30 Years Ago: Alan Jackson Writes (& Performs) “Chattahoochee”

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If there is any song that is synonymous with Alan Jackson, it is most certainly his super hit “Chattahoochee.” When released as the third single from his album A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ’bout Love) in 1993 (the album title was taken from the song), it shot straight to #1, ultimately becoming the #1 song for all of 1993, and winning both the CMA Single of the Year, and Song of the Year.

But it was sort of a strange single from Alan Jackson, who up to that point was known more for slow and mid tempo songs with a bit more introspection than this summer hit whose video had him water-skiing in jeans and a cowboy hat. Never given enough credit for writing most of his own songs, Alan Jackson struggled when it came to penning up-tempo songs that his label could push to radio. He later memorialized those struggles sarcastically in the song, “Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Up-Tempo Love Song.”

“Chattahoochee” was the exception, not the rule. And co-written by Nashville songwriter Jim McBride, there’s a pretty interesting story on how it came about, and how it came to life, going from finished product to being performed on stage the same day, April 12th, 1992—thirty years ago today.

As a part of the “Class of ’89,” Alan Jackson was already too big in 1992 to be able to go down to Music Row with song ideas to co-write with others in the cubicle offices. He would be swarmed, and cause a distraction. So Alan Jackson did his writing on the road in the bus, and if someone wanted to co-write with him, they had to go along for the ride. That’s what Jim McBride did in April of 1992 when Jackson was on tour. McBride had already written a half dozen songs with Jackson that had made it onto albums at that point, so they were already close.

“At this point, we were writing so well together, I had two notebooks,” explains Jim McBride. “When I got an idea, I put it down in my notebook. But I had another one, and that was for Alan. If I even thought it was an idea he might like, I’d put it over (there).”

A few days previous to meeting up with Alan Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida, Jim McBride had read a magazine article about the Chattahoochee River, and how it flowed not too far from Jackson’s hometown of Newnan, Georgia, and helped define part of the Georgia and Alabama state line. It seemed like the perfect setting for an Alan Jackson song, and Jackson agreed when he was first presented the idea in a Tallahassee hotel room.

Jim McBride already had the melody shaping up, as well as the first two lines, “Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, It gets hotter than a hoochie coochie.” Alan Jackson added, “We laid rubber on the Georgia asphalt, got a little crazy but we never got caught,” and soon the song started to come together.

The duo worked on the song a little bit more when the tour bus stopped in Pensacola, but it was the next day when they arrived in Thibodaux, Louisiana that the song would be finished right before Alan Jackson had to skedaddle for sound check. Jackson was so smitten with the song, he worked it up with his band, and performed it on the spot that night on stage.

It’s interesting that the song was released as the third single from the A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ’bout Love), even though it was the first song on the track list, and the song lent to the title. But releasing in on May 17th, 1993 made it the perfect summer smash, and now “Chattahoochee” is synonymous for many with the summer of 1993.

But of course the song (and the blue jeans water-skiing) didn’t come without some grumbles from traditional country fans. Though Alan Jackson had fared much better than Garth Brooks with the traditional country crowd by keeping a close friendship with George Jones and sticking to more traditional country material for most of his early career, some worried “Chattahoochee” was a wrong direction for Jackson.

Alan Jackson revealed in 2021, “I think Waylon said one time… ‘What the hell is a ‘Chattahoochee’?’ (laughing). That’s why it was surprising to me when they decided to put ‘Chattahoochee’ out, I was reluctant, ’cause I said, ‘Nobody’s gonna know what that is. But the regular working people, professional people, just trying to do the same things, make a living, raise a family, enjoy life. I learned that there’s a Chattahoochee everywhere.”

And of course now the song sounds like classic country compared to many of today’s country hits, and has benefited greatly from nostalgia. In fact, as the summer of 2022 looms in the not-too-distant future and 90’s country is on a resurgence, you won’t be surprised to hear “Chattahoochee” blasting from lake and river parties, maybe even in favor of whatever summer song is on country radio today. Ultimately, the funny name wasn’t the song’s demise, it’s what made it memorable. And here 30 years later, few if anyone has forgotten “Chattahoochee.”

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