"Snortin' Whiskey" (also sometimes referred to as "Snortin' Whiskey, Drinkin' Cocaine") is a

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

song written by

Pat Travers Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto. Soon after picking up the guitar at age 12, h ...

and

Pat Thrall Patrick Thrall is an American rock guitarist. Thrall has worked with former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes on the Hughes/Thrall project. Discography Cookin Mama * ''New Day'' (guitar, vocals, percussion; 1972) Stomu Yamashta * Go (guita ...

. It was originally recorded by the Pat Travers Band and released on the album '' Crash and Burn'' in 1980 on the

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

label and also as a US single the same year.

Background

The song was an instant hit, and reached the number one position on request lists at numerous

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

stations in the United States in 1980. It gained popularity in the United Kingdom and Germany as well. It became one of Pat Travers' signature songs. The success of "Snortin' Whiskey" helped to propel the ''Crash and Burn'' album to the number 20 position on the

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

's Pop Album Chart, making it Travers' highest-charting release.

Personnel

Musicians who performed on the original studio recording of "Snortin' Whiskey" were: *

– lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars (second guitar solo during lead break) *

– lead and rhythm guitars (first guitar solo during lead break) * Peter "Mars" Cowling – bass *

Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesn ...

– drums and percussion (including cowbell)

Popular culture

*The song was featured in the 2004 film ''

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a de ...

''. *The

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band

Obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

uses the song as their introduction music.

References

{{Pat Travers 1980 singles Drinking songs Songs about drugs 1980 songs Polydor Records singles