Take Me Down (Alabama song)

Infobox Single
Name = Take Me Down


Artist = Alabama
from Album = Mountain Music
A-side = "Take Me Down"
B-side = "Lovin' You Is Killin' Me"
Released = May 1982 (U.S.)
Format = 7"
Recorded = 1981
Genre = Country
Length = 3:43 (single edit)
4:50 (album version)
Label = RCA Records 13210
Writer = Mark Gray, J.P. Pennington
Producer = Harold Shedd and Alabama
Last single = "Mountain Music"
(1982)
This single = "Take Me Down"
(1982)
Next single = "Close Enough to Perfect"
(1982)

"Take Me Down" is a song made famous by the country music band Alabama. Originally released in 1982, the song was the second single from Alabama's third album, "Mountain Music".

Written by Exile band members Mark Gray and J.P. Pennington, the song was originally recorded by Exile in the early 1980s. The Exile version was released as a single, but failed to become a hit. [Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)]

However, it wasn't until Alabama released the song that it became a hit - its seventh in as many single releases. In addition to its success on the country charts, the song fared modestly well on pop radio, reaching No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

ingle and album edits

The single edit to "Take Me Down," released for retail sale and radio airplay, is about 1:10 shorter than the full-length album version. Excised from the single version:

* The second refrain; the song immediately proceeds from the second verse into the bridge.
* An earlier fade during the ending harmony part (about 30 seconds earlier than the album version).

"B" side

The B-side to "Take Me Down" is a song titled "Lovin' You Is Killin' Me," a re-recording of one of Alabama's earliest songs. "Lovin' You Is Killin' Me" originally appeared as the B-side to the band's first charted single, 1977's "I Wanna Be With You Tonight."

ources

*Morris, Edward, "Alabama," Contemporary Books Inc., Chicago, 1985 (ISBN 0809253062)
*Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.

References