David L. Cook
Encyclopedia
David L. Cook (born November 11, 1968) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Christian country music
Christian country music
Christian country music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

 singer-songwriter
Singer–songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 and a multiple Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 and Telly Award winner. Born to Donnell and June Cook (née Mercer), David is the oldest of six children.

Cook is most notably known for his deliverance of smooth vocals and his prolific writing abilities. Cook has written over 2,500 songs and wrote the song Drop that Rock. The song was featured on his album In the Middle of It All which garnered Cook a Dove Award nomination for Christian Country Album of the Year in 1999.

In all of Cook's overseas recordings his name appears with an "e" at the end of Cook to distinguish it from his work in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The male members of The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers were originally formed in 1885, by David J Cook and his wife, Martha. The family hailed from Lucedale, Mississippi. Cook and his wife had six children and on Sunday afternoons after church, they would pass the time by perfecting their singing of harmonies and old gospel blends...

 have always used just their middle initials as a trademark, a trait beginning back in 1885 when the first such group was formed.

In 1990 Cook was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder and psychogenic amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia, also known as functional amnesia or dissociative amnesia, is a memory disorder characterized by extreme memory loss that is caused by extensive psychological stress and that cannot be attributed to a known neurobiological cause...

 reportedly brought on by an abusive father. In 1999 Cook's story was used as a lead story with The 700 Club
The 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...

.

Biography

"Cook was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...

; after two years, his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

. Cook began his musical career at age five, singing with his family's group, The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers
The Cook Family Singers were originally formed in 1885, by David J Cook and his wife, Martha. The family hailed from Lucedale, Mississippi. Cook and his wife had six children and on Sunday afternoons after church, they would pass the time by perfecting their singing of harmonies and old gospel blends...

. His parents divorced in 1980, after which the group disbanded. Cook continued singing both gospel and secular music.

Early life

Early in life, Cook was abused by his father, who had a severe drinking problem; when intoxicated, the father would become violent towards the family. After many years of this abuse Cook developed many psychological problems that ended up following him through to his life as an adult. Cook developed a severe dissociative disorder and psychogenic amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia, also known as functional amnesia or dissociative amnesia, is a memory disorder characterized by extreme memory loss that is caused by extensive psychological stress and that cannot be attributed to a known neurobiological cause...

. He recalled having periods of "missing time" but never really understood the cause. In 1990, doctors finally diagnosed the disorders after Cook experienced what they thought was a severe stroke and was rushed to the Coral Springs Medical Hospital in Fort. Lauderdale. Cook checked himself out of the hospital and disappeared from his Florida home and was found five months later in a Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

, hospital with similar health complaints. Cook had been around Charlotte for five months and no one realized that there was anything wrong with him until he started developing stroke symptoms again. Doctors finally realized that Cook's problems were not organic and sent him to see specialists. Cook had no recollection of leaving Florida, nor what he had done during his five months in Charlotte. When asked, he stated that, "It was like someone switching off a light and then switching it back on. "

Cook's story has been told through different media. The 700 Club did a full-length documentary on Cook that was aired worldwide. Cook himself wrote the religious self-help book Inspirational Words, which outlines his ordeal and how he overcame the disorder.

Personal life

On November 11, 2009, Cook was diagnosed with a parathyroid tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...

 in his neck. Doctors assessed that the tumor was pressing against Cook's vocal cords making it virtually impossible for him to perform. Cook credits his good friend Matt Dudney, son of Country music legend Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...

 for insisting that he seek medical attention from professionals at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a collection of several hospitals and clinics, as well as the schools of medicine and nursing associated with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.It comprises the following units:...

 in Nashville, Tennessee to insure he was receiving the best care in the field of vocal assessments.

Music

His first solo Christian album, Come Follow Me, was released in 1985. The album was written and produced by singer/producer Frank X. Loconto, a former member of the group Lane Brothers. In 1986, he signed with the American Musical Academy of Arts Association (AMAAA) and released another album, Personal Feelings.

