"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. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

band

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. 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. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

compilation album ''A Country Christmas''. The Christmas song 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, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. This song was included on Alabama's first Christmas album released in 1985 (titled '' Alabama Christmas''), 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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

;

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

;

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

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

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

;

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

;

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

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. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. European-American settlers gradually developed the settlement around the former fort. It grew rapid ...

(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"). The original single release was part of a

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

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 singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country ...

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

Lawsuit

In 2010,

Allan Caswell David Allan Caswell, publishing under pen name Allan Caswell, is an English-Australian songwriter and performer, author, record producer, freelance journalist and teacher. Caswell wrote " On the Inside" (the theme from the television series ' ...

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, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

, 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 music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...

on his 2003 album ''

All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan ''All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan'' is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Kenny Chesney, released on October 7, 2003. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sal ...

'' and featured Alabama's lead singer

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

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 Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) 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 ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...

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