Songs about Cocktails and Drinking

Aloha friends,

I am looking to put together a list of popular songs that involve cocktails, martinis, alcohol, drinking, and other such sinful activity.

I would like them to predate 1970 if possible. Let's just say that "Wasting Away in Margeritaville" won't work. :)

Please add anything else you can think of. Thank you in advance.

Here is a small list I have already put together of ones I know:
Days of Wine and Roses
Tiny Bubbles
Tequila
Cocktails for Two
Rum and Coca-cola
One for My Baby
You Go To My Head
Cabaret
One Mint Julep

These came up in a search, but I don't know them. Do you know them?
The Martini - Fred Astaire
Hot Toddy - Julie London
Moonlight Cocktail - Ames Brothers
Scotch & Soda - Kingston Trio
Absinthe - Duke Ellington
Champagne Taste - Eartha Kitt
Delicious - Jim Backus & Friend

Cheers!
~CC

oh and they can be instrumental - not necesarily lyricly driven songs - as long as they have to do with cocktails.

The 1963 album Cugi's Cocktails by Xavier Cugat has the following:

1. Cuba Libre
2. One Mint Julep (mentioned above)
3. Old-Fashioned
4. Daiquiri
5. Cocktails for Two (mentioned above)
6. Rum and Coca-Cola (mentioned above)
7. Cugi's Cocktail
8. Grasshopper
9. Blue Champagne
10. Zombie
11. Manhattan
12. Singapore Sling

That's Amore

(In Napoli where love is King)
(When boy meets girl)
(Here's what they say)

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big-a pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine
Like you've had too much wine
That's amore

Bells'll ring
Ting-a-ling-a-ling
Ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you'll sing "Vita bella"
Hearts'll play
Tippi-tippi-tay
Tippi-tippi-tay
Like a gay tarantella

When the stars make you drool
Joost-a like pasta fazool
That's amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you're not dreamin', signore
'Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that's amore

(When the moon hits your eye)
(Like a big-a pizza pie, that's amore)

That's amore

(When the world seems to shine
(Like you've had too much wine, that's amore)

That's amore

(Bells will ring)
(Ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(And you'll sing "Vita bella")
(Vita bell-vita bella)
(Hearts will play)
(Tippi-tippi-tay, tippi-tippi-tay)
(Like a gay tarantella)

Lucky fella

When the stars make you drool just like pasta fazool
That's amore (that's amore)
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you're not dreaming, signore
'Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that's amore

Neptune TIki had some vintage tune last year at Hawaiian Inn that had this rich accented voice over Mantovani strings asking provocatively "Would you like some champagne?"

It was a hoot.

Aloha, Neptune - who was that guy?

There's a great country western singer, Hank Thompson, that did a whole album of drinking songs. His big hit was "Six Pack to Go"

"I got time
for one more round
and a
six pack to go."

Here's a link to one of his albums

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6738728/a/Six+Pack+To+Go.htm

You can listen to a few samples on the link. Most of his songs are about drinking beer, but he's got some other gems on this album as well. Check out "Hangover Tavern" and "Drunkard's Blues"

A few years I put together a compilation of fairly obscure drinking songs from my LP collection, and titled the collection 'Cocktail Seduction.' All of these songs predate 1970. Some of the tracks (6,7,9) are comedy sketches that involve bar scenes/drinking/ seduction, and the Gordon Jenkins tracks are also sketches, set in a boring/nightmarish cocktail party.

1. Rockin' and Drinkin' Music - Ray Harvey
2. The Drinking Man's Diet - Allan Sherman
3. Suck 'em Up - Don Ho
4. Tipsy #3 - The Chumps
5. Schlitz Beer - The Baker's Dozen
6. Sub-bourbon Living - Bea Benedict & Elvira Allman
7. Separate Bar Stools B - Benedict, M. Blanc, & K. Howard
8. A Barfly's Love Song - Robie Lester
9. Cocktail Piano - Mike Nichols & Elaine May
10. Only a Glass of Champagne - Gordon Whelan
11. The Fourth Dream - Part One - Gordon Jenkins
12. Everything's So Chic, It's a Bore - Cindy Lord
13. The Fourth Dream Part Two - Gordon Jenkins
14. Glasses and Ashes and Bottles and Cans - Jackie Cain & Roy Kral
15. The Ballad of Sad Young Men - Lindy Doherty
16. Angel Eyes - Frank Sinatra
17. When the Bars Close - Lindy Doherty
18. Last Call - Julia Lee
19. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Frank Sinatra
20. The Sixth Dream - Gordon Jenkins
21. Lee's Hoochie - Oscar Brand

Vern

Thanks Vern and everyone. This has helped alot. Now I'm thirsty...

