"Christmas in Dixie" is a song by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

band

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. It was released as a single in December 1982 from the

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Artists Current artists *Kane Brown * Corey Kent * Nate Smith * Morgan Wade Former art ...

compilation album ''A Country Christmas''. The

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

celebrates the holiday in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. This song was included on Alabama's first Christmas album released in 1985 (titled ''

Alabama Christmas ''Christmas'' is the first Christmas album by country band Alabama. The album was released on RCA Nashville in 1985. It was certified double platinum for shipment of 2 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 11, 1 ...

'') and has since been included on many Christmas compilations in both the country and all-genre music fields. In 2017, Alabama updated the song by re-recording the unplugged version of it for their third Christmas album titled American Christmas which celebrated its 35th anniversary when they first released the song in 1982. It is the only song credited solely to the four band members, and the one of only two songs to feature a songwriting credit for drummer Mark Herndon.

Background

This country song is a celebration of Christmas in southeastern American states. Each verse begins with two references to non-Southeastern areas (

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

;

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

;

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

which is referred as "Motown") followed by two references to Southeastern cities (

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

;

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

;

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

referred as "Caroline" in this song) and a final reference to

Fort Payne, Alabama Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. It is near Lookout Mountain. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. This city developed around a fort of the same name, built in the 183 ...

(the group's hometown). The version released originally on ''A Country Christmas'', as well as the version most often played on radio in the U.S., features a spoken-word Christmas greeting by each member of Alabama, after the line "And from Fort Payne, Alabama", and prior to the song's conclusion ("Merry Christmas tonight"). It was featured on the 2006 box set, '' Livin' Lovin' Rockin' Rollin': The 25th Anniversary Collection''. The original single release was part of a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

d holiday release issued by

, paired with "Christmas Is Just a Song for Us This Year" by

Louise Mandrell Thelma Louise Mandrell (born July 13, 1954) is an American country music music artist (occupation), singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of musician Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successfu ...

and R.C. Bannon. A 1997 rerelease had "Thistlehair the Christmas Bear" as its b-side.

Lawsuit

In 2010, Allan Caswell initiated a lawsuit against ATV/Sony, who published both his song, "On The Inside" and the Alabama song "Christmas In Dixie", because he thought that it plagiarized the theme song he wrote for ''

Prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

, On the Inside''. This action was based on ATV Sony commissioning a copyright expert to provide advice as to whether a plagiarism had taken place.

Chart performance

The original version spent seven weeks on the charts between late 1982 and early 1983, peaking at number 35. It re-entered the chart three times between 1997 and 2000.

Covers

The song was covered by

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...

on his 2003 album '' All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan'' and featured Alabama's lead singer

Randy Owen Randy Yeuell Owen (born December 13, 1949) is an American country musician. He is best known for his role as the lead singer of Alabama, a country rock band that saw commercial success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Alabama became the most su ...

joining him on the track. Country a cappella band Home Free covered it on their 2020 album ''Warmest Winter'', with Owen singing lead and Alabama credited as a featured artist.

Jason Aldean Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977), known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released eleven alb ...

covered the song which was released in 2022.

References

{{authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs Alabama (American band) songs Kenny Chesney songs American Christmas songs RCA Records singles Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Randy Owen Songs about the United States