"Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" – Stick McGhee and His Buddies
Recorded in New York, February 14, 1949
To think such an incredible and revolutionary piece of music could have been lost to history: Sticks McGhee played this song frequently while in the military, and in 1947, he recorded the song for a single on Harlem Records, a label that went out of business in 1948. The disappearance of the label easily could have been the demise of the tune from the public conscience, but thankfully, a New Orleans distributor contacted Ahmet Ertegun (the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records) asking if he possessed copies of the original single, and Ertegun, knowing Stick's brother Brownie, got Stick to re-record the song for his label. The single that resulted would become a major landmark commercially and artistically. Commercially, because the single ended up hitting #2 on the R&B charts and ushered in the beginning of major financial fortunes for the label that would culminate in the '50s and beyond. Artistically, because it was unquestionably one of the first rock 'n' roll songs ever recorded, and few songs recorded earlier could claim such a title so firmly.
I understand those who note that the melody is still too strongly rooted in the jump-blues tradition to be truly rock 'n' roll, and there were even two other songs released in 1949 that were written and performed understanding what "rocking out" entailed as a philosophy, Jimmy Preston's "Rock This Joint" and Wynonie Harris's "All She Wants To Do Is Rock." "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee," a drinking tune through and through, lyrically still doesn't stray far away from most rhythm and blues music of the time. Yet, if we focus on the performance itself and less on those minor details, this song is absolutely rock 'n' roll and miles ahead of its time, bringing us closer to the era of Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore that was soon to come.
The most important distinguishing element of the song is the (excellent) guitar playing: like any great rock 'n' roll recording, it sounds like a raggedy, rebellious, but fun-loving guy with his trusty guitar trying to take on the world by kicking its ass, and Stick accordingly delivers inspired and fluent guitar work in each verse until it erupts into a punchy, marvelous guitar solo. Moreover, Stick delivers such a perfect rock vocal performance, balancing the humor and lightweight fun of a drinking party with the grit and toughness of the blues. It is this incredible artistic presence that makes this song such a delight even today, where you can laugh along to the "spo-dee-o-dees" (which Stick used to say "motherfucker" in place of "spo-dee-o-dee" when performing it in the army) while smashing wine bottles to the groove of those guitar solos. No wonder it was so widely covered in the future, most notably by Johnny Burnette's gruff and aggressive Rock 'n' Roll trio, by Jerry Lee Lewis with pounding piano showcases (both in the '50s for Sun and the '70s in London), and by Wynonie Harris, maybe the most perfect person to cover the song (after all, wouldn't this song fit perfectly with a guy who sung about quiet whiskies on the shelf and making love to lovin' machines?). Yet, nobody captured all of the dynamic sides of the song better than Stick did here, so do yourself a favor and hear this absolute classic of wild rock 'n' roll fun as soon as possible.
Verdict: Classic
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