“High Cotton”
Alabama
Written by Scott Anders and Roger Murrah
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
September 22, 1989
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
October 28, 1989
No act was more daunting going into this retrospective than Alabama, who scored 25 No. 1 hits during the eighties.
“High Cotton” brings them full circle thematically, which is a nice way to end a very long journey. It serves as both complement and contrast to early hits like “My Home’s in Alabama” and “Tennessee River.” It’s similarly awash in nostalgia for the old south, but couldn’t be more different musically. The southern country rock of those early hits placed them firmly in modernity, reflecting on an old south that was long gone. The warm acoustic arrangement of “High Cotton” has the opposite effect, transporting us back to those early memories and letting us walk around and see – and feel – those memories from the past.
In a way, it helps them complete the transition from young superstar band to veteran country act. They’re no longer the young men striking out on their own, armed with the values of their simple upbringings. Now they’re going back home, ready to settle down, and are reaching back to those memories as they begin to teach the lessons from their childhoods to their own children.
The best Alabama chart toppers from the eighties and nineties transcend their workmanlike contributions to country radio. “High Cotton” is one of the best, and it’s a fitting final entry from a band that was so prominent across the two decades we’ve covered.
“High Cotton” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties
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