The Cook Family Singers
Encyclopedia
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. 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. They developed a unique blend and harmony style that would become their signature sound much like that of the Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
and Happy Goodmans.
Biography
After several years of singing on a local level, the family was asked to perform at fairs and church functions throughout the country. The public response was overwhelming to the group as their popularity grew. Martha was every bit the perfectionist as she taught the children stage presence and how to deal with the public at large. She added the comic relief to the group. Not all six children sang in the original group. There were only three of the six that performed.After 18 years of performing, the Cooks became one of the country's premier gospel groups. David and Martha were at a point of retirement, so they handed the group over to their oldest son Lamaar Cook. Lamaar and the other two siblings continued as a trio until 1932 when two of Lamaar's children joined the group.
Grand Ole Opry
Maybelle CarterMaybelle Carter
"Mother" Maybelle Carter was an American country musician. She is best known as a member of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s and also as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters.-Biography:...
of the Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
heard the Cooks at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. She asked the Cooks to go on the road with them, to which they gladly agreed. During their time with the Carter Family, they were heard by Roy Acuff
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
, and Roy asked them to make their first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry show. The Cooks became one of the first regular gospel groups to perform on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
.
Modern Cook Family
The final generation of Cook Family Singers consisted of Donnell and June Cook. http://books.google.com/books?q=The+Cook+Family+Singers+Gospel+Music&btnG=Search+Books June was often referred to as "Mama Cook". This generation was the most controversial of all. Donnell, the leader of the group, hid a secret drinking problem from the public and when offstage was very violent with his family. June was a Cover GirlCover girl
A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magazine....
model, but her career was cut short after Donnell hit her in the face with the butt of a gun during one of his drunken states. The youngest member of the group was their son David L Cook. David, also known as "Little David," acted as the comic relief for the group. Donnell would become extremely violent with David, and after years of abuse, David developed several psychological disorders. David suffered from a dissociative disorder in conjunction with 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...
. The family retired in 1980, and June divorced Donnell. David continued in the music industry singing pop and gospel. In 1990, David suffered what doctors believed was a full-blown stroke. After review, it was found that it was part of his disorder. http://davidlcook.com/testimony.asx
The whole story was told on 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...
in 1999 after David received a Dove Award nomination for Christian Country Album of the Year. http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/music/540154.html June died on April 9, 1997 from complications of COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , also known as chronic obstructive lung disease , chronic obstructive airway disease , chronic airflow limitation and chronic obstructive respiratory disease , is the co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases...
. Donnell died on May 13, 2001 from complications of a brain aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
. He was involved in an automobile accident in which his car came to rest between two trees. He was hospitalized and finally released. He never regained his sight or ability to recognize people. On May 13, 2001 he was re-admitted to the Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula
Pascagoula
The Pasacagoula were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River....
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
which he finally died later in the day.
David L Cook
David was five years old when he joined the group on the circuit. He was a part of the comic relief which would eventually turn into his career as decorated Christian recording artist and comedian. David's story about childhood abuse and family dysfunction has been outlined in many television shows as well as talk shows.David has won seven Emmy AwardEmmy 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...
s and eight Telly Awards for his work in television musicals and theme songs.
Final Generation Partial Discography
| Year | Album |
| 1972 | In Church |
| 1974 | Old Fashion Meeting |
| 1979 | I Went to the Cross |
| 1980 | A Final Bow [The Cook's Final Bow] |