What's Made Milwaukee Famous,
(Has made a loser out of me)
"What's Made Milwaukee Famous" is a reference to a famous beer slogan and features a #2 song from 1968 by the one and only, Jerry Lee Lewis.
The song was released off the Album "Another Place, Another Time." The album was also a big hit and charted in at #3.
Another single off the album with the same name as the album title was released and rose to #4 on billboard's Country chart, proving just how popular this album really was. Another reason Jerry Lee Lewis had a country style better than 90% of Nashville's best.
The Lyrics for this song was written by Glenn Sutton and the title is a reference to a Milwaukee Schlitz beer slogan, "Schlitz - The BEER that made Milwaukee famous."
What's Made Milwaukee Famous. The story behind the song.
In 1968, songwriter, Glenn Sutton was working as a staff producer at Columbia. A developing songwriter, he had also engaged a music publisher, Gallico Music Corporation, and was asked to come up with some material for Jerry Lee Lewis.
It was sometime during the mid-Sixties, Lewis, nicknamed "the Killer", had been persuaded by his producer, Jerry Kennedy, to switch styles over to the country sound to help jump start his career. Sutton had delayed writing material for Lewis and was put on the spot when he took a call from Al Gallico. A song was needed for a Lewis session the next day and Gallico wanted to know what he had.
Sutton had nothing prepared, but he didn't want to lose the work. He glanced at the papers on his desk. There was an ad for Schlitz, "the beer that made Milwaukee famous". Sutton later told a book author, "I just said to Al, it's a drinking song."
Sutton said he'd written a lot of drinking songs but never thought of using that Schlitz beer slogan. Their slogan made a great title for a country song. Sutton stayed up all night and "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)" was finished by daybreak.
How to lose your wife behind those swinging doors.
The song is about a man, who's wife begs him not to go to the bar. He goes anyway and every time he starts to leave, another song is played and someone buys another round.
She told him "Love and happiness can't live behind those swinging doors" and when he returns home she's gone.
It all came down to the title of the song, What Made Milwaukee Famous (Schlitz Beer) made a Loser out of him.
Sutton is also well known for his personal and professional association with Lynn Anderson, his wife from 1968 to 1977. He produced many of her hit recordings, including her signature-mega hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden".
The album, by the same name as the single, reached number one in 16 countries around the globe and was the biggest selling album by a female country artist from 1971 until 1997.
Glenn Sutton died in April, 2007. He was 69.
In addition to being the home of Harley Davidson and being where the TV show Happy Days was set, Milwaukee is the world's beer capital and has at one time or another had four major breweries based there: Blatz, Pabst and Miller, but it was the fourth Company, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company that came up with the slogan, "The beer that made Milwaukee Famous."
Enjoy another great country cheating song by Jerry Lee Lewis...
What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has made a loser out of me)
Recorded by: Jerry Lee Lewis
Written by: Glen Sutton
From the 1968 Album "Another Place, Another Time"
It's Late and she's waiting
And I know I should go home
But every time I start to leave
They play another song
Then someone buys another round
And wherever drinks are free
What's Made Milwaukee Famous
Has made a loser out of me
Baby's begged me not to go
So many times before
She said love and happiness
Just can't live behind those swinging doors
Now she's gone and I'm to blame
Too late...I finally see
What's Made Milwaukee Famous
Has made a loser out of me
Baby's begged me not to go
So many times before
She said love and happiness
Just can't live behind those swinging doors
Now she's gone and I'm to blame
Too late...I finally see
What's Made Milwaukee Famous
Has made a loser out of me
What's Made Milwaukee Famous
Has made a loser out of me
You might also like these...
Another Place Another Time Vinyl Memories | The Jerry Lee Lewis Story
Another Place Another Time vinyl memories was the country-side beginning for Jerry Lee Lewis, the honky-tonk piano man known as the "Killer." The song is an early rock & roll star's dramatic change from rock to pure country music.
Think About It Darlin Lyrics | Jerry Lee Lewis vinyl record memories
"Think About It, Darlin'" is far more in tune with the smoother Nashville sound that began dominating country radio in the early seventies. With smooth strings and choruses and sophisticated background vocals, the song charted #1 in 1972.
That Kind Of Fool Lyrics | Jerry Lee Lewis "Odd Man In" vinyl album.
That Kind of Fool lyrics from the album "Odd Man In" has Lewis sounding as if he's singing through a hangover that suits his bleary-eyed charm mood. And it's really odd that a album this good didn't gain much traction upon its release.
Middle Age Crazy Lyrics | Jerry Lee Lewis Vinyl Record Memories.
The Middle Age Crazy Lyrics was a #4 Jerry Lee Lewis country classic released in 1977. Jerry Lee's recordings for Sun are great Classic Rock sounds but his Country side vinyl record memories puts him on an entirely different level.
Return to Jerry Lee Lewis Main Page
Return Home.
Baby's Gone
Didn't say goodbye, didn't tell me why, just left me here to cry, with nothing but a memory.
Read the true story behind this treasured memory.
"He's So Fine"
Great Cover Song.
Originally released by the Chiffons in early 1963, "He's So Fine" entered the national charts again in 1971 where Jody Miller returned the song to the Top 5 on the Country charts. Read the story here...
"Blue Suede Shoes"
A Rockabilly Session.
Hottest rockabilly ever performed in one setting! Watch as Carl Perkins sings rockabilly songs with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and others. Read more...