Dixieland Delight

"Dixieland Delight"
Single by Alabama
from the album The Closer You Get...
B-side "Very Special Love"
Released January 28, 1983 (U.S.)
Format 7"
Recorded 1982
Genre Country
Length 3:57 (single edit)
5:23 (album version)
Label RCA
Writer(s) Ronnie Rogers
Producer(s) Harold Shedd and Alabama
Alabama singles chronology
"Christmas in Dixie"
(1982)
"Dixieland Delight"
(1983)
"The Closer You Get"
(1983)
Music video
"Dixieland Delight" at CMT.com

"Dixieland Delight" is a song written by Ronnie Rogers, and recorded by American country music band Alabama. It was released in January 1983 as the lead-off single from Alabama's album The Closer You Get....

Background and writing

Songwriter Ronnie Rogers, who previously had hits with Ed Bruce, Dave Dudley, Tanya Tucker and others, recalled to country music journalist Tom Roland that the idea for "Dixieland Delight" came to him when he was driving down Highway 11W, a Tennessee road in Rutledge, Tennessee.[1] The song's first line ("Rollin' down a backwoods, Tennessee byway; one arm on the wheel") soon led into an image of the main character's other arm wrapped around his girlfriend and - with a long, hard work week at an end - envisioning a weekend of fun and relaxation with her.

When Alabama recorded the song in 1982 for The Closer You Get, it differed substantially from the acoustic demo cut by Rogers.[1]

Content

The song's title refers to the girlfriend of the singer. Later in the song, Rogers conjures up images of various forest animals (e.g. a white-tailed buck and a red-tailed hawk) and how they bring peace to him, before returning to how the main character plans to become intimate with his girlfriend ("Home-grown country girl, gonna give me a whirl") during their weekend outing.

The song picks up the tempo somewhat with a fiddle bridge before a reprisal of the refrain.

Music video

A music video was filmed for the song, and was directed by David Hogan. It has aired on CMT, TNN and Great American Country.

In popular culture

The song was known to be played at all Alabama football home games, but in 2014 it was banned from the events due to complaints about the vulgarity of the accompanying crowd chants. The song was last played during the 2014 Iron Bowl game against Auburn.

Single and album edits

The original album version was edited by nearly 1½ minutes for release as a single. The differences include:

The single edit is included in several of Alabama's greatest hits collections, including For the Record. The full-length album version is included on the band's second greatest hits album.

Chart performance

Released in January 1983, "Dixieland Delight" became Alabama's ninth No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart.[2] To date, "Dixieland Delight" remains one of the group's most popular songs.

Chart (1983) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

References

  1. 1 2 Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)), p. 349-350
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 18.
  3. "Alabama – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Alabama.

See also

Preceded by
"We've Got Tonight"
by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton
Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single

April 16, 1983
Succeeded by
"American Made"
by The Oak Ridge Boys
RPM Country Tracks
number-one single

April 23, 1983
Succeeded by
"Amarillo by Morning"
by George Strait
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