[1] The song was officially Alabama's first single release by RCA Nashville after they had signed with the label in March 1980.
The song is part of the band's first RCA album, My Home's in Alabama, which also includes two earlier singles: "I Wanna Come Over" and the title track; the earlier songs had originally been released by the small MDJ Records, even though there were later RCA pressings of "My Home's in Alabama" offered for retail sale and "I Wanna Come Over" was included as a B-side for their next single release, "Why Lady Why."
Country music historian Bill Malone, in his essay included in the liner notes for Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection, noted that "Tennessee River" was among those songs where they "exhibit a deep love for their state and region ... and in the unpretentious sense of place and loyalty to home and family that they display in their personal lives and performances."
The Billboard editors praised the composition, noting the powerful instrumental parts and identifiable vocal.
When the band moved from MDJ records to RCA, the label demanded that the "original" second verse in the song be dropped, so the band and producer Harold Shedd quickly cut a new version with session musicians and released the single a month later.