Alabama | Through the Shattered Lens

I’ve shared before that Alabama was the group that my family listened to the most when I was growing up. Alabama could do it all. They knew how to put out fun country songs like “Tennessee River,” “Mountain Music” and “Dixieland Delight.” They put out some good workin’ man songs like “Roll On” and “40 Hour Week.” They took care of their redneck roots with songs like “Song of the South,” “Born Country,” and “Hometown Honeymoon.” But they seemed to really excel at love songs. I’m guessing that there was a lot of slow dancing and baby conceptions taking place during the 80’s to Alabama love songs. Songs like “Take Me Down,” “When We Make Love,” “There’s No Way,” and “You’ve Got the Touch” were all number one hits that went a long way towards the group being named “Artist of the Decade” for the 1980’s by the Academy of Country Music.

For my song of the night, I’m going to share one of my favorite Alabama love songs, “Feels So Right.” This song is a vibe, and if we’ve been lucky enough to experience the feelings expressed by these lyrics, it will take us back to some wonderful times. Enjoy my friends:

My earliest memories of listening to music, other than at church, were listening to the group ALABAMA with my family when we were driving down the road in my dad’s Chevy Luv pickup truck. There were five of us in total, my mom, dad, brother, and sister, and we’d all pile into the cab of that little truck. We had to arrange ourselves just right to even fit. This would have been in the very early ’80’s, and seatbelts weren’t required for nothing! I remember listening to songs like “Mountain Music” and “Tennessee River” and “Take Me Down.” We’d all sing our hearts out to our favorites.

Fast forward around 10 years and one of my favorite family vacations took place when I was a junior in high school. We just got in our car and drove, with Pigeon Forge, TN, as our final destination. However, my dad liked to always take the scenic routes, so we took a very crooked path and went through a lot of beautiful, out of the way places as part of the trip. I remember we ended up stopping off one night in Fort Payne, AL, which is where the members of the group were born and raised. We even ran into band member Jeff Cook’s mom in a store there. It was so wonderful.

The picture I share above is from 2020, when my wife and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. I just had to visit the Bowery while we there because this is the bar where ALABAMA performed for tips for seven years (1973 – 1980) prior to hitting it big. It was quite the nostalgic and special experience!

Without further ado, I’ll share one of my very favorite ALABAMA songs, “Dixieland Delight.” I hope you enjoy!