30 Years Ago: Alan Jackson Writes (& Performs) “Chattahoochee”
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.”
Rackensacker
April 12, 2022 @ 5:56 pm
I was 6 years old and my dad let me watch CMT on Saturday mornings. This song and video were my favorites.
robbushblog
April 12, 2022 @ 6:04 pm
I like “Chattahoochee”. I got a bit tired of it long ago. It is far from my favorite Alan Jackson song. But yeah…over most of today’s junk? I’ll take it in a heartbeat.
Ian
April 12, 2022 @ 6:12 pm
I always hated the “Chattahoochee/hoochy coochy” rhyme and I guess I should apologize for AJ on account of blaming him for it all these years! Way better story than song but apart from that one terrible bit of writing it’s a good song! Also, upbeat songs are hard to write so I see where he was coming from with that!
Trigger
April 12, 2022 @ 6:22 pm
I’ve been pretty open and honest over the years about not liking this song, even though I’m a big supporter of Alan Jackson. When I heard the story behind the song, it made a lot more sense. Alan Jackson was under a lot of pressure to write more up-tempo songs to keep up with Garth Brooks and the like. And since he wrote most of his own songs and insisted on doing so, it wasn’t like he could just pick one up from someone else. I think when Jim McBride approached him with the idea, he though “Thank God, I can knock out the up-tempo song for the next record and be done with it.”
If Alan Jackson had release a string of Chatahoochee’s I don’t think we would consider him like we do today. But since he only released one, it’s a lot more forgivable. And there’s no doubt the song has since become iconic.
dovopi1197
April 12, 2022 @ 6:56 pm
Forgettable? What do you mean forgettable?! That is absolutely false. No offense, It’s gotten popularity over memes. In fact coming from a long time fan that likes todays and yesterday’s country, Alan Jackson’s Chattahoochee which is my favorite actually. Coming from an 18 year old writing this comment, I’m sorry but they still play it at my school dances😑 Where in the world is it forgotten.
Trigger
April 12, 2022 @ 7:32 pm
With all due respect, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. I never used the word “forgettable,” either in the article, or in the comment you’re responding to. I did, however, end the article with this summation, “And here 30 years later, few if anyone has forgotten ‘Chattahoochee.'” So that is the exact opposite of what you seem to be inferring that I said.
sbach66
April 12, 2022 @ 7:39 pm
Get back to class, youngster.
Ryan S
April 13, 2022 @ 11:51 am
“But since he only released one, it’s a lot more forgivable.”
Did you read that line incorrectly? Otherwise what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense.
Don
April 18, 2022 @ 7:33 am
Mister Jackson I love your music. ” all of it!”
I drive a semi across the Good Ole USA
I’ve encountered crappy weather crappy traffic crappy hold-ups at the warehouse but I tell you
But when Chattahoochee comes on a smile comes on my face and within a couple of minutes I’m singing along with you!!!
If you read this crap don’t let those guys bother you let me see now how many awards have you won with this song and how many records of you sold you got a lot of followers best of luck to you in your future
Country-Bluegrass Fan
April 13, 2022 @ 6:38 pm
It’s a fun non consequential country up tempo song. Nothing more nothing less.
Ty
April 12, 2022 @ 6:20 pm
My $.02 is that was and still is a bad song from Jackson.
Paul Kagourtine
April 13, 2022 @ 6:22 am
I’ve always “enjoyed” the track, but that’s just my “2 cents”.
Di Harris
April 12, 2022 @ 6:40 pm
: D i Love this song!
my fav. Alan Jackson song.
Parents built a house on Grandview Lake, & bought us a ski boat. We worked our behinds off to put gas in that boat. Would come home from work, yell a greeting to our parents, & head down to the dock, with the kids next door. Both of those guys were U.S. competitive. We were hot shi* with our O’Brien equipment, : D or at least we thought we were. So much fun racing the boat on a slalom ski. My little brother & the guys did a lot of barefoot.
Man, those were the Summers!
Big Tex
April 12, 2022 @ 7:08 pm
What do Alan Jackson and Faith Hill have in common?
When Faith Hill (IQ = 68+-) recorded “Piece of My Heart,” she soon went on record, after her version became a hit, as stating she did not know the song had been recorded before. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Likewise, if memory serves, Alan Jackson stated, after being queried, that he did not know that “Summertime Blues” was a classic, pre-recorded song.
Trigger
April 12, 2022 @ 7:44 pm
Yeah, I would like to see some verification of that.
I can kind of buy that Faith Hill may have not known “Piece of My Heart,” just because she has never written a song herself. In fact I think Faith once recorded an Alan Jackson song. Hold on, let me check … yep, “I Can’t Do That Anymore” from 1996. It was a Top 10 hit.
But Alan Jackson not knowing “Summertime Blues”? I just don’t buy that. At the least, as a songwriter, he would want to be knowledgeable of the origin of the song before he recorded it.
robbushblog
April 12, 2022 @ 8:36 pm
I heard that about Faith Hill around the time “Piece of My Heart” was released. She was 25 years old and from Star, Mississippi. I can believe it. She might not have listened to oldies stations like I did growing up. The Alan Jackson story I find hard to believe.
