Christmas in Dixie

"Christmas in Dixie" is a Christmas song made famous by the country music band Alabama. Originally released in 1982, the song was included on Alabama's 1985 Christmas album (titled Alabama Christmas), and has since been included on many Christmas compilations in both the country and all-genre fields.

The song is a celebration of Christmas in the southern United States.

The single release was part of a two-sided holiday release issued by RCA Records. The flip side was "Christmas Is Just a Song For Us This Year" by Louise Mandrell and R.C. Bannon.

[edit] Re-entries

"Christmas in Dixie" re-entered the country charts twice from unsolicited holiday airplay: in 1999, it re-entered at #40, and re-entered a second time at #37 in 2000.

[edit] Covers

The song was covered by Kenny Chesney on his 2003 album All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan and featured Alabama's Randy Owen joining him on the track.

[edit] Alabama vs. Sonny James

"Christmas in Dixie" is central to a point of contention among country music historians. Alabama is frequently billed as having the longest uninterrupted No. 1 streak in the history of the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, with 21 songs peaking atop the chart between 1980 and 1987. However, "Christmas in Dixie" peaked at No. 35 in January 1983, which brings about the point of contention.

Sonny James, a country music superstar in the 1960s and 1970s, had previously set the standard of most Billboard No. 1 songs with 16 straight, with Alabama reportedly surpassing James' record with their 1985 single, "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')."

Some sources, including the Alabama Music Hall of Fame web site, state that the failure of "Christmas in Dixie" snapped Alabama's streak before achieving parity with James. Others — such as Joel Whitburn's "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005" — disregard non-No. 1 Christmas singles (such as "Christmas in Dixie") in determining chart-topping streaks and consider Alabama to have surpassed the record.