In 1997, Mountainview Records released his In the Middle of it All album, which earned Cook a Gospel Music Association
Gospel Music Association
The Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of Gospel music. There are currently about 4,000 members worldwide...

 Dove Award nomination for Christian Country Album of the Year in 1999. However, after a fallout with Mountainview records in 1999, he started his own record label called DLC Records. It was during this transitional period that Cook created a comedy character, named Mortermer Crabbottom, in the tradition of comedic country alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...

s like Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...

' eccentric Gomer Pyle
Gomer Pyle
Gomer Pyle is a bubbly, gentle, rural auto mechanic character played by American singer/ television actor Jim Nabors. Gomer Pyle became a character on the TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, when actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke and took a respite from acting. Jim...

 persona. Cook even recorded an album in character, Split Personality, based on the life and times of Mortermer Crabbottom growing up in the fictitious town of Crabbottom USA. In 1999, the Country Gospel Music Association inducted Cook into its Hall of Fame, along with Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...

, Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...

, Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...

, Jody Miller
Jody Miller
Jody Brooks is an American country music singer. Born as Myrna Joy Miller, she was born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Oklahoma.-Career:...

 and Lulu Roman
Lulu Roman
Lulu Roman is a former telephone operator and go-go dancer turned comedian and singer. She is probably best known as a regular on the comedy-music television series Hee Haw....

.

Television

In August 2007 David joined in partnership with the Firebird Arts Alliance. Cook was asked by David Tang
David Tang
Sir David Tang, KBE is a Hong Kong businessman and socialite best known as the founder of the Shanghai Tang fashion chain, which he sold in 2006 to Richemont.Tang's grandfather "founded the Kowloon bus company and became one of Hong Kong’s greatest philanthropists"...

, president of Firebirds, to write and produce a theme song for the television series New South Crossings. The theme song was called, "Meet Me at the Crossroads". Cook won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 on January 24, 2009 for his work on the series audio and soundtrack. Cook is also credited as one of the shows associate producers.

Cook appeared in the episode entitled, "Master Class". In this episode Cook was seen working with younger artists such as the Whippersnappers and Caroline Keller. Cook shows them the ins and outs of working together musically and during the episode they perform the actual theme song for the series. On June 27, 2010, Cook won another Emmy award, this time for writing and singing the theme song, Meet Me At the Crossroads

Awards (Partial listing from 1997 to present)

Over the years, Cook has been decorated with many prestigious awards such as the 2005, Christian Comedian of the Year, 2006 "Media Personality of the Year", "Comedian of the Year" and "Christian Country Entertainer of the Year. "

In July 2006, the International Country Gospel Music Association inducted Cook and fellow artists, Mike Manuel
Mike Manuel
Mike Manuel is a Christian country music artist based out of Nashville, Tennessee.Mike traveled with his brothers as the Manuel Family Band where they received a warm reception from the Gospel market with three single radio releases that climbed to the Singing News top forty. They were also charted...

, Gayla Earlene
Gayla Earlene
Gayla Earlene, born January 31, 1954 in Inola, Oklahoma, is a multi award winning Christian country music recording artist and musician.-Biography:...

, Doug DeRamus and Marijohn Wilkin
Marijohn Wilkin
Marijohn Wilkin , née Melson, was an American songwriter, famous in the country music genre for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," as chronicled in her 1978 biography from Word Books--Lord, Let Me Leave a Song...

 into the Hall of Fame.

In January 2009, Cook won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for his work on the series, New South Crossings and he took home his sixth career win Emmy for the composing and arranging of Meet Me At The Crossroads in June 2010. Cook was nominated on May 6, 2011 for three Emmy Awards for the documentary, "The Award Goes To: A Look Back at the Legends and on June 18, Cook won the Emmy for Outstanding Excellence in a Live Event

Business Life

In 1999 Cook started DLC Records after leaving the number one Christian country music
Christian country music
Christian country music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

 label, Mountainview Records. He left the label because of contract disputes and mis-management by label executives. While on the label Cook had taken his 1999 project, In The Middle of it All all the way up the charts garnering several number one singles, a Dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

 Award nomination and became the number one selling Christian country artists of all time.

