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Fabor and Jim took their place in the corner of the studio to await their chance to go
on the air. When Al and his family kicked into their opening number to start the show,
however, Robison immediately perked up. Afterward, he asked Mr. Coker if he could
stop by the family’s home later that evening to talk about their music career. It was
precisely the break Al had been waiting for.
* * * *
Alvis Coker was born April 8, 1918 in Conway, Arkansas. His parents, James and
Maggie, owned a cotton farm with more than 200 acres. They had eleven children, and
music was at the center of their deeply religious family life.
“Arkansas is the Bible Belt
,
”
Alvis’ oldest daughter Alvidine explained.
“They all went to church every week, and
they’d drive 100 miles to go to an all-night singing. All the kids played instruments, so
they’d sit around playing music just for their own enjoyment together as a family.”
The
Cokers learned shape note singing at the Stamps-Baxter music schools, which further
honed their musical sensibilities and tight harmonies.
“They all had the most beautiful
singing voices you ever heard
,
”
Alvidine reflected.
When they weren’t making music at church, Alvis’ brothers played at barn dances and
community gatherings around central Arkansas. They would often bring him along. Armed
with a love for music and an eagerness for new adventures, Al finally headed for California
in 1937. He was just 19-years-old when he settled in Bakersfield. Finding work as a
farmhand, he began putting together bands for local performances.
“My dad played
anything with strings,”
Alvidine explained.
“Guitar, fiddle, steel guitar. If it had strings
on it, my daddy could play it.”
Not long after moving to Bakersfield, Alvis met Geraldine Lindley, a young beauty
whose friends called her Gerry. Born June 21, 1922 in Pharaoh, Oklahoma, Gerry’s father
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