For my fourth Top 10 list I’m tackling — as promised — my first non-beer topic, though it’s beer-related. As far as I’m concerned, music and beer are as interconnected as two things can be. They certainly enhance one another. I’m a failed musician —saxophone and clarinet — and in fact was originally a music theory/composition when I started college. I wanted to write classical music, but quickly discovered it was highly unlikely one could make much of a living at it, and I was not interested in teaching. So I switched majors to communications, although my love for music, of course, never left me. I listen to a fairly wide range of music, from classical to jazz to that newfangled rock and roll, but songs about beer tend more often to be country, traditional rock or, oddly, punk. Without really intending to, I’ve managed to collect over 500 songs that have to do specifically with beer and maybe 100 more that are about alcohol or drinking more generally. Anyway, here’s List #4:
Top 10 Favorite Beer Songs
Give Me a Red Hot Mama and An Ice Cold Beer by Smiley Maxedon [YouTube]
John Barleycorn Must Die by Traffic (there are many, many versions of this old English folk song, but I like Traffic’s best, though Jethro Tull has a great live version.) [Traffic] [Jetro Tull Live]
Beer by the Asylum Street Spankers [YouTube]
Beer Is Good by PsychoStick [YouTube]
Lager Delirium by Bad Manners (they also have another kick-ass beer song, Special Brew.) [Lager Delirium] [Special Brew]
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by John Lee Hooker (though George Thorogood’s version ain’t half bad either.) [John Lee Hooker] [George Thorogood]
Beer by Reel Big Fish [YouTube]
Beer by The Reverend Horton Heat (his “Beer 30” is great, too.) [Beer] [Beer 30]
Beer Bottle Boogie by Koko Taylor [YouTube]
Drinking Beer by Jimmy Witherspoon [YouTube]
Some of the other songs that almost made the list were the Ballad of Pilsner Beer by Agriculture Club, Beer by Cory Morrow, another song titled simply Beer by Secret Agent 8, Beer Drinkers by Drive By Truckers, Beer Drinkin’ Woman by Memphis Slim, Brew’s Blues by Cal Tjader, Hair of the Dog by the Morrells (might have been higher, but it’s unclear that it’s beer), the Philosopher’s Song by Monty Python (a true gem, but it’s not strictly beer, but includes all alcohol), There Stands the Glass by Webb Pierce (and Van Morrison just recorded a cool version of this song), Titties & Beer by Frank Zappa, and Warm Beer and Cold Women by Tom Waits.
And while I can’t say I often give it a listen, The Beer Barrel Polka (a.k.a. Roll Out the Barrel) can’t be completely ignored. But I do love a good polka, I must confess, especially something like the Drink Beer Polka, by the Leningrad Cowboys.
Also, if you have any ideas for future Top 10 lists you’d like to see, drop me a line.