybody would show up. I didn’t think there would be anybody in the audience. It’s freezing outside, in case you guys didn’t know.” Gentry quipped, “I think it’s our Alaskan fan club here tonight.”

Owen then thanked everyone, adding that in 2005, when they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, they weren’t given a chance to speak at the CMA Awards, which was held for the first and only time in New York City. He said, “So, tonight, we get to thank the country music industry for putting us in the Hall of Fame that we couldn’t say in New York City.”

CMT Giants: Alabama will air later this year on a date that has yet to be announced.

Country Songs About Farming: Luke, Jason, Tim

  • "Where The Green Grass Grows" - Tim McGraw · 1998

    The song tells the story of a man leaving the big city and returning to the country. It was released on July 13, 1998, as the fifth single from McGraw’s “Everywhere” album. The lyrics include, “Raise our kids where the good Lord’s blessed / Point our rockin’ chairs towards the West / And plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows / Where the green grass grows.”

  • "Here's To The Farmer" - Luke Bryan · 2016

    This song was released as part of an “extended” play released before Bryan’s annual Farm Tour concert series, held in October of every year. It was his first release to accompany the Farm Tour. The music video for the song shows farm life, Luke standing in a field singing and his crew setting up for his farm tour, which plays farm in the U.S., raising money for farmers all over the country. The lyrics include, “Here’s to the farmer that plants the fields in the spring / That turn from green to that harvest honey / Hold one up for the banker downtown / That got him on his feet with handshake money / Here’s to the farmer’s wife / That loves him every night / Raising a son, raising a daughter / They gather ’round the table, send it up to the Father / Somehow they get closer when times get harder / Here’s to the farmer.”

  • "High Cotton" - Alabama · 1989

    This song from Country Music Hall of Fame members Alabama came out in the 1980s when the band peaked. The song is a reminiscence of the narrator’s youth, who explains how his younger days were so good and how he didn’t realize how the times would change. The lyrics include, “We were walkin’ in high cotton / Old times there are not forgotten / Those fertile fields are never far away, / We were walkin’ in high cotton / Old time there are not forgotten, / Leavin’ home was the hardest thing we ever faced.”

  • "International Harvester" - Craig Morgan · 2006

    This song is being re-released as a duet with Lainey Wilson. Lainey says of the remake, “It’s an absolute honor to be a part of this record. I remember the first time I ever heard ‘International Harvester’ and the feeling I got knowing that there was music being written that felt like it was made just for me. I come from a family of farmers, so it’s really a full circle moment to be on this track alongside my good friend Craig.” The lyrics include, “‘Cause I’m a son of a 3rd generation farmer / I’ve been married 10 years to a farmer’s daughter / I got 2 boys in the county 4-H / I’m a lifetime sponsor of the F.F.A. / Hay! That’s what I make / I make a lotta hay for a little pay / But / I’m proud to say / I’m a God-fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver / Hoggin’ up the road on my a p-p-p-plower / Chug a lug a lugin’ 5 miles an hour / On my International Harvester.”

  • "Who's Your Farmer" - Chris Janson · 2017

    Chris released this song as a fun album cut from his Everybody album in 2017. The chorus sings, “Who keeps plantin’ them kisses on your South Georgia lips / Dancin’ in the rain with my hands on your hips / Who lays your life out in pretty little rows / Who keeps that red dirt between your pretty toes / Oh, say my name, let it echo through the holler / Who’s your farmer.”

  • "Big Green Tractor" - Jason Aldean · 2009

    This song was released in May 2009 as the second single from Aldean’s 2009 album Wide Open and the eighth single of his career. The song became the singer’s third number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in September of that year. The lyrics include, “And I can take you for a ride on my big green tractor / We can go slow or make it go faster / Down through the woods and out to the pasture / Long as I’m with you it really don’t matter / Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to / Girl, you know you got me to hold on to / We can go to town but baby, if you’d rather / I’ll take you for a ride on my big green tractor.”

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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