Little Old Wine Drinker Me Explained

Little Old Wine Drinker Me
Type:single
Artist:Robert Mitchum
Album:That Man Robert Mitchum...Sings
B-Side:Walker's Woods
Released:March 1967
Recorded:January 19, 1967
Studio:Fred Foster Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre:Country
Label:Monument
Producer:Fred Foster
Little Ole Wine Drinker, Me
Type:single
Artist:Dean Martin
Album:Welcome to My World
B-Side:I Can't Help Remembering You
Released:August 1967
Recorded:June 23, 1967
Studio:United, Hollywood, California
Genre:Country pop
Label:Reprise
Producer:Jimmy Bowen

"Little Old Wine Drinker Me" (sometimes rendered with a comma between the final two words) is a country pop song written in the 1960s by Hank Mills and Dick Jennings. The title parodied what was then a well-known catchphrase in TV commercials for an Italian Swiss Colony wine company: "The little old winemaker, me!".[1] The song is about a man trying to drink away his romantic troubles.

The song was first released by Charlie Walker in 1966 on the album Wine, Woman & Walker.[2] It became a hit when it was released by Robert Mitchum in early 1967, and by Dean Martin later that same year on his Welcome to My World album. Lefty Frizzell also recorded the song on his 1967 album Puttin 'On.

Mitchum's version spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 96[3] while reaching No. 9 on Billboards Hot Country Singles chart.[4]

Martin's version spent six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 38,[5] while reaching No. 5 on Billboards Easy Listening chart,[6] [7] and No. 4 on Australia's Go-Set chart.[8]

In Canada, Martin's version and Mitchum's version reached No. 32 on the RPM 100, in a tandem ranking.[9]

The Martin recording later became popular with the Scottish football club Clydebank. It can often be heard being chanted on the terraces, with ‘Tennessee’ replaced with ‘Kilbowie’ in homage to the club's former ground in the town.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Italian Swiss Colony Wine Commercial Jingle . video. YouTube.
  2. http://www.norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Charlie+Walker&titel=Little+Ole+Wine+Drinker+Me&cat=s Charlie Walker - Little Ole Wine Drinker Me
  3. http://www.billboard.com/artist/366066/robert-mitchum/chart Robert Mitchum - Chart History - The Hot 100
  4. "Hot Country Singles", Billboard, July 29, 1967. p. 44. Accessed September 11, 2016.
  5. http://www.billboard.com/artist/300598/dean-martin/chart?page=1&f=379 Dean Martin - Chart History - The Hot 100
  6. http://www.billboard.com/artist/300598/dean-martin/chart?page=1&f=341 Dean Martin - Chart History - Adult Contemporary
  7. "Billboard Top 40 Easy Listening", Billboard, September 30, 1967. p. 20. Accessed September 11, 2016.
  8. [Ed Nimmervoll]
  9. "RPM 100", RPM Weekly, Volume 8, No. 3, September 16, 1967. Accessed September 11, 2016.