Alabama

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Alabama was a Toronto based band formed ca 1972 by Buster Fykes, Hector McLean, Rick Knight, and Len Sembaluk. The band performed a mix of progressive rock, cajun, country and soul music; with 8 originals written by Fykes and Knight. Both Fykes and Knight were born in Alabama (presumably the inspiration behind the band’s name) and migrated to Ontario, where they settled permanently.

The first released single, "Song of Love", appeared on the top 100 in the RPM Magazine chart, peaking at No. 26 in June 1973 and received sizeable airplay on Canadian radio stations.

A second single, "Highway Driving", was written by Fykes and Knight and was released through Maple Creek Music; it reached No. 42 in August 1973. At the Juno Awards of 1974, "Highway Driving" was nominated for Canadian Country Single of the year; they also received a Juno nomination for Best Country Group that year. The radio hit “Highway Driving”, has stood the test of time and is now recognized as a Canadian classic. The song is immediately identifiable and has become a theme for many a Canadian group touring big and small towns along the seemingly endless Trans-Canada Highway.

Ultimate weed song lyrics:

Ninety miles to North Bay, and I’m on the road again
I’ll make it home sometime tonight with my Mary Jane
We'll be smoking numbers way up in the night
Till it's time to slumber waitin' for the light
You know that highway driving, it’ll get you down, it’ll get you home.

The group disbanded shortly after their overnight claim to fame and have since become a Canadian country music memory. Buster Fykes, now living in Pickering, Ontario, remains active on the Central Ontario music scene, performing with various solo and group acts. Both Rick Knight and Len Sembaluk (now deceased) also remained active on the Ontario music scene after the demise of Alabama, and their musical and studio engineering talents can be found on albums recorded by The Stampeders, Terry Christenson, Terry Hynes & Scrunchins’, Brent Williams and others. Sembaluk had earlier been a member of the Canadian rock band Brutus.