VernTobyTrace
April 12, 2022 @ 7:49 pm
Thats remarkable. But maybe these country people have no clue about rock and roll and are totally immersed in country. Faith Hill is just a pretty face so I expect it from her. I would have thought Alan Jackson would know about Summertime Blues being that he has mixed rock and blues into his music sometimes.
trevistrat
April 12, 2022 @ 8:09 pm
Alan has older sisters. He had to have grown up listening to early rock n’ roll .In fact , I remember him on “Nashville Now” stating that the first time he was ever on stage, he and a group of friends pretended to be a band and mimed to a record. “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
Mac Sledge's Revenge
April 13, 2022 @ 7:44 am
I remember hearing something about that at the time about Alan Jackson and Summertime Blues, but it was more about how he knew and was a fan of a very specific version of the song, and wasn’t as familiar with the original Eddie Cochran version. Or that could be reversed… that he only knew Eddie Cochran’s version from his childhood but had no clue about any of the other covers.
Point is… he knew and loved the song. Just had a selective memory of it and who recorded it, because… there wasn’t yet an internet in everyone’s hands.
Big Tex
April 13, 2022 @ 10:23 am
You’re on to something, Sledge.
Robert Turner
April 16, 2022 @ 2:35 am
Buck owens covered the song in the 70s. Alan Jackson thought this was the original cut. Not knowing about the Eddie Cochran original
David: The Duke of Everything
April 12, 2022 @ 7:09 pm
So called country music fans are funny. They think Chattahoochee isn’t country but I bet they didn’t say that about white lightning from George Jones. Very similar up tempo song. Need to let it go. If you don’t like the song fine but it’s as country as any other.
CJ Ellis
April 12, 2022 @ 7:13 pm
I never considered Chattahoochee to be AJ’s finest song but not his worst either. I can’t tell you how many kids I know don’t listen to much country music but really like Alan Jackson, and Chattahoochee was their gateway. Ultimately, I think the song does more to promote Alan’s legacy than not, and for that case, I will always be okay with it.
Brian
April 12, 2022 @ 7:25 pm
The song has grown on me with time and probably because I quit hearing it every five minutes on the radio, back when it first came out. The other thing is Alan Jackson just seems to have so many cool stories.
Jerry
April 12, 2022 @ 7:26 pm
Goodness, you make me feel old.
TwangBob
April 12, 2022 @ 7:36 pm
Good memories of this song. I was playing in a female fronted country band at the time, and the club deejay-veejay cranked up the music video which was shown on the big screen behind the stage. Country line dancing was hot, and the dance floor became packed with dancers who already knew the moves. Of course, when our band got on stage, we got a request to play the song, which we didn’t know that night. That lead guitar lick the opens the song is a barn burner. By the time we returned to the same club, the band had learned the song and I was singing the lead vocals. “Chattahoochee” packed the dance floor every time we played it, and every time the club deejay fired it up. As a songwriter myself, I wonder how much money AJ (and Jim McBride) earned in performance and mechanical royalties from that one song.
Chris31
April 12, 2022 @ 9:02 pm
I and my wife were married in 2006. She’s a Georgian so we ended up settling in the northern part of the state.
One summer weekend in 2006 we decided to go to Helen. I asked her what was there to do in Helen and she said we needed to float the Chattahoochee. I had no idea that it was a real River.
For me, the song is dripping with nostalgia. And that’s why I will always love it.
And just because I’m thinking about my first year in Georgia. We went to the Stone Mountain laser show one evening. If you have never been they play a bunch of songs while having a laser show on a humongous chunk of granite. All of a sudden Charlie Daniels the Devil went Down to Georgia began. Every single person in attendance began going nuts screaming and whistling. I asked my wife what the heck is going on with all these Georgia people. you are in Georgia… aren’t you paying attention to the song playing?
Luckyoldsun
April 12, 2022 @ 9:45 pm
I would put Chattahoochee among Jackson’s top half-dozen songs. As far as “lyrical depth,” I’d say that “Chattahoochee” is Bob McDill’s “Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy,” compared to Jackson’s other big summer hit, “Mercury Blues.”
George Smith
April 13, 2022 @ 2:51 am
An old friend I knew when this song came out said that she used the verse at the end to warn her three daughters about boys…
“Well, we fogged up the windows in my old Chevy
I was willing but she wasn’t ready
So a settled for a burger and a grape snow cone
Dropped her off early but I didn’t go home”
At the same time, it’s a great “No means no” statement without getting preachy…
Joshua Blackh4t
April 13, 2022 @ 5:15 am
Good point, that is an underrated verse. The guy was being well behaved. He accepted her refusal, ended the date politely and went off for a drink with the boys.
Thats pretty good behavior. I hope it inspired young kids/adults to realise that not being ready is fine.
