''Greatest Hits Vol. II'' is the second compilation album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. The album was released by RCA Records in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, and has since been certified platinum for sales of 1 million units by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. As with Alabama's first greatest hits album, ''Greatest Hits Vol. II'' includes many of the band's biggest hits of the 1980s, a decade in which they sold millions of albums, had 26 No. 1 singles on ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart and won the "Entertainer of the Decade" honor from the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...

. Seven of the album's 10 songs went to No. 1 between 1982–1989; three of them – "Take Me Down", "Dixieland Delight" and "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" – are presented here in their original album-length versions, while "The Closer You Get" is presented in its single-edit form and "Fallin' Again" in its shorter LP edit. Two of the album's three new tracks were released as singles, " Then Again" and "

Born Country "Born Country" is a song written by Byron Hill and John Schweers, and recorded by American country music band Alabama. It was released in December 1991 as the second and final single on their compilation album '' Greatest Hits Vol. II''. It reach ...

", both of which were top 5 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

Track listing

Personnel on New Tracks

;Alabama *

Jeff Cook Jeffrey Alan Cook (August 27, 1949 – November 7, 2022) was an American country music artist. He was best known for being a founding member of the band Alabama, in which he contributed to lead vocals, guitar, fiddle, piano and other musical ins ...

- background vocals *

Teddy Gentry Alabama is an American country music band formed in Fort Payne, Alabama, in 1969. The band was founded by Randy Owen ( lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry ( bass, backing vocals). They were soon joined by another cousin, Jef ...

- bass guitar, background vocals *

Randy Owen Randy Yeuell Owen (born December 13, 1949) is an American country music artist. He is best known for his role as the lead singer of Alabama, a country rock band that saw tremendous mainstream success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Alabama became ...

- lead vocals Mark Herndon, Alabama's drummer, does not play on the new tracks. ;Additional Musicians *

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

- fiddle,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* John Catchings - cello * Bill Cuomo - keyboards * Connie Ellisor - violin * Jim Grosjean - viola *

Craig Krampf Craig Krampf (born October 22, 1954) is an American drummer, percussionist, arranger, record producer and songwriter. The majority of his notable credits are as a studio drummer. Since the 1970s, he has played on albums by other artists ranging f ...

- drums, percussion *

Josh Leo Josh Leo (born 1953 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer active in Nashville, Tennessee. Leo was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1976, he moved to Chicago, Illinois ...

- electric guitar * Carl Marsh - keyboards, string arrangements *

Biff Watson Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. His musicianship has been a part of recording sessions for many artists. Biography Early years Raised in Chatham, Virginia, Watson learned how to play guitar at a ...

- acoustic guitar * John Willis - electric guitar

Chart performance

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Hits Vol. Ii (Alabama Album) 1991 greatest hits albums Alabama (band) compilation albums RCA Records compilation albums