Cheers!

The Jim Backus rendition of "Delicious" is a MUST! It's my A-#1 favorite midcentury silly elegant drunkenness song. Very nutty. Hanford has it, but I'm not sure where he got it.

Another favorite drinkin' song here in the Lemoore household is from the CQ soundtrack, which coincidentally is the Product of the Day today. It's "Ce Soir Je Vais Boire" by Claude Francois, which I think translates to "Tonight I Will Drink." It absolutely the most rousing, I-must-hit-the-town-NOW! song, and we play it a LOT. The soundtrack is from 2001, but the song is from 1967.

'Martini Time' by the Reverend Horton Heat.

.."warm beer,cold women".....-by tom waits.

How could I forget?:
'Quiet Whiskey' by Wynonie Harris

If that doesn't get yer toes tappin' call the coroner.

Well, we are not pre 1970, but we have a vintage sound...

Tiki King and the Idol pleasures

Shake it!
Bathtub gin
Drunk a thousand times

"God Loves a Drunk"
by Richard Thompson

(one of the most beautiful songs in history. if you've ever heard it you'd understand why)

Will there be any bartenders up there in heaven?
Will the pubs never close? Will the glass never drain?
No more DTs and no shakes and no horrors
The very next morning, you feel right as rain

'Cause God loves a drunk, lowest of men
Like the dogs in the street and the pigs in the pen
But a drunk's only trying to get free of his body
And soar like an eagle high up there in heaven
His shouts and his curses they are just hymns and praises
To kick-start his mind now and then
O God loves a drunk, come raise up your glasses, amen

Does God really care for your life in the suburbs?
Your dull little life full of dull little things
And bring up the babies to be just like daddy
And maybe I'll be there when he gives out the wings

But God loves a drunk, although he's a fool
Oh he wets in his pants and he falls off his stool
And he can't hear the insults, and whispers go by him
As he leans in the doorway and he sings sally racket
He can't feel the cold rain beat down on his body
And soak through his clothes to the skin
O God loves a drunk, come raise up your glasses, amen

Will there be any pen-pushers up there in heaven?
Does crawling and wage-slaving win you God's love?
I pity you worms with your semis and pensions
If you think that'll get you to the kingdom above

Oh God loves a drunk, although he's a clown
Oh you can't help but laugh as he gags and falls down
But he don't give a curse for what people think of him
He screams at his demons alone in the darkness
He's staying alive for just one more pint bottle
Won't you throw him a few pennies, friend?
Ah God loves a drunk, for ever and ever, amen

I can think of a couple of Spike Jones songs (as well as "Cocktails For Two", mentioned above): "Clink, Clink, Another Drink" and the wonderful "I Haven't Been Home For Three Whole Nights", the latter being a cautionary tale/celebration of excessive imbibing:

"I haven't been home for three whole nights,
Last night, tonight and tomorrow"

Some others that come to mind are:

"What's The Use Of Getting Sober" - Louis Jordan
"Drinkin' By Myself" - Wynonie Harris
"Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" - Wynonie Harris (& others)
"Rhythm & Booze" - Corky Jones
"Booze Party" - Three Aces & A Joker
"Pink Champagne" - Joe Liggins
"Hittin' The Bottle" - Jimmie Lunceford
"Gin, Gin" - Le Trio Ferret

The night they invented champgne from Gigi. And Mr booze from Robin and the seven hoods. Sinatra, Crosby, Sammy, Martin. Great song!

There's the Art Van Damme LP's "Martini Time" and "Manhattan Time" (nice covers, too), and Kay Adams' "Alcohol And Tears" - which you might want to stay away from as it's more on the depressing side with songs like the title track, "I Let A Stranger (Buy The Wine)","Bottle Baby", and "Who'll Buy The Wine"... gad, I need a drink just from looking at it...

