Alabama

Alabama has no official state waltz.

However, there is a classic country waltz by Hank Williams (1923-1953) titled Alabama Waltz. Williams, a native of Alabama, wrote the song in 1948 to capitalize on the popularity of Tennessee Waltz which had been introduced earlier that year.  According to the book, Hank Williams:the Biography, he recorded it on August 29, 1949 at the E.T. Herzog studio in Cincinnati, Ohio.  That recording was not released until 1986 when it appeared on the Lost Highway album. Listen to it in the video below.

He also performed it on his radio show in 1951 sponsored by Mother's Best Flour company and a recording of that is available on Time-Life's excellent Hank Williams Unreleased Recordings CD set issued in 2008.  It is a more polished version with Williams' full band.  Listen it to it in the video below.

Most of the public got their first listen to the tune from the recording of Bill Monroe (1911-1996) and his Blue Grass Boys on a single released in May, 1950.  While appealing to bluegrass fans, it never generated the Tennessee Waltz-like popularity that Williams was hoping to achieve.  One wonders what would have happened if that original 1949 recording would have been released in a timely manner. Bill Monroe's version is below.

While never achieving the popularity of Tennessee Waltz, Alabama Waltz has shown a steady popularity as evidenced by countless covers, many available on YouTube.  If you want to create your own cover, perhaps the lead sheet below may help.

Credit goes to John Chambers abc collection for the score above.  I did transpose it from the key of D to the key of C to match Williams own choice of key.

Lyrics:

I was sad and blue, I was downhearted, too
It seemed like the whole world was lost
And I took a chance and we happened to dance
To the tune of the Alabama Waltz

Waltz, waltz, the Alabama Waltz
There all my fears and cares were lost
There in your arms, with all of your charms
We danced to the Alabama Waltz

The Alabama Waltz lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

For music geeks: the 1949 recording would suggest the tune is being sung in the key of B. I strongly suspect this is just the result of a tape recorder running a bit slow somewhere in the transfer process which lowered the pitch by half a step.

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