"What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" is a song written by

Glenn Sutton Royce Glenn Sutton (September 28, 1937 – April 17, 2007) was an American country music songwriter, record producer, and one of the architects of the ''countrypolitan'' sound. Biography Sutton wrote or co-wrote many of Tammy Wynette's early h ...

. The song's title is a reference to

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, specifically Schlitz beer, which for many years was advertised with the slogan, "The beer that made

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

famous."Story of the Song : 'What's Made Milwaukee Famous' Jerry Lee Lewis (1968)
Independent, accessed 9-6-2016 In 1968,

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

released his version as a single. It became a top-ten hit on ''Billboard'''s country chart and made a minor impact on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Chart performance

Cover versions

Johnny Bush released a version of the song on his 1968 record "Undo the Right." In the United Kingdom, a version by Rod Stewart charted at No. 4 in 1972 as a double A-side with "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

." The

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

band What Made Milwaukee Famous takes its name from this song. Irish-American Celtic punk band

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly.c ...

included a live cover of the song on their 1997 debut album, Alive Behind the Green Door.

References

1968 songs 1968 singles Rod Stewart songs Lynn Anderson songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Songs written by Glenn Sutton Song recordings produced by Jerry Kennedy Song recordings produced by Eddie Kilroy Smash Records singles Songs about alcohol Songs about Wisconsin {{1960s-country-song-stub