“You Don’t Have To Call Me Darlin’” by David Alan Coe, as mentioned before. You can go into just about any bar in Texas and if that song is played, everyone joins in.
also previously mentioned, “Family Tradition” by Hank Williams, Jr.
“All My Ex’s Live In Texas” is another good one.
How about “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” by Bruce Springsteen?
Sweet Caroline, unfortunately, was used in the bar scene in the movie Beautiful Girls. Not a bad flick (not at all!), but I prefer my drunken bar experiences to have a more original feel.
And I’d bet a bumper of 30-year-old single malt whiskey that the best rendition of One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer [please note the corrected order in the song title] is that of Amos Milburn, with a backing band that included Johnny and Shuggie Otis. Milburn sings it like he really needs those lined up for him, and right away.
But the all-time best bar song, bar none, is Oh! Darling, off of Abbey Road, and thus available in most jukeboxes across the country (still!). One of Paul’s, and one of his best. Aside from aping Macca’s near-falsetto reach, people also like to pound out the keyboard part on the bar.
Sorry for the pedantry, but I had a hard day at work and could use a drink right about now.
singer: “somebody shouted MacIntyre…”
crowd: MACINTYRE!!!
As were [ol][li]Bad, Bad Whiskey[]Good, Good Whiskey[]Let Me Go Home, Whiskey[]Let’s Have A Party[]Thinking And DrinkingVicious, Vicious, Vodka[/ol]As a matter of fact, local zoning laws should mandate his “Down the Road a Piece” compilation be in every bar, tavern, tap room, saloon & pub juke box throught the country.[/li]
As far a One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer goes: I’m still partial to the late great John Lee Hooker’s remake of the remake on his jazz/funk tinged “Heaven” album.
It’s fun to stay at the
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Not one of my personal faves, but it gets the crowd going.
Another vote for:
You Don’t Have to Call Me Darlin’ (David Allen Coe)
Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)
Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood)
Melt With You (Modern English)
D & C were big a decade ago in my college days at LSU. “Goin’ Straight to Hell” was a big bar tune then. I think Drivin’ and Cryin’ were (and may still be) a popular college band across the South.
I second “Family Tradition”, “Brown Eyed Girl”, and “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw”.
On that has yet to be mentioned is “New Age Girl” by the short-lived Deadeye Dick. My crew wouldn’t usually sing the whole thing from the beginning, but would definitely join in by the “… she sure likes the BONE” line.
Jayjay, “I Will Survive” is commonly started up by groups of women in straight joints. I once even had the chance to witness this take place in a Bennigan’s Restaurant.
You shook me all night long - by AC/DC. Although Slow Ride is a good one too.
The list of bars where the customers will warm up to Gerry Owen is pretty short. The O-club at Graffenwehr is one. They like “Oh, I Wanna Go Home” too.
Home for a Rest, by Spirit of the West, is a favorite around here.
“You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best
I’ve been gone for a week, I’ve been drunk since I left”
Wow, I didn’t know that you could hear this song anywhere outside of Canada. Here, bars usually follow this one with Great Big Sea’s “Run Runaway” and the aforementioned “Last Saskatchewan Pirate” by Captain Tractor.
Captain Tractor: We never pay our income tax, and screw the GST!
Dozens of drunken revellers, pumping their fists in the air: SCREW IT!
what, not Ray Charles.
Choose any one from …
Jambalaya
Crying Time
Take these chains from my heart
I can’t stop loving you
and you’ve got it.
OK, it’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” by David Allan Coe.
At an Irish bar I frequent, the Pogues’s “Fairytale of New York” gets the house a little festive. And it’s a duet, so everyone can get involved and vent a bit! Incidentally and in regard to the OP, last time I was there someone played “Livin’ On A Prayer” twice on the jukebox and it was warmly received both times.
Violent Femmes, anyone? “Kiss Off” and “American Music” are two favorites around here.
At gay bars, it’s a beautiful thing to thump the table to Cher’s “Dark Lady”:
Dark Lady laughed and danced and lit the candles one by one
THUMP THUMP!
Danced to her gypsy music till her brew was done
Dark Lady played black magic till the clock struck on the twelve
THUMP THUMP!
She told me more about me than I knew myself