"The Closer You Get" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

. It was released in 1981.

About the song

"The Closer You Get" was written in 1980 by

J.P. Pennington James Preston Pennington (born January 22, 1949) is an American musician, known primarily as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the country pop band Exile. Pennington was one of the early members and one of the lead singers of the group unti ...

and Mark Gray, members of

. However, the song was not immediately recorded by Alabama. Two earlier versions were released as singles – the first by Exile (which failed to gain much attention) and singer Don King, whose version reached No. 27 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in October 1981. In addition, Rita Coolidge recorded the song for her 1981 album, ''Heartbreak Radio'', and released her version as a single. Alabama's version differed substantially from King's acoustic version. According to country music writer Tom Roland, the song featured "distorted guitars, a more elaborate arrangement and an altered vocal sound." The end result was Alabama's tenth No. 1 song on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. In addition, "The Closer You Get" registered enough airplay on

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

radio stations to peak at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A music video was filmed for the song, and has aired on CMT and

Great American Country Great American Family is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. It was originally established in ...

Single and album edits

The single version is a minute shorter than the original album version; the first verse and the second refrain is deleted from the single. The single edit is included on many of Alabama's compilation albums, including '' Greatest Hits Vol. II'' and '' For the Record''.

Chart performance

Rita Coolidge

Don King

Alabama

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Closer You Get (song) 1981 singles 1983 singles 1981 songs Rita Coolidge songs Alabama (American band) songs Don King (musician) songs RPM Country Tracks number-one singles of the year Songs written by Mark Gray (singer) Songs written by J.P. Pennington Song recordings produced by Harold Shedd RCA Records Nashville singles