| "Don't Rock the Jukebox" | ||||
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| Single by Alan Jackson | ||||
| from the album Don't Rock the Jukebox | ||||
| B-side | "Home" | |||
| Released | April 29, 1991 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM Promo-only CD single |
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| Recorded | August 21, 1990[1] | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Arista 2220 | |||
| Writer(s) | Alan Jackson Roger Murrah Keith Stegall |
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| Producer | Scott Hendricks Keith Stegall |
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| Alan Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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"Don't Rock the Jukebox" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in April 1991 as the lead single from the album of the same name, Don't Rock the Jukebox. It was his second consecutive Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
The song also received an ASCAP award for Country Song of the Year in 1992.[2] That same year, the song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks, featuring commentary by Alan Jackson himself, for their 1992 album Chipmunks in Low Places.
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The song is sung from the perspective of a heartbroken bar patron he wishes to hear country music to ease his heartbreak. As such, he tells the other patrons in the bar, "don't rock the jukebox" (i.e. play country instead of rock).
Alan wrote about the inspiration for the song in the liner notes from The Greatest Hits Collection: "I got the idea for this song from a little incident that happened on the road a few years ago when me and my band, The Strayhorns, were playing this little truck stop lounge in Virginia called Geraldine's. We'd been there for four or five nights playing those dance sets. It'd been a long night, so I took a break and walked over to the Jukebox. Roger, my bass player, was already over there reading the records. I leaned on the corner of it and one of the legs was broken off - the jukebox was kind of wobbling around. Roger looked over at me and said..."[1]
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade," saying that the song "defies explanation" because Jackson "perfectly inhabits the song’s affable weariness, and because Scott Hendricks and Keith Stegall arrange it to honky-tonk heaven."[3]
The music video for the song, directed by Julien Temple, consists of Jackson playing his guitar and singing the song while standing in front of a jukebox. As he does this, a seated figure in the shadows nods his head and taps the table to the beat. Several people come and dance in front of the jukebox during the song, while some people who come up to the jukebox shake it around angrily (thus prompting Jackson to sing the title line of the song). At the end of the video, the seated figure is revealed to be none other than George Jones (who is mentioned in the song's lyrics several times).
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Preceded by "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks |
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one single July 6-July 20, 1991 |
Succeeded by "I Am a Simple Man" by Ricky Van Shelton |
| Preceded by "Point of Light" by Randy Travis |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single August 3, 1991 |
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| Preceded by "Nobody's Home" by Clint Black |
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one song of the year 1991 |
Succeeded by "I Saw the Light" by Wynonna |
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