B-side "Very Special Love" Recorded 1982 | Format 7" Genre Country | |
Released January 28, 1983 (U.S.) Length 3:57 (single edit)
5:23 (album version) | ||
"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....
Contents
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. 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.
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. To date, "Dixieland Delight" remains one of the group's most popular songs.