Shane Calhoun
April 13, 2022 @ 3:44 am
I love the song but I may be a little biased. I am from Newnan and spent plenty of time on the Chattahoochee. Before that song, I had no idea who Alan Jackson was. That’s funny cause later in life I found out my mom, father in law, and best friend all were in the same class in high school with him. He recently came back and raised over $2 million for the people of Newnan who were victims of an EF-4 tornado that hit Newnan in March 2021. The same high school that they all went to, as well as myself, is going to have to be torn down because of the storm damage.
Nobodysoldlady
April 13, 2022 @ 5:50 am
I moved to Georgia in 1993 right before this song came out. I have fished, kayaked and crossed the Hooch daily for more than 30 years, so it has special meaning for me. Love it and AJ.
wayne
April 13, 2022 @ 6:59 am
Even for traditional country artists like the great AJ, not EVERY song needs to be a slow, folk, Americana, doom and gloom. There is room for a fun, simple, and slightly stupid song(s) from an artist’s repertiore. Not that this song is stupid by any means. I closer review of the lyrics can be quite revealing.
No reason to pigeon hole an artist as long as their main body of work is good.
Sometimes just a good ole’ goofy song to toe-tap to is just fine.
Long live AJ. One of the good guys.
Kevin Smith
April 13, 2022 @ 10:11 am
Wayne, you have nailed the essence of a very big point. COUNTRY music was never meant to be ultra cerebral, though sometimes it can be. Of course theres a place for Kristofferson and the like, i get it. But go back to its roots with fiddling and string bands and it was a vehicle for people to dance. I cant imagine Country music without barn- burners, boogies, two- steps, line dancing, square dancing, clogging, and hillbilly stompin. And how about the Texas dance halls and honky- tonks? Man, think about some of the truly great songs that have defined it, songs from Bob Wills and Flatt and Scruggs, to Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Brooks and Dunn, Mavericks, Dale Watson, Br549, Buck Owens, Hag, Tubb, and on and on. I never realized Chattahoochee was “controversial” . Are people kidding? Its a barn- burner. How about another AJ barn-burner ” I Dont Even Know Your Name” !? Man those are classic songs.
wayne
April 13, 2022 @ 10:48 am
Thanks Kevin,
Good post.
Abuelita
May 26, 2022 @ 1:53 pm
I LOVE “I Don’t Even Know Your Name”!!! 😃 The video with Jeff Foxworthy is pure humor gold!
I have all but one or two of Mr. Jackson’s albums and there isn’t a stinker in the lot. Some people have an issue with “Like Red on a Rose”. When I got it, it was very different, (it’s Alan Jackson singing an Allison Krause album) but almost every song is visceral and speaks to deep places. The title song is an amazing love song. Perspective needs to be adjusted for songs and albums that don’t seem to “fit”. Almost anyone who writes music, writes stuff that ebbs and flows with different moods and attitudes. As far as “Chattahoochee” goes, I’d lay money that a high percentage of native Georgians knew EXACTLY what it was about and identified it with weekend and summer fun. IMHO, some of Alan Jackson’s very best songs are virtually forgotten and have been pushed into obscurity by the ratings system. My playlist has more than 100 AJ songs on it! ❤️ Can hardly wait to be a part of 2022 concert tour!!
Jay Eff
April 13, 2022 @ 7:28 am
FYI – typo in the 4th paragraph, you said they wrote it on a bus in April of 2022.
NattyBumpo
April 13, 2022 @ 8:13 am
It has the complexity of a Mozart concerto compared to 75% or more of the junk being played today.
Myron
April 13, 2022 @ 10:25 am
I’ve loved Alan Jackson from the beginning, I remember belting out “Wanted” along with the radio while milking cows with my brothers when it came out. When Chatahoochie came out we listened to it all summer long in the berryfields – after Baby got Back and Metallica’s So What were banned by the boss, and we got sick of Achy Breaky heart after one day. Good times. Still love this Chattahoochie, its an awesome song!
Eric
April 13, 2022 @ 12:04 pm
Brent Mason is the huge third party involved here for coming up with those iconic guitar parts for that song.
Dawg Fan
April 14, 2022 @ 7:42 am
It’s not one of my favorite songs by any stretch. I grew up in Newnan and still live here. Alan and Denise were friends of my brother. I went to school with his sister Connie. But I had no idea the song was actually Jim McBride’s idea. I always assumed Alan wrote the song since people back in the day used to hang out on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The county put paved parking at the location on the Coweta/Carroll County border.
Jerry Clower's Ghost
April 15, 2022 @ 1:18 am
I was ten years old and Chattahoochie was the first piece of music I ever bought with my own money I had saved up. It was a two-sided single on cassette. It was played non-stop for at least a couple months.
Brian Buchanan
April 15, 2022 @ 7:00 pm
Assuming that the song didn’t have the legendary Brent Mason guitar licks… I’m interested what it sounded like when it was performed live that very first time.
Abuelita
May 26, 2022 @ 1:56 pm
There is an album version that is basic without the guitar licks.