The band formed when Jake Black (born in Glasgow, Scotland; 27 April 1960 – 21 May 2019) met Rob Spragg at a rave in Peckham and they decided that a fusion of country music with acid house was a musical possibility. Other members of the band were added later. Nick Reynolds is the son of one of the Great Train Robbers. Rob Spragg was at university with Piers Marsh, the harmonica player and synthesiser programmer for the band, while Orlando Harrison, the group's keyboardist, used to live with Jake Black. Prior to the formation of Alabama 3 and following the demise of The Jangletties, Black generated little or no recorded output for several years.