J. R. Cobb

Cobb died of a heart attack on May 4, 2019, at Piedmont Newton Hospital in Covington, Georgia.

Cobb was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1997, where he received the Music Creator's Award.

Cobb left the group in 1987 to concentrate on songwriting and to work again with Chips Moman. He had previously worked with Moman at the American Sound Studio in Memphis, which existed from 1967 to 1972. In the mid-1970s, Moman had moved to Nashville and Cobb joined him there as a session guitarist and as a reviewer of songs that were sent to the studio. He also toured with country supergroup The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.

In 1970, Cobb became a session guitarist at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, playing with former members of the Classics IV and The Candymen, which had been the backing band for Roy Orbison. This group became the Atlanta Rhythm Section, as named by Bill Lowery, and commenced recording under that name in 1972.

Cobb and his wife, Bertha Ann "Bert" Absher, married in 1967 and had one son, Justin. They lived in Monticello, Georgia for more than 30 years.

James Barney Cobb Jr. (February 5, 1944 – May 4, 2019) was an American guitarist and songwriter, most notable for co-writing "Spooky", "Stormy" and "Traces", among others, as a member of the Classics IV, plus "Champagne Jam" and "Do It Or Die", among others, as a member of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Cobb was born to Rose Hutchins and James Cobb, Sr. in Birmingham, Alabama on February 5, 1944. His family later moved to Jacksonville, Florida. In 1953, at the age of nine, he and his two siblings were placed in the Baptist Children's Home in Jacksonville after his father left the family and his mother needed assistance. Cobb called the experience "the best and worst thing that could have happened to me. The best thing, because we would not have had anything at the time. The worst, it was scary not being a family anymore." He regarded the experience as providing him with a strong work ethic and he remained in the home until the age of 16, graduating from Paxon High School in Jacksonville. One of Cobb's fellow graduates was drummer Robert Nix, who would later join with Cobb in forming the Atlanta Rhythm Section.