He incorporated, Cook Enterprises which administered all of his musical contracts and personal business affairs which included a children s television show development agreement with his management group, Five Star Music which produced a weekly show called, Crabbottom USA. The show was taped at local television station, WHTV
WHTV
WHTV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central Michigan that is licensed to Jackson, Michigan. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter in Okemos. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, the station is operated through a joint sales...

 TV-39, a Nashville Tennessee based station.

Cook's enterprising nature has been apparent since his childhood. In 1988 he incorporated Cook's Car Care Company in the Fort Lauderdale area. Eventually he transferred his interests to family members. The company is still in business today under different ownership. Cook incorporated Cook Productions International in 1989 with his business partner Edward Cook. Cook sold his interests in 1992 which dissolved the Florida division.

In 2004, Cook was presented with the opportunity to become the CEO and controlling partner for the International Academy of Music Arts and Sciences, International, (also known professionally by its acronym) IAMAS Corporation. Years earlier, the company merged with its daughter company, The American Musical Academy of Arts Association. This proved to be a profitable move because the entertainment industry was flourishing due to the upswing in Christian based music demand and distribution opportunities. This was also profitable because the IAMAS Corporation was able to use its history in the entertainment industry as a door to help boost other smaller companies into existence. However, in 2004, the entertainment industry took a huge hit with the incoming markets of Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...

, Itunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

, and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

. IAMAS, no longer able to compete with the cheaper forms of distribution decided to sell off only it's American division and retain its overseas holdings. Since the IAMAS Corporation had handled Cook's contracts since his families retirement in 1980, Cook offered to buy the company for an undisclosed amount. His offer was accepted and he officially filed for corporate status on November 24, 2004.

Cook, became the president and CEO of the Charlotte Civic Orchestra in 2005 and although he retired as CEO in 2011, Cook remains on the board as an adviser. The organization is a 501(c)(3) company and consists of all volunteers. In January 2011, Cook, and several other corporate CEO's launched the Artists Music Guild. The organization is a network based company that connects artists with industry professionals who advise them and lead them in the proper course for career mapping. Cook is listed as the executive board president.

Artists Music Guild

Cook and other entertainment industry insiders started the Artists Music Guild in January of 2011 to reduce the risks of artists being taken advantage of in a predatory industry. On November 11, 2011, The Artists Music Guild held its inaugural convention at the historic Heritage USA
Heritage USA
Heritage USA was a Christian theme park, water park, and residential complex built in Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA, by PTL Club founders televangelist Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner...

 complex; former home of the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's world renowned PTL
PTL
PTL may refer to:* The PTL Club, a defunct television program* PTL Satellite Network, a defunct Christian cable network on which The PTL Club was shown* Praise The Lord, a television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network...

 show in Fort Mill, South Carolina
Fort Mill, South Carolina
Fort Mill is a fast-growing suburban town in both York and Lancaster counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, and a suburb of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rock Hill...

. The inaugural convention was filmed for a PBS Special entitled, "A Walk Through the History of Music in the United States" and had over two thousand people in attendance. Cook's stated that his main goal for making the Heritage USA the official home of the Artists Music Guild's convention was to heal the broken people who were affected by the fall of PTL. The convention reunited several of the former PTL Singers such as Toni Bogart, Brian Keith, Lee Young and Sandy and Russell Hosey. Also in attendance were many of the employees who lost their jobs amidst the sexual and financial scandal which caused the fall of the Bakker's ministry. Cook further stated that "by reuniting these individuals who have not performed together in over twenty plus years it would allow them to come together on their own terms and walk out of the complex without someone telling them they could never come back. It was the ultimate form of healing the hurts from the past."

External links

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