Mobile ( /moʊˈbiːl/ moh-BEEL) is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest municipality on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, Louisiana and St. Petersburg, Florida. Mobile is the principal municipality of the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a region of 412,992 residents which is composed solely of Mobile County and is the second largest MSA in the state. Mobile is included in the Mobile-Daphne–Fairhope Combined Statistical Area with a total population of 591,599 the second largest combined statistical area in the state behind Birmingham.
Mobile began as the first capital of colonial French Louisiana in 1702. The city gained its name from the Native American Mobilian tribe that the French colonists found in the area of Mobile Bay. During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony for France, then Britain, and lastly Spain. Mobile first became a part of the United States of America in 1810, with the annexation of West Florida under President James Madison. It then left that union in 1861 when Alabama joined the Confederate States of America, which collapsed in 1865.
Alabama (i/ˌæləˈbæmə/) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama is the 30th-most extensive and the 23rd-most populous of the 50 United States. Alabama ranks second in the area of its inland waterways.
From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many Southern states, suffered economic hardship, in part because of continued dependence on agriculture. Despite the growth of major industries and urban centers, white rural interests dominated the state legislature until the 1960s, while urban interests and African Americans were under-represented. Following World War II, Alabama experienced growth as the economy of the state transitioned from agriculture to diversified interests in heavy manufacturing, mineral extraction, education, and technology. In addition, the establishment or expansion of multiple military installations, primarily those of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, added to state jobs.
Curtis Gordon (Jul. 27, 1928 - May 2, 2004) was an American rockabilly singer.
Gordon was heavily influenced by Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, and Jimmie Rodgers as a child. He won a radio talent show as a teen and left high school to be the lead singer of his own band, which included fiddle player Jimmy Bryant. His parents demanded that he return to school and give up the band; he did so, though he moonlighted with a band called Pee Wee Mills & the Twilight Cowboys, who operated out of Gulfport, Mississippi. He formed a new Western swing band of his own at age 21 and began touring the Southeast United States. Gordon served in the Army briefly during the Korean War; while there he met Roger Miller, whom he later helped get signed.
In June 1952, an employee of RCA Victor heard Gordon playing in a contest in Atlanta and told executive Steve Sholes about him. Gordon signed with RCA soon after and began recording for the label in the fall. He appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and supported Ernest Tubb, Elvis Presley, and Hank Snow on tour. His records sold modestly, though they never charted; he remained on RCA for two years, and when his contract expired he was snapped up by Mercury Records. Gordon's style changed while on Mercury, for a number of possible reasons. The label let him record much of his own material, he worked extensively with producer Pappy Daily, and the nascent rock & roll movement had changed tastes. His recordings of 1956-57 are a mix of Western swing, rock and roll, and straight country music.