Last week, we listened to wine songs from 1900 through
1959. Today, we’ll finish out the
century with more songs about wine and see if they do get better with age...
1960
– 1969
By the close of the sixties there was a change in the
country, and in our music. Gone
were the halocyne days of yore. With the 60's came the "in your face" music with a
beat. Although those over the age
of thirty were loath to give up the music they had grown up with, those younger embraced the new music revolution.
It was 1962 when the movie Days of Wine & Roses was
released. That same year, the
film’s title track went to number 10 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
Lyricist Johnny Mercer and composer Henry Mancini were also awarded the Academy
Award for Best Original Song.
In
1963, Andy Williams recorded the song, which went to 23 on the Billboard Top
100 chart. It has become a jazz
standard over the years, performed by Lenny Bureau, Ella Fitzgerald, and Perry
Como.
The lonely night discloses
Just a passing breeze filled with memories
Of the golden smile that introduced me to
The days of wine and roses and you
Click
below to listen to Days of Wine & Roses.
 |
| Don Ho |
Tiny
Bubbles became the theme song for
Hawaiian singer, Don Ho. Recorded
in 1966, it was his most popular song, going to number 8 on the Pop and Easy
Listening charts. Ho’s Tiny Bubbles
album remained in the Top 20 for almost a year.
Tiny
bubbles (tiny bubbles)
In the wine (in the wine)
Make me happy (make me happy)
Make me feel fine (make me feel fine)
Click
below to listen to Tiny Bubbles.
 |
| Hazlewood & Sinatra |
Summer
Wine was first released in 1966 –
but it took song writer Lee Hazlewood and singer Nancy Sinatra performing it
together, to make it a hit in 1967.
This was the first of many duets for Sinatra and Hazlewood.
Strawberries
cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all
these things
Take off your silver spurs and help me
pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine
Ohhh-oh summer wine
Click
below to listen to Summer Wine.
 |
| The Fireballs |
In 1968, The Fireballs recorded Tom Paxton’s song, Bottle
of Wine. It went to number 9 on the Hot 100 chart. The group took their name after the Jerry Lee Lewis hit,
Great Balls of Fire.
Bottle
of wine, fruit of the vine
when you gonna let me get sober?
leave me alone, let me go home.
let me go back and start over.
Click
below to listen to Bottle of Wine.
1970
– 1979
At
the beginning of the decade, Pop music dominated the charts, but by the
mid-70’s, Rock music had evolved. There
was Hard Rock, Country Rock, and Light (or Progressive) Rock to choose
from. But wrapping up that rockin’
decade, it was Disco that captured America’s ear, and topped the charts.
 |
| Neil Diamond |
Writer
and singer, Neil Diamond kicked off the decade with a song that’s still a favorite
– Cracklin’ Rosie. Stories
abound about what this song means.
Supposedly ‘Crackin’ Rosie’ is a homemade wine that a native Canadian
tribe’s single men drink while sitting around a fire, mourning their state of
singleness. Diamond heard this
story and wrote the song. Others say ‘cracklin’ refers to a sparkling wine and
Rosie is a play on the word Rose’.
Either
way, Cracklin’ Rose was a hit single and went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
in the U.S., number 2 on the Australian Singles chart, and number 3 on the UK
Singles chart.
Oh,
I love my Rosie child
You got the way to make me happy
You and me we go in style
Cracklin' Rose
Click
below to listen to Cracklin’ Rosie.
 |
| Tom T. Hall |
It
was 1972 when Tom T. Hall released what would become his third number 1 song –
(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine. Hall
said he wrote the song after talking with an old janitor while waiting for a
plane at the Miami airport. The old man summed up his life saying that the only
things that mattered were his old dog, his children, and watermelon wine.
Ain't
but three things in this world that's worth a solitary dime
But old dogs and children and
watermelon wine
Click
below to listen to Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.
 |
| Elton John |
Although
it was released as a B-side record, Elton John’s Elderberry Wine struck a chord with his fans. Described as Retro Rock, the song was
never released as an A side record, but it gained a following when it was
played on album-oriented rock stations.
Elton John began performing it at his live performances by the end of
1973.
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How
can I ever get it together
Without a wife in line
To pick the crop and get me hot
On elderberry wine
Click
below to listen to Elderberry Wine.
 |
| Silver Connection |
Silver
Connection, a German female trio, released their disco wine song, Pour the Old Wine in New Bottles in 1976.
Although this song was actually a sleeper that went nowhere for them. Silver
Connection made their name with Fly Robin Fly in 1975.
The group was together from 1974 to 1979. (Not surprising, since they
simply sang the same 5 or 6 lines, over and over and over….)
Pour
the old wine in new bottles
Now is the time for a new beginning
Baby, hear what I say
Buy me old wine in new bottles
Put the old love back into my lonely
heart
Click below to listen to Pour
the Old Wine in New Bottles.
