Dixieland Delight

"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:

A shorter introduction (about half of the intro is excised).
Shorter fiddle bridges; the second one almost immediately goes into the final reprisal. Also, a slower guitar riff is edited out before the tempo picks up for the segue leading into the first fiddle bridge.
An earlier fade out (not quite halfway through the first verse reprisal).

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 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
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 18.
↑ "Alabama – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Alabama.

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

Alabama (band) 1977–1989 singles

Deuces Wild	"I Want to Be with You Tonight"

My Home's in Alabama	"I Wanna Come Over" "My Home's in Alabama" "Tennessee River" "Why Lady Why"

Feels So Right	"Old Flame" "Feels So Right" "Love in the First Degree"

Mountain Music	"Mountain Music" "Take Me Down" "Close Enough to Perfect"

The Closer You Get...	"Dixieland Delight" "The Closer You Get" "Lady Down on Love"

Roll On	"Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" "When We Make Love" "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" "(There's A) Fire in the Night"

40-Hour Week	"There's No Way" "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')" "Can't Keep a Good Man Down"

Greatest Hits	"She and I"

The Touch	"Touch Me When We're Dancing" ""You've Got" the Touch"

Just Us	"Tar Top" "Face to Face" "Fallin' Again"

Southern Star	"Song of the South" "If I Had You" "High Cotton" "Southern Star"

Other singles	"Christmas in Dixie" "Deep River Woman" (with Lionel Richie)

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