I Like Beer.  And so does Tom T. Hall

By R. Keith Rugg, 7-22-09

Speaking of country music songs that pay tribute to alcohol, as I often do, I’d be remiss not to mention Tom T. Hall’s “I Like Beer.”

This entire song is an ode to ale, so I won’t even bother quoting any of the lines.  If you’ve heard it, you’ll know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, then look it up… it’s worth the effort.  And it really strikes home for me.  I mean, in my family, the ideal holiday gift is a growler of Moose Drool, so you can figure the rest out on your own.

The storyteller, old Tom T., in addition to writing and performing such country classics as “Country Is,” “I Love,” and “The Year That Clayton Delaney Died,”-- and writing “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and “Little Bitty”—also contributed a couple of others to the ‘Country Music and Alcohol’ collection, such as “Bourbon Man,” “Whiskey Castles,” “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine,” and “Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet).” The latter has one of the most iconic lines in the history of country music, affirming that the mysteries of life are answered with “faster horses, older whiskey, younger women, more money.”

Tom T. has written 11 No. 1 hits, and seven of those he took to the top of the charts himself.  He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.