The Closer You Get... Explained

The Closer You Get...
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Alabama
Cover:	Closer You Get.jpg
Released:	March 1983
Recorded:	1981–1982
Studio:	The Music Mill (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre:	Country pop neotraditional country easy listening
Length:	40:53
Label:	RCA Nashville
Producer:	Alabama Harold Shedd
Prev Title:	Mountain Music
Prev Year:	1982
Next Title:	Roll On
Next Year:	1984

The Closer You Get... is the seventh studio album by American country music band Alabama, released in 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.

The album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[1]

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

Year-end charts

Chart (1983)	Position
US Billboard 200^[2]	29
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[3]	2
Chart (1984)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[4]	10

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alabama – Gold & Platinum Certifications. Recording Industry Association of America. July 6, 2014. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
2. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1983. Billboard. February 3, 2021.
3. Top Country Albums – Year-End 1983. Billboard. February 3, 2021.
4. Top Country Albums – Year-End 1984. Billboard. February 3, 2021.