"Mountain Music" is a song recorded by American country music band Alabama, written by lead singer Randy Owen. It was released in January 1982 as the lead-off single and title track to Alabama's album Mountain Music.[2]
About the song
"Mountain Music" — a song melding the Southern rock and bluegrass genres — has variously been described by country music writers as "a modern country classic"[3] and a song that "practically defined what country groups have strived to accomplish."[4]
According to Randy Owen's book Born Country, "Mountain Music" took him three years to write. He wanted to put his childhood experiences into a song.
The song references chert rocks, which according to the band is one song lyric that is commonly misheard.
Vocals
"Mountain Music" is one of the few Alabama songs where solo vocals can prominently be heard from band members Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook (in the song's third verse, where lead singer Owen trades off lead vocals with his bandmates).
Brad Paisley's 2011 single "Old Alabama" incorporates the bridge from "Mountain Music", again sung by Owen, Gentry and Cook.[5]
Single and album edits
The single edit to "Mountain Music", released for retail sale and radio airplay, cuts the following from the album version:
The introduction, in which an old mountain philosopher speaks about someday climbing a mountain. This Walter Brennan impression was done by Bob Martin, a guitar handler and roadie with the band. It refers to a song Brennan recorded called "Old Rivers", which repeats the line "... one of these days I'm gonna climb that mountain..."[6] A harmonica solo can also be heard at the very beginning.
A series of guitar riffs slowly builds in tempo from slow to very fast. This is nestled between the third refrain and the fast-tempoed fiddle-heavy musical bridge before the finalé.
Cover versions
Country music duo Montgomery Gentry covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.
Critical reception
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song #61 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.[7]
Charts
Released in January 1982, "Mountain Music" became Alabama's sixth No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart the same week the Academy of Country Music named the group the Top Vocal Group and Entertainer of the Year.[3]
To date, "Mountain Music" remains one of the group's most popular songs.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 18.
^ abRoland, Tom. The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits (Billboard Books, Watson–Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN0-82-307553-2)), p. 319
