6 Songs That Could Drive You To Drink

I like beer, a game of darts and a sing-song in the pub

A ‘Pub With No Beer’ is unforgivable. Slim Dusty’s hit was one of the first records I bought when Father Christmas delivered me a shiny new Dansette record player, back in 1958 when I was still in short trousers.

A strange choice, as rock’n’roll numbers were my influences back then. 45s by Slim Dusty, The Kingston Trio’s ‘Tom Dooley’, and a ballad by a girl group, The Poni-Tails, ‘Born Too Late’, were the first records I bought with my hard-earned pocket money. Not a Buddy Holly or Elvis record in sight.

‘Pub With No Beer’ reached #3 on the UK Chart in February 1959. It was also the first Australian single to become a gold disc and was the biggest-selling record by an Australian at the time.

Slim Dusty had a sequel follow up single, ‘The Answer To A Pub With No Beer’, explaining the reason for the delivery truck’s failure to arrive and describing the townsmen’s efforts to solve the problem.

Before his barrel ran dry he even had a sequel to the sequel, ‘The Sequel to a Pub with No Beer’.

It’s hard to imagine Australians without beer, but Slim Dusty’s tale of woe is a sobering thought.

With beer flowing through their veins, The Blues Brothers wracked up a huge $300 beer tab at Bob’s Country Bunker.

Things didn’t start well when those good ol’ country loving fans derided the Blue Brothers' choice of music. Clearly not ready for R&B, these fun-loving music fans yearned for more of the same — songs about misery, dead dogs, and failed relationships ending in D.I.V.O.R.C.E.

With beer bottles bouncing off the stage’s chicken wire, Jake and Elwood save the day by remembering the 1950s American Western TV series theme tune — ‘Rawhide’.

Somebody should have warned Jake and Elwood that there are only two kinds of music played at Bob’s Country Bunker …. Country and Western.

Merle Haggard wrote ‘The Bottle Let Me Down’, and it became a huge #3 hit on the US Country chart in 1966.

“Each night I leave the bar room when it’s over Not feeling any pain at closing time”

Well, I bet a few of us have done that drowning our sorrows. But the liberating effect of booze is short-lived. The next morning, with a raging thirst and mother of all headaches, we tell ourselves — never again.

Merle made it worse by mixing his drinks. Not satisfied with beer, the wine he had turned to no longer had the same effect on how he felt.

Alcohol is a depressant. It can ruin relationships, affect our thoughts, feelings, and actions, and can impair our long-term mental health.

Merle was a wild one in his younger days. He had a lengthy rap sheet. For robbing a Bakersfield roadhouse and trying to escape from the local jail, he served time in San Quentin Prison.

After seeing Johnny Cash play a San Quentin Prison concert on New Year’s Day, 1960, Merle changed his ways, and settled down, becoming a major Country star in the process.

Comedians Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett worked with David Frost and John Cleese in the early 1960s. They were also successful script-writers, and between them must have written thousands of gags.

In 1971 they combined their talents and starred in their own BBC TV show — The Two Ronnies.

There were 93 episodes and it was the BBC flagship comedy sketch show, running for 16 years, and achieving peak viewing figures of 18.5 million.

One of the highlights of their show was a musical parody of the top acts of the day. Status Quo, Dolly Parton, Broadway Musicals, Brass Bands, and Morris Dancers all suffered at their hands.

In this video, Cockney geezers Chas & Dave are the victims in a hilarious Christmas take-off down at the pub, where the beer is really flowing.

Chas Hodges later said that he enjoyed the parody, saying that if The Two Ronnies did ya, then it was a sign you’d made it in the music business.

Chas Hodges had been around the British rock’n’roll scene since 1960. He was in a very successful British band, The Outlaws, in which a certain Ritchie Blackmore was also a member. Chas was also a session musician and backed Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, and Bill Haley when they toured the UK in the early 60s.

Whilst in a band touring the USA, Chas said he felt himself a bit of a fraud, singing to Americans in an American accent. He decided to be himself and started singing with his London Cockney accent. I bet he’s pleased he did, for after teaming up with bass player Dave Peacock, Chas & Dave were formed in 1972.

Over the years the duo had 19 records in the UK Top 100, with 4 ‘Top Ten’ hits, and sold over a million records in 16 years.

Chas & Dave, and their old music hall style of playing, remind me of what traditional pubs were like in the 1960s. At weekends in the evenings, pubs would be packed with someone on the old Joanna belting out a tune with some guy playing the spoons keeping time and acting as percussion.

Punters would gather around the pianna in these Boozers and have a right good knees up and sing-song. Then, overnight, Jukeboxes were installed and killed off all that bonhomie.

Note. In Cockney English, “piano” is pronounced “pianna,” which rhymes with “Joanna.”

According to Google, to most people living outside London, the term Cockney simply means a Londoner, but traditionally to be known as a ‘true’ Cockney you have to be born within earshot of the Bow Bells from the Church of St Mary Le Bow in Cheapside, the East End of London.

Maybe Alex Markham can help me out on this one?

Darius Rucker has come a long way since his days as singer and guitarist in Hootie & the Blowfish, a rock band he founded in 1986. Since 2008 Darius has been a constant on the US Country chart.

In 2009 he won the Country Music Association ‘New Artist of the Year’ award.

To end on a positive note, Darius Rucker sings about ‘Beers and Sunshine’. A song about quitting work for the day, grabbing a few ice-cold beers, and having a good time hanging out with friends drinking beer.

I do hope Darius drank sensibly and did not take that boat out onto the water or drive his car whilst under the influence of drink. Far better to designate the driving to someone else and end the evening playing the guitar around the campfire with friends.

Health Warning: Remember folks, drink sensibly and in moderation.