1980
– 1989
The
Eighties brought about Alternative/New Wave music, R&B Dance music, and some Punk
Rock. Pop and Country remained
favorite standards, but by the mid-eighties, Disco was dead. By the end of the decade,
Rap and Hip-Hop were rising in popularity.
 |
| Micky Gilley |
In
1980, the movie Urban Cowboy was released. Set in Gilley’s, the Pasadena, Texas bar owned by Mickey
Gilley, the movie centered around a county boy who had moved to the city, and
the bar where he hangs with his on again/off again wife. A number of popular songs came from the
movie soundtrack including Mickey Gilley’s Rockabilly version of Honky Tonk
Wine. The song was originally written and performed by
Willie Nelson.
Yeah,
yeah, sweet, sweet honky tonk wine
Keeps me out of my mind
All she left behind was some sweet
honky tonk wine.
Click
below to listen to Honky Tonk Wine.
 |
| George Jones & Merle Haggard |
And here's another song written and released in 1971 by Willie Nelson, but it didn’t attract
attention until it became a country duet over ten years later. Merle Haggard and George Jones recorded
Yesterday’s Wine in 1982 and it
went to number 1 on the Billboard Country chart.
Yesterday's wine, yesterday's wine
Aging with time, like yesterday's wine
Yesterday's wine, yesterday's wine
We're aging with time like yesterday's wine
Click
below to listen to Yesterday’s Wine.
 |
| UB40 |
The British Reggae group UB40 released what became a wine anthem,
Red, Red Wine in 1983. Although it was originally written and
recorded by Neil Diamond, the Reggae version appealed to 80’s listeners. While the song topped out in the U.S.
at number 34, it went on to hit number 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands,
and New Zealand.
Red,
red wine
Stay close to me
Don't let me be alone
It's tearin' apart
My blue, blue heart
Click
below to listen to Red, Red Wine.
1990-
1999
The
music of the Nineties saw Hip Hop, Rap, Grunge, and contemporary R&B grow
in popularity. Alternative Rock
lost the glam sound of the 80’s and became part of the musical mainstream. Pop became more urban, and country music
seemed to explode during the decade.
 |
| Tracey Byrd |
Tracey
Byrd broke onto the country music scene in 1993. One year later he released Watermelon
Crawl, which went to number 4 on
the Billboard Hot Country Singles. It was his first song on the Billboard Hot
100, coming in at #81.
He
said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine
Made from the biggest watermelons on
the vine
Help yourself to some, but obey the
law if you drink
Don't drive do the watermelon crawl
Click
below to listen to Watermelon Crawl.
 |
| David Lee Murphy |
Country singer and songwriter David Lee Murphy released Dust
on the Bottle in 1995. Murphy said took
him 15 minutes to write the song that became his only number 1 hit on
Billboard’s Hot Country Singles.
"There might be a little dust on the bottle
But don't let it fool ya about what's inside
There might be a little dust on the bottle
It's one of those things that gets sweeter with time"
Click
below to listen to Dust on the Bottle.
2000
- 2012
Music
for the new century was just....unremarkable.
There was no great sound to kick off the 21st Century. Pop music remained a favorite, especially with the tweens and teens. Hip Hop, Rock, Post Grunge, and Country maintained their audiences. It was Adult Contemp that seemed to sum up what listeners felt, tripling in
popularity after 9/11.
 |
| The Who |
There are a few
groups that will never lose their popularity, and so it is with English rock band, The
Who. In 2004, the group released Old
Red Wine as the final track on the
Then and Now album. The riff at
the end of the song was actually played a few years earlier on My Generation during the 2000 tour.
Old
red wine
Not worth a dime
Gonna have to drink it with yer
Some other time
Click
below to listen to Old Red Wine.
(This
is a shorter version – but worth it for Who fans.)
There
are so many more great wine songs, it could become the basis of a single blog! Hopefully, you’ve heard a few old favorites. And I have no doubts that most of you have enjoyed a
little fruit of the vine while
you listened to some of the most popular songs about wine from the past 100 years - Wine in the Key of Life.
~
Joy
Chenin
Blanc is not a grape that’s really
raved about, despite its French pedigree, but it's one of the most adaptable and
blendable grapes out there, and it relies on the winemaker to make it
memorable. A Chenin Blanc wine can be crafted to be sweet and honeyed,
minerally and refreshing, or crisp and sparkling. It all depends on what style
you like, so find a Chenin that appeals to you, chill it down, and enjoy liquid
gold on a hot summer’s evening.
As
of last year, Moscato, the new white wine darling of the industry, became the
third most popular white wine in the U.S.
The grape can be crafted into a light, dryer wine, or as a sweet,
sparkling like the Italian Asti Spumante.
Grab a bottle – or three, chill well, and put on some Don Ho & Tiny Bubbles....
Riesling grapes are mainly recognized for the sweet German
wines they can produce. This is
another grape with a floral nose, wrapped around the flavors of pineapple,
honey and citrus. Riesling can also be crafted in an off-dry style and still
maintain that fruity flavor, plus a wonderful, crisp finish, which is so welcome
during the sultry, summer weekends. 
So,
with those hot, muggy days upon us, now’s the time to stock up on some cool wines to banish your thirst, and pair wonderfully with those
fresh-from-the-garden meals. Now, pop a cork, chill out, and Enjoy!
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