Today in country music, July 30.

On this day in 2011, Chris Young's sophomore album, The Man I Want To Be, was certified gold by the RIAA, selling more than 500,000 units… the CD was released in September 2009.

Today in 2008, Carrie Underwood's used guitar strings were made into a bracelet as part of the wearyourmusic.org artist program.

Kenny Chesney’s song, "The Good Stuff," began its third straight week at #1 on Billboard in 2002.

And on this day in 1985, Alabama's albums Mountain Music and Feels So Right were certified quadruple platinum, while The Closer You Get was certified triple platinum.

The Closer You Get... was the fourth album from Alabama. It was released in 1983. All three singles from this album — "The Closer You Get", "Lady Down on Love" and "Dixieland Delight" — reached Number One on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1983. "She Put the Sad in All His Songs" was also recorded by Ronnie Dunn (who formed the duo Brooks & Dunn with Kix Brooks in 1991) and was released by him as a single in 1983.

"The Closer You Get" the single was written in 1980 by J.P. Pennington and Mark Gray, members of Exile. However, the song was not immediately recorded by Alabama. Two earlier versions were released as singles - the first by Exile (which failed to gain much attention) and singer Don King, whose version reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1981. In addition, Rita Coolidge recorded the song for her 1981 album, Heartbreak Radio, and released her version as a single.

Alabama's version differed substantially from King's acoustic version. According to country music writer Tom Roland, the song featured "distorted guitars, a more elaborate arrangement and an altered vocal sound."

The end result was Alabama's 10th No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In addition, "The Closer You Get" registered enough airplay on Top 40 radio stations to peak at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.