Folk Songs About Alcohol

Drink, booze, whiskey, beer, wine, homebrew, moonshine, drunk driving, etc. AA Alcoholics Anonymous - Friends of Bill W. - founded June 10, 1935 in Akron, Ohio. Prohibition began in the United States January 16, 1920. The Amendment ending prohibition passed December 5, 1933. Utah cast the deciding vote.

[drinking, alcohol]
Old Spice Boys\ I'm Not An Alcoholic\ Lost in Spice\ Self
Erica Wheeler\ Sober Harley Guys\ Almost Like Tonight\ Blue Pie
Hijinks\ Demon Alcohol\ Slowpoke\ Self
Captain Gravel\ Goodbye Booze\ Mountain Lair\ Self
I Drink \ MARY GAUTHIER \ Mercy Now \ Lost Highway
Hot Club Sandwich\ Old Joe's Hittin' the Jug\ Green Room\ Modern Hot
Roger Miller\ Chug-A-Lug\ King of the Road\ Laser Light
Mary Gauthier\ Christmas in Paradise\ Filth & Fire\ Signature

Holly Near has a song called Drunken Sailor on "Show Up," and there  are 
songs about alcoholism: Anne Hills with Your New Companion; I think  Rory Block 
and Kitty Donohoe have songs, I'd have to check.

[drunk driving]
Mindy Simmons: I Didn't Mean It, I Don't Get It  (A Fine Life in The Country), self 
Luke Liddy: The Day His Reputation Lost Its Shine   (Imperfection), Sidewalk 1001
Ricky Skaggs: Drunken Driver  (Bluegrass  Rules), Rounder 0801

[moonshine and prohibition]
Jim & Jesse\ Ballad of Thunder Road
Del Rey\ Can't Get That Stuff No More\ Snap Shot\ Hobemian
Billy Joe Shaver\ Wild Cow Gravy\ Freedom's Child\ Compadre
Si Kahn\ Moonshine Man\ New Wood\ Philo
Redbird\ Moonshiner\ Redbird\ Signature
Grandpa Jones\ Mountain Dew\ Grandpa Jones\ Country Music Hall
Harvey Reid & Joyce Andersen\ Moonshiner's Blues\ The Great Sad River\ Woodpecker
Salamander Crossing\ Tear My Stillhouse Down\ Henry Street\ Signature
Moonshiner's Blues, Harvey Reid & Joyce Anderson, The Great Sad River, Woodpecker
Redbird\ Moonshiner\ Redbird\ Signature
Tanglefoot\ Prohibition\Dollar Bill \ Captured Live\ Borealis
Zeke Hoskin\ Valparaiso in a Rowboat\ Lethal Reprieve\ Self
Delmore Brothers / Mountain Dew / New York 1940 - 1941

[a list from Emmett Boaz]
Joan Baez --Copper Kettle
Bill Adams -- Bootlegger Blues
Robert Mitchum -- Thunder Road
Steve Earle -- Copperhead Road
Steve Earle-- Week of Living Dangerously
Bascomb Lamar Lunsford --Mountain Dew
Charley Poole -- Goodbye Booze
Roy Acuff -- Wreck on the Highway
Roger Miller -- Chug-A-Lug
Nanci Griffith -- Canadian Whiskey
Merle Haggard -- Swinging Doors
""           ""         --  I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
""           ""        -- The Bottle Let Me Down
Lester Flatt   -- Drinking That Mash
Ian and Sylvia -- Moonshine Can
""   ""     ""       -- Nancy Whiskey
""  ""     ""      -- You Were On My Mind
""  ""     ""     --  Early Morning Rain
Coley Jones -- Drunkards Special (Harry Smith Collection)
Mike Cross -- I Don't Know Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well (but I Know Who Found it.)
Linda Ronstadt -- Two More Bottles of Wine
Webb Pierce -- There Stands the Glass
Tom T. Hall -- I Like Beer
" "                 - Salute to a Switchblade
Jerry Jeff Walker -- Sangria Wine
Ferlin Husky  -- Drunkin' Driver
Guy Clark -- Let Him Roll
Louvin Bros. -- The Kneeling Drunkards Plea
""          ""  --  The Drunkard's Doom 
Robert Wilkins --Ol' Jim Canaan's
Ira Louvin -- Bottom of the Bottle
Lost and Found -- Red Mountain Wine

Additional song suggestions? Email Richard Gillmann


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