The Closer You Get...
1983 studio album by Alabama
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The Closer You Get... is the seventh studio album by American country music band Alabama, released in March 1983. All three singles from this album — "The Closer You Get", "Lady Down on Love" and "Dixieland Delight" — reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1983. The album itself reached number ten on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album. Considered a stylistic move towards a more pop-friendly sound, the album was described as a mix of "easy listening" country pop and neotraditional country by AllMusic's Vik Iyengar.[1]
| The Closer You Get... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1981–1982 | |||
| Studio | The Music Mill (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:53 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Producer | Alabama Harold Shedd | |||
| Alabama chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Closer You Get... | ||||
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The album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[2]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Closer You Get" | J.P. Pennington, Mark Gray | 4:33 |
| 2. | "Lady Down on Love" | Randy Owen | 4:00 |
| 3. | "She Put the Sad in All His Songs" | Robert Byrne, Mac McAnally | 4:03 |
| 4. | "Red River" | Bud McGuire, George Pearce | 4:20 |
| 5. | "What in the Name of Love" | Bill Boling, Chris Deal, Rick Wayne | 3:54 |
| 6. | "Dixieland Delight" | Ronnie Rogers | 5:25 |
| 7. | "Very Special Love" | Teddy Gentry, Owen | 4:50 |
| 8. | "Dixie Boy" | Jim McBride | 4:20 |
| 9. | "Alabama Sky" | Larry Shell | 3:21 |
| 10. | "Lovin' Man" | Jeff Cook | 2:33 |
Personnel
Alabama
- Randy Owen – lead vocals, electric guitar
- Jeff Cook – electric guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (5, 10)
- Teddy Gentry – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (4, 9)
- Mark Herndon – drums
Additional musicians
- Shane Keister – keyboards
- Willie Rainsford – keyboards
- Jack Eubanks – acoustic guitar
- George "Leo" Jackson – acoustic guitar
- Dave Kirby – electric guitar
- Fred Newell – electric guitar
- William Adair – bass guitar
- Larry Paxton – bass guitar
- Steve Schaffer – bass guitar
- Hayward Bishop – drums
- Farrell Morris – percussion
- Bruce Watkins – fiddle
- Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements
- Nashville String Machine – strings
Production
- Alabama – producers
- Harold Shedd – producer
- Paul Goldberg – engineer
- Gene Rice – engineer
- Randy Kling – mastering at Randy's Roost (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Hogan Entertainment – art direction
- Gabrielle Raumberger – art direction, design
- Moshe Brakha – photography
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US AC | CAN Country | CAN AC | ||
| 1983 | "Dixieland Delight" | 1 | — | — | 1 | — |
| "The Closer You Get" | 1 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 1 | |
| "Lady Down on Love" | 1 | 76 | 18 | 1 | 10 | |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[8] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||