"Mountain Music" | ||||
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Single by Alabama | ||||
from the album Mountain Music | ||||
A-side | "Mountain Music" | |||
B-side | "Never Be One" | |||
Released | January 22, 1982 (U.S.) | |||
Format | 7" | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:39 (single edit) 4:08 (album version) |
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Label | RCA Records 13019 | |||
Writer(s) | Randy Owen | |||
Producer | Harold Shedd and Alabama | |||
Alabama singles chronology | ||||
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"Mountain Music" is the title of a song written by Randy Owen and recorded by his band, Alabama. It was released in January 1982 as the lead-off single and title track to Alabama's third album, Mountain Music.
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"Mountain Music" - a song melding the Southern rock and bluegrass genres - has variously been described by country music writers as "a modern country classic"[1] and a song that "practically defined what country groups have strived to accomplish."[2]
According to Randy Owen's book, Born Country, Mountain Music took three years to write. Randy wanted to put his childhood experiences into a song.
"Mountain Music" is one of the only Alabama songs where solo vocals can prominently be heard from band members Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook (in the song's third verse, where lead singer Owen trades off lead vocals with his bandmates).
Brad Paisley's 2011 single "Old Alabama" incorporates the bridge from "Mountain Music", again sung by Owen, Gentry and Cook.[3]
The single edit to "Mountain Music," released for retail sale and radio airplay, excises the following from the album version:
Released in January 1982, "Mountain Music" became Alabama's sixth No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart - the same week the Academy of Country Music named the group the Top Vocal Group and Entertainer of the Year.[1]
To date, "Mountain Music" remains one of the group's most popular songs.
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 | 1 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
Preceded by "Crying My Heart Out Over You" by Ricky Skaggs |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single May 1, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson |
Preceded by "Same Ole Me" by George Jones |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single May 15-May 22, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Single Women" by Dolly Parton |
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