"Take Me Down" is a song made famous by the country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 band Alabama

Alabama (band)

Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...

. Originally released in 1982, the song was the second single from Alabama's third album, Mountain Music

Mountain Music (album)

Mountain Music, released in 1982, is the award-winning third studio album by country music group Alabama. A crossover success, it ranked well as an album on both country and pop charts and launched singles that were successful in several markets...

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Written by Exile

Exile (American band)

Exile, originally known as The Exiles, is an American band founded in Richmond, Kentucky by J.P. Pennington. They started by playing local clubs which led to touring with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars opening shows and providing backup for major rock artists of the period.Their name was shortened...

 band members Mark Gray and J.P. Pennington

J.P. Pennington

James Preston "J.P." Pennington is an American musician, known primarily as a founding member of the country pop band Exile. Pennington was the founding member and lead singer of the group until departing in 1990. After his leaving Exile, he signed to MCA Records as a solo artist. There, he...

, 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, although it reached #2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.

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

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

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Single 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

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 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."

Chart performance

Chart (1982)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	18
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	5
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	1

Cover version

The song was covered in by soul singer Johnny Bristol

Johnny Bristol

Johnny Bristol , was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 the same year and released as the first single off his Free to Be Me album.http://www.discogs.com/Johnny-Bristol-Take-Me-Down-Rosebud/release/953486

Sources

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