Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee
Stick McGhee & His Buddies (1946). Excerpt from "The 50 Songs that Gave Birth to Rock and Roll"
Granville McGhee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1917. He earned the nickname Stick because he was often seen around town as a child using a stick to push a wagon containing his polio-stricken older brother. While his older brother went on to become the legendary blues singer Brownie McGhee, Stick is mostly known for just this song.
Stick’s career as a recording musician didn’t truly begin until after his service in WWII, but his most important tune comes directly from his time overseas. While at war, McGhee began performing a profanity-laced song adapted from various oral traditions for his fellow GIs. “Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee” celebrated the intoxicating effects of a fruity, multi-spirited concoction common at Black parties, particularly in the South.
In fact, the song would lend itself to the term “spodi,” which is sometimes used to describe the very same beverage even today. (Stick may also be responsible for coining the similarly intended phrase “jungle juice,” via a song of that title several years later.) When Stick returned from the battlefront in 1946, he and Brownie recorded a decidedly rough-hewn party platter with minimal instrumentation. The song was not at first a hit, but its prototypical rock and roll syncopation and its thematic familiarity attracted some attention in New Orleans.
As the song gradually became a regional hit in the Crescent City, it caught the attention of Atlantic Records. When the fledgling label re-released a version with full R&B regalia in 1949, it rose to #2 on the R&B charts and helped Atlantic stay in business during its first lean year. For creating a recording of landmark importance and for his role in keeping Atlantic afloat, McGhee has said that he was paid $75 and a couple of hot dogs.
Sadly, Stick McGhee saw little personal success and ultimately left the music business out of frustration, dying from lung cancer at just 44 years of age.
See the full list of 50 Songs that Gave Birth to Rock and Roll
The song has been covered by a wide range of artists in the years since its debut, including Wynonie Harris, Lionel Hampton and Jerry Lee Lewis.