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