Q: What do musicians call a diminished fifth? A: An empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Someone at Dirt Bar thinks today may be Jack Daniel’s birthday. The Jack Daniel, inventor of the sour mash whiskey and favored rock and roll stage prop. Although they admit they can’t be sure – “while he made good whiskey, he did not keep good records” – they’re fairly sure he was born in September. And since September is running out of days, they’re throwing him a birthday party tonight.
Rocks Off has never personally cared for Jack Daniel’s. If we must drink whiskey, we generally prefer a less sweet brand such as Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark or Wild Turkey. Mostly, though, beer makes us drunk but whiskey makes us crazy, so we just avoid it altogether.
But musicians do a lot of things Rocks Off doesn’t personally care for, except make music. And there’s no denying the impact Mr. Daniel’s Lynchburg, Tenn.-born concoction has had on musicians – not just their bloodstreams, but their ideas.
So to say happy birthday (we think), we put together a salute to old Old No. 7’s musical appearances through photos, literature and lyrics. Bottoms up!
BACKSTAGE RIDERS
via The Smoking Gun; “bottle” is assumed to mean a fifth unless otherwise specified
Billy Idol (1 bottle, crew)
Guns N’ Roses (2 bottles)
Robin Thicke
The Killers (Brandon Flowers)
Van Halen 1982 (3 bottles)
Van Halen 2008 (1 pint)
Drake (1 bottle)
David Spade
Kevin Federline
Despite their dispersal, the X-Pensive Winos left trails of smoke in the popular culture with their hot licks…We were ready for a comeback and we convened in New York to stage it… Wine had long ago given way to Jack Daniel’s as the favored band beverage.
When we went to Canada to make the first record, we were out in the country, in the woods, and we drank every bottle of Jack Daniel’s in a fifty-mile radius! This was toward the end of the first week. We’d cleaned out all the stores. We had to send out to Montreal to buy some more.
Miranda Lambert, “Jack Daniels”
I fell in love with Jack Daniels again
Hes the best kind of lover that there is
I can have him when I please, he always satisfies my needs
Eric Church, “Jack Daniels”
I didn’t bleed and I aint black and blue
It aint hard to tell who got the best of who
Cause in the morning light I’m hard to recognize
Yeah Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night
David Allan Coe, “Jack Daniels If You Please”
Jack Daniels, if you please
Knock me to my knees
You can kill this pain
That’s driving me insane
Since my baby’s gone
Reverend Horton Heat, “Sue Jack Daniels”
I’m gonna sue Jack Daniels for hitting me with a trunk of a big ol’ live oak tree
He hurt me this morning with the bright sun light
I’m gonna sue Jack Daniels for what he did to my face last night
Jerry Lee Lewis, “Jack Daniels (Old No. 7)
Bogie Bogart, he cried, ‘Laureen, let’s sail the sea’
Honey, when I’m dyin’, have another drink of that stuff for me’
But now ya find him on Lynchburg all the time
But they keep him waiting at the end of the line
Shelby Lynne, “Old #7”
But baby, oh baby
I’m going, yes going crazy
Please help me, make it a double
Old #7
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This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.
