My Home's in Alabama (song)
"My Home's in Alabama" | ||||
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Single by Alabama | ||||
from the album My Home's in Alabama | ||||
B-side |
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Released | January 1980 (U.S.) | |||
Recorded | 1978 and 1979 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 4:02 (RCA single edit) 6:27 (RCA album version) 8:40 (original unedited recording) | |||
Label | Alabama Records ALA-78-9-01 (originally) MDJ 1002 RCA Nashville 12008 (later) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry | |||
Producer(s) | Harold Shedd, Larry McBride, Alabama | |||
Alabama singles chronology | ||||
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"My Home's in Alabama" is a song written by Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, and recorded by American country music band Alabama. It was released in January 1980 as the second single and title track from the album My Home's in Alabama.
In the years since its release, "My Home's in Alabama" became widely considered as the song that sparked the band's rise to eventual superstardom.
Content
The song, a biographical look at Alabama's early career, hopes and dreams, also pays homage to the roots of band members Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook. The lyrics state that, while bigger and better things lay ahead, their home would always be in Alabama, "no matter where I lay my head" and that they were "southern-born and southern-bred."
Critical reception
Allmusic called the song "the closest thing to country rock" among the album's ten tracks.[1]
Background
"My Home's in Alabama" was originally recorded at LSI studios in 1978, and the full, unedited version was included on the band's independent release, THE ALABAMA BAND #3. When the band signed with MDJ records as a singles act and started working with producer Harold Shedd, the song was edited, and strings (Kristin Wilkinson & the WIRE CHOIR), harmonica (Terry McMillan) and additional keyboards (Willie Rainsford) were added by the Harold Shedd production team. It was then released as a single in January 1980 by MDJ Records, a small independent label that had also released Alabama's first
Both "I Wanna Come Over" and "My Home's in Alabama" were subsequently issued on the band's first album for RCA records, with MY HOMES IN ALABAMA being the title track.
Official State Ballad
A State Senate bill (SR-458) was passed 32-1 in 2000 to make the song the official State Ballad, with "Stars Fell On Alabama", a 1934 song (whose most popular release was by Jimmy Buffett) becoming the new official State Song, and the current State Song, "Alabama", written in 1931 by Julia Tutwiler would be moved to State Anthem status, but the bill failed in the State House.[2]
Single and album edits
Both
The full-length RCA album version (and title track) — which includes the guitar bridge (that lasts about a minute and a half), a repeat of the refrain and the song-ending bridge reprisal — is 6:27, and is available, among other albums, on
In addition to the studio-recorded version, an eight-minute live version (from the Fort Payne June Jam in 1985) was released on Alabama's first greatest hits album and was also included on the band's 1988 live album, ALABAMA LIVE.
B-side
The
Chart performance
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
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US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] | 17 |
References
- Allmusic. 2007-06-18.
- ^ 2000 State Senate bill SR 458 to change State Song Archived 2006-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0809253062)
- ^ "Alabama Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
Sources
- Himes, Geoffery, Alabama entry in "The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music." Country Music Foundation, Oxford Press, New York, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511671-2
- Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.