Below is a YouTube playlist I created entitled "Songs with Spirit". Spirit does not refer to ghosts and the like, though after tossing back more than a few you may see such a spirit! I also highlight just a few songs.
*Before I highlight a few songs I just want to implore you, if you drink please DO NOT get behind the wheel and drive. Have a designated driver. If you're turning to alcohol during bouts of depression, seek help not just for the drinking but also for the depression. Your physician can prescribe an anti-depressant, even recommend someone to counsel you. Trust me, alcohol doesn't help or make the depression go away.*
One song on the moonshine list is “Thunder Road” which was the theme song for the movie of the same name. Robert Mitchum wrote the story that was made into a screen play and ultimately found its way onto the big screen. It's the story of a veteran, Lucas Doolin (portrayed by Mitchum), going back to his mountain home after the Korean War to take over the family moonshining business. He finds himself in a different kind of war as big-city gangsters are trying to take over the family's business and the police are trying to put him in prison.
Way down on the whiskey list is the song “Rye Whiskey” sung by the late David “Stringbean” Akeman. Stringbean was a singer-songwriter, musician, comedian, actor and a semiprofessional baseball player. He was known for picking his banjo in the old-fashioned style and for a balanced mix of comedy and music during his shows. His wardrobe was amusing. He wore a long nightshirt tucked into a pair of short blue jeans which were belted around his knees — giving him the comical appearance of a very tall man with stubby legs. I remember Stringbean from the country music variety show Hee-Haw. In addition to being a regular on Hee-Haw he was also a member of The Grand Old Opry. Stringbean and his wife Estell were murdered on a Saturday night, the Nov. 10, 1973. He and Estell performed that night at the G.O.O. Their murderers were at their home looking for the large sum of money rumored to be hidden in the Akeman home. Because of Depression-era bank failures Stringbean didn't trust banks. He and Estell were frugal and they lived a very modest lifestyle. Their only luxuries were a color t.v. and a Cadillac. Cousins John Brown and Marvin D. Brown, in the act of ransacking the home, shot Stringbean first and then Estell, who begged for her life, as soon as they arrived home. The Browns never found the cash. All they got away with were a chainsaw and some firearms. The Akeman's neighbor and friend Louis “Grandpa” Jones found them the next day. The Browns were caught, tried and convicted. My memory of Stringbean is so vague since I was so young at the time. I was just 10 when he and his wife were murdered. “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estell” was written by Sam Bush, Guy Clark, and Verlon Thompson. You can hear it at YouTube by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/43Er1Pu37us
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| David 'Stringbean' Akeman |
The subject of a ballad brings to mind the one about Popcorn Sutton. Google his name, even search for his name on YouTube. He was a fascinating individual.
While some songs celebrate moonshine and the making of it, getting away with breaking the law and close calls with the law, Dolly Parton's “Daddy's Moonshine Still” reveals the adversity a family faces when the husband/father operates a still. Toward the end of the first verse she wrote “...we'd all've been better off dead than to live a life of shame and strife 'cause of Daddy's moonshine still...”. She reveals how his moonshine business made their home a living hell. Whether this is a true tale of her daddy or not, I don't know.
There's some humor to be had in these songs. There's Joe Nichols' “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” and Roger Creagar's “Everclear Song”.
NOTE: Sometimes a video gets deleted by the one who posted it in the first place or it will be marked 'not allowed in country' or some such (as I forget the actual wording). Sometimes I can find another video of the same song to replace the one gone but not always. So if you click the link to the playlist at You Tube to hear a particular song and it isn't there you know why.
MOONSHINE:
WHITE LIGHTNING- GEORGE JONES
CHUG-A-LUG- ROGER MILLER
MOUNTAIN DEW- GRANDPA JONES
FRANKLIN COUNTY MOONSHINE- JEAN SHEPARD
LET THE MOONSHINE- LUKE COMBS
BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD- ROBERT MITCHUM
COPPER KETTLE- JOAN BAEZ
DADDY'S MOONSHINE STILL-DOLLY PARTON
MOONSHINE MAN - MEL STREET
APPLE PIE MOONSHINE- JAKE OWEN
KENTUCKY MOONSHINER-GEORGE TUCKER
POPCORN SUTTON- DAN LEWIS
DARLING COREY- BILL MONROE
TEAR MY STILLHOUSE DOWN- GILLIAN WELCH
COPPERHEAD ROAD- STEVE EARLE
THE LEGEND OF JB RADER- CHAD TRIPLETT
MOONSHINE MAN- THE BLUEGRASS BROTHERS (not the same as Mel Street's "Moonshine Man")
BEER:
I LIKE BEER- TOM T HALL
BEER, BAIT, AND AMMO- KEVIN FOWLER
BEER RUN (extended version)- TODD SNIDER
REDNECKS, WHITE SOCKS AND
BLUE RIBBON BEER- JOHNNY RUSSELL
HELL, YEAH, I LIKE BEER- KEVIN FOWLER
BEER DRINKING WEATHER- CANAAN SMITH
LONE STAR BEER AND BOB
WILLS MUSIC- RED STEAGALL
THERE'S A TEAR IN MY BEER- HANK WILLIAMS, JR.