"Lil' Ol' Winedrinker me"-Dean Martin
"Bubbles in my Beer" Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
There's a great song called "Rye Whiskey" (country tune) that has the lyrics
"If the ocean were whiskey and I was a duck,
I'd dive to the bottom and never come UP!" Don't know who sang it tho!
"Old Man Mosey" by Louis Prima involves some debauchary with said title character...
That's all for now, Cherry! Can't wait to see the finished list!

Hi (waves) I'd like to suggest a couple newer songs that might fit the concept depending on musical tastes

Hey bartender - The Blues Brothers

Baby & Me & the bottle makes three - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

One Bourbon, one scotch, one beer and I drink alone - George Thorogood (maybe not, just a suggestion)

and one I think you will like from the requested time period, my main purpose was to suggest this song.

Bottle of wine - The Fireballs

Cherry-

2 more from Sinatra- "I believe in You" -in which he sings of gin & vemouth & also "I get a kick out of you" -which of course contains the classic line "I get no kick from Champagne"

and 1 from Dino, the wonderful "Hey, brother, Pour the wine"

CHEERS!

Thank you EVERYONE for all of your help with this thread. You can see the final results on this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22152

"Bottle of Wine" by the Fireballs....("when you gonna, let me get sober")....oh about 67or so....Doc Watson also with "Bottle of Wine"(whole different take)...."Pink Champagne" by Joe liggins....early 50's....."Pizza and Beer" by Luis Prima....."Married to the Bottle" by The Johnson Boys (1985) "Booze It" by Ray Campi...."Hot Toddy" by a lot of different artists....."Scotch on the Rocks" by The Band of the Black Watch...Ballad of Thunder Road" by Robert Mitchum...Dee Dee Sharp "The Bottle or Me" "Bottom of the Fifth" by Charlie Louvin .....Merle Haggard did "The Bottle Let Me Down" .......Clint Eastwood (yep! Roddy Yeats) and Ray Charles doing "Beers to You"!!...James Brown did "The Drunk" (1965)....Eddie Harris (great sax!) did "Drunk Man".....Joan Armatrading did "Water With the Wine"...."Wine,Women and Song" by Smokey Robinson .....wasn't "Lets GO Get Stoned" (Ray Charles) and "Everybody must Get Stoned" (Bob Dylan) as much about drink as alternative highs?....there's sooo many more but I gotta get to work!!

One more!.."Hey Bartender"...Floyd Dixon,Blues Brothers, Blue "Bo Bo" Blazer.(the best one!)

I type so slowly there was bound to be ( Whoa!" Tequila Sunrise" Eagles!) some overlap!

[ Edited by: Hula Cat 2007-04-12 08:56 ]

This is one of my favorite CDs of all time

I got my copy autographed after we played football with the bands roadies outside a bowling alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They use to be such a good band until Dave fell in love with an actress...(sigh)

Sorry Cheri, I didn't mean to hijack your thread :blush:

How bout "I Got Loaded" by:....oh hell,I can't think of who did it! Think it's sumpin from the 40s/50s.............Remy

Peppermint Harris, I think.

Yeah pappy, I think that WAS the guy. Tanks....R.

the Pepper Harris "I Got Loaded"was 1950.......there's one " (I Got Loaded At) Smokey Joe"s" by Thurston Harris around 1958 that's a fine song.....and "Bottoms Up" by Carl and Pearl Butler (late 60's-early 70's?)

on serious note: "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchel and a beautiful cover of that song by Diana Krall/

How about "Okole Maluna aka Bottoms up"
by the Mai Kai Gents

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Then there's "Okolehau" by Augie Colon.

Drunkard's Waltz - Martin Mull
Wine Wine Wine - the Electric Flag
Daddy's Drinkin' Up Our Christmas - Commander Cody
Rum and Coca Cola - the Andrews Sisters
Too Drunk to F*ck - the Dead Kennedys
WPLJ - the Mothers of Invention
Starting in the Middle of the Day (We Can Drink Our Politics Away) - Matching Mole
Give Me a Pig foot (and a Bottle of Beer) - Bessie Smith
Six-Pack O' Sunshine - Ed Sanders
Liquor in the front (Poker in the Rear) - Tex and the Horseheads
Man No Sober - Steel Pulse

I was at the dollar store and got a great CD called Luau. THis dollar store had lots of tiki invitations and stuff, that looked much better than $1

Coconut Water - Robert Mitchum
from the CD "Calypos is like so"

[ Edited by: Digitiki 2007-04-19 15:23 ]