Rumrunner's Serenade - Prohibition Music from the 1920s
Listen to the playlist: "Rumrunner's Serenade - Prohibition Music of the 1920s"
Prohibition music embraced the zeitgeist of the time, the words embodied the nation's love affair with alcohol.
Song List Part 1
"Alcoholic Blues" - Music by Al Von Tilzer, Lyrics by Edward Laska, Performed by Irving Kauffman
"Everybody Wants A Key To My Cellar" - Music and Lyrics by Ed Rose, Billy Baskette and Ed Pollack, Performed by Arthur Fields
"Bring Back The Wonderful Days" - Lyrics and Music by Darl Mac Boyle and Nat Vincent, Performed by Arthur Fields
"I'll See You in Cuba" - Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin, Performed by Jack Kauffman
"The Moon Shines on the Moonshine" - Music by Robert Hood Bowers, Lyrics by Francis De Witt, Performed by Sidney Phillips
Song List Part 2
"Just A Little Drink" - Music and Lyrics by Byron Gay, Performed by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
"Speakeasy Blues" - Written by King Oliver, Performed by King Oliver and His Creole Jazz Band
"Home Brew Rag" - Written by Stokes and McMichen, Performed by Low Stokes and His North Georgians
"I Married The Bootlegger's Daughter" - Words and Music by Frank Crumit, Performed by Frank Crumit
"Dry Voters and Wet Drinkers" - Written by Miller, Performed by Joe Adams and James Clark
The birth of prohibition came about as an overreaction to the temperance movement. Self righteous voters, believing their own drinking habits were above the law, backed prohibition to castigate “inferior” members of society they believed were not above the law. Passage of the amendment became an unexpected and surprising disruption to their own lives and soon proved to be a harsh reality. Unforeseen social and economic ramifications mutated prohibition from a progressive reform to a debilitating condition.
Alcohol saturated all levels of society, while music amplified the masses attitude toward intoxicants. Actor, humorist, political commentator, writer and Oklahoma’s favorite son, Will Rogers, posed this question about prohibition: “Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on earth.”