BEER THIRTY- BROOKS AND DUNN
BUBBLES IN MY BEER- BOB WILLS W/ TOMMY DUNCAN
BEER FOR MY HORSES- TOBY KEITH FEAT. WILLIE NELSON
PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKING BEER- BILLY CURRINGTON
99 BOTTLES- ZANE WILLIAMS
WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS- JERRY LEE LEWIS
COLD BEER CONVERSATION- GEORGE STRAIT
A SIX PACK TO GO- HANK THOMPSON
HOLD MY BEER- TRACE ADKINS
WHO DRANK MY BEER- TOMMY DUNCAN
BEER BARREL POLKA- FRANKIE YANKOVIC & HIS YANKS
WHISKEY:
WHISKEY UNDER THE BRIDGE- BROOKS AND DUNN
WHISKEY TRIP- GARY STEWART
JACK DANIELS, IF YOU PLEASE- DAVID ALLEN COE
TENNESSEE WHISKEY- GEORGE JONES
WHISKEY RIVER- WILLIE NELSON
WHISKEY WHISKEY- KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
AIN'T WORTH THE WHISKEY- COLE SWINDELL
WHISKEY AND YOU- CHRIS STAPLETON
WHISKEY AND RAIN- MICHAEL RAY
WEED, WHISKEY, AND WILLIE- BROTHERS OSBORNE
WHISKEY IF YOU WERE A WOMAN- HIGHWAY 101
DROVE ME TO THE WHISKEY- CASEY DONAHEW
WHISKEY BENT AND HELL BOUND- HANK WILLIAMS, JR.
THE WHISKEY AIN'T WORKING- TRAVIS TRITT & MARTY STUART
BOURBON IN KENTUCKY- DIERKS BENTLEY
WAY DOWN IN MY WHISKEY- ALAN JACKSON
MUST BE THE WHISKEY- CODY JINKS
IT AIN'T THE WHISKEY- GARY ALLAN
BRAND NEW WHISKEY- GARY STEWART
WHISKEY- PAT GREEN
SMOOTH SHOT OF WHISKEY- MIKE & THE MOONPIES
WHISKEY AND WHITLEY- JOSH WARD
WHISKEY IN YOUR WATER- EVAN FELKER
SHE'S MY WHISKEY- MARK WINSTON KIRK
ME AND JACK- JON PARDI
RYE WHISKEY- STRINGBEAN
WHISKEY LULLABY- BRAD PAISLEY & ALISON KRAUSS
WHISKEY ROAD- MERLE KILGORE
George Jones singing "Tennessee Whiskey"TEQUILA:
STRAIGHT TEQUILA NIGHT- JOHN ANDERSON
TEQUILA MAKES HER CLOTHES FALL OFF- JOE NICHOLS
CODIGO- GEORGE STRAIT
TEQUILA- THE CHAMPS
POUR ME ANOTHER TEQUILA- EDDIE RABBITT
TEN ROUNDS OF JOSE CUEVERO- TRACY BYRD
JOSE CUEVERO- SHELLY WEST
TEQUILA SHEILA- BOBBY BARE
TEQUILA- BROOKS AND DUNN (not the same as "Tequila" by The Champs")
WINE:
WINE ME UP- FARON YOUNG
YESTERDAY'S WINE- MERLE HAGGARD & GEORGE JONES
STOMP THEM GRAPES- MEL TILLIS
LITTLE OL' WINE DRINKER- ME LEFTY FRIZZELL
WHO WILL BUY THE WINE- CHARLIE WALKER
BACKSLIDERS WINE- MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY
STRAWBERRY WINE- DEANA CARTER
TWO MORE BOTTLES OF WINE- EMMYLOU HARRIS
HEAVEN WAS A DRINK OF WINE- MERLE HAGGARD
SANGRIA WINE- JERRY JEFF WALKER
OLD DOGS AND CHILDREN AND
WATERMELON WINE- TOM T HALL
WINE INTO WATER- T. GRAHAM BROWN
Deana Carter singing "Strawberry Wine"MISC:
DRINKING CHAMPAGNE- GEORGE STRAIT
THE EVERCLEAR SONG- ROGER CREAGER
MISERY AND GIN- MERLE HAGGARD
GIN, SMOKE, AND LIES- TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS
JIM AND JACK AND HANK- ALAN JACKSON
JIM, JACK AND ROSE- JOHNNY BUSH
Revised and updated 9/25/22. tkp
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