The Closer You Get...

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

Track listing

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

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References