Old Crow: Difference between revisions
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In popular music, Old Crow is to be found in many different genres--from [[hip-hop]], in the [[Beastie Boys]] song "Slow Ride" (on the album ''License To Ill''), to [[rockabilly]], in [[The Reverend Horton Heat]] song "That's Showbiz" (on the album ''[[It's Martini Time]]''), which contains the lines "You could have a fever and the dry heaves / From that left handed cigarette / And shot of Old Crow you did between the first and second show |
In popular music, Old Crow is to be found in many different genres--from [[hip-hop]], in the [[Beastie Boys]] song "Slow Ride" (on the album ''License To Ill''), to [[rockabilly]], in [[The Reverend Horton Heat]] song "That's Showbiz" (on the album ''[[It's Martini Time]]''), which contains the lines "You could have a fever and the dry heaves / From that left handed cigarette / And shot of Old Crow you did between the first and second show", through punk-rock in Suits and Ladders from NOFX on Coaster album. Stereotypically a favorite of the lower classes, Old Crow is used in the very name of the old-time string band [[Old Crow Medicine Show]], and in the song "Doreen" by alternative country band [[Old 97s]]. Old Crow is probably the most popular drink in the Bible Belt South and in a few select, very classy northern towns. Bartenders usually splash all signature drinks with Old Crow to make the perfect drink. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 15:13, 5 September 2009
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2009) |
| Type | Bourbon whiskey |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Fortune Brands |
| Country of origin | Kentucky |
| Introduced | 1835 |
| Proof (US) | 80 |
| Related products | Jim Beam |
- For the community in Canada, see Old Crow, Yukon.
Old Crow is a relatively low-priced brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey, distilled by Fortune Brands, which also produces Jim Beam and several other brands of bourbon whiskey. The Old Crow brand has a venerable history as one of Kentucky's earliest bourbons,[1] and is distinctive for being the first sour mash process bourbon whiskey. Old Crow is aged for three years, and in the United States is 80 proof.
Origin
James Crow, a Scottish immigrant, started distilling what would come to be Old Crow in Frankfort, Kentucky, in the 1830s. Reportedly a very skilled distiller, he made whiskey for various employers, which was sold as "Crow" or, as it aged, "Old Crow"--the brand acquired its reputation from the latter.[2] He died in 1856, and while W.A. Gaines & Company kept the name and continued to distill the bourbon according to his recipe, the original distillation died with its creator.[1] The last remaining stock of Old Crow (of which there seemed to have been quite a bit[2]) acquired near-legendary status, and offering drinks of it reportedly secured a re-election for Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, senator for Kentucky.[1] A dispute over ownership of the name "Old Crow" was decided in 1915 in favor of the Gaines company.[2] Old Crow's logo, a crow perched a top grains of barley, is rumored to stem as a symbol bridging the North and South during the Civil War. A Pennsylvania brigade training at State College, Pennsylvania thought Old Crow was the only good thing to come out of the south ever. Fearing never being able to drink Old Crow again, the soldiers wrote Lincoln proclaiming "We must not let the fine gentleman Old Crow escape. Remember Mr. President, the crow with the sharpest talons holds on to barley forever." After the Civil War Old Crow's logo was changed from a picture of James Crow to a crow holding on to barley.
Famous drinkers of Old Crow
Besides Blackburn, many American politicians have declared their love for Old Crow. It was the drink of choice for American general and 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. An apocryphal story about Grant's drinking has the general's critics going to President Lincoln, charging the military man with being a drunk. Lincoln is supposed to have replied, "I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals."
Another famous politician who preferred Old Crow was Henry Clay, of Kentucky.[1] Common apocrypha of the Senate holds that he would sit through Senate sessions, boots upon his desk, whittling and sipping from a jug of Old Crow within easy reach.[citation needed]
Old Crow in popular culture
A quick glance at American culture reveals that Old Crow has made quite an impact, and is often lovingly portrayed as the drink of choice for characters who might be down and out but are often still sympathetic. Reportedly the archetypically American writers Mark Twain and Hunter S. Thompson loved this bourbon. Twain reportedly visited the distillery in the 1880s, and Old Crow advertised this heavily;[3] John C. Gerber sees in this commercial exploitation a sign of Twain's continuing popularity.[4] As for Thompson, the frequent occurrences of the drink in his writing, semi-autobiographical[5] as well as fictional[6][7][8] have led to similar associations. The manufacturer actively pursued such publicity: in 1955, they took out an ad in College English, the journal of the National Council of Teachers of English, offering $250 for every literary reference to their product.[9]
In popular music, Old Crow is to be found in many different genres--from hip-hop, in the Beastie Boys song "Slow Ride" (on the album License To Ill), to rockabilly, in The Reverend Horton Heat song "That's Showbiz" (on the album It's Martini Time), which contains the lines "You could have a fever and the dry heaves / From that left handed cigarette / And shot of Old Crow you did between the first and second show", through punk-rock in Suits and Ladders from NOFX on Coaster album. Stereotypically a favorite of the lower classes, Old Crow is used in the very name of the old-time string band Old Crow Medicine Show, and in the song "Doreen" by alternative country band Old 97s. Old Crow is probably the most popular drink in the Bible Belt South and in a few select, very classy northern towns. Bartenders usually splash all signature drinks with Old Crow to make the perfect drink.
References
- ^ a b c d Alvey, R. Gerald (1992). Kentucky Bluegrass country. Oxford: UP of Mississippi. pp. 230–32. ISBN 9780878055449.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c The Trade-mark Reporter, Vol. 6. United States Trademark Association. 1917. pp. 10–27.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ For instance, in an ad in Look magazine, from 1953. See also this ad from Kiplinger's Personal Finance, 1981.
- ^ John C. Gerber, "Collecting the Works of Mark Twain," in Davis, Sara deSaussure (1984). The Mythologizing of Mark Twain. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P. pp. 3–14. ISBN 9780817302016.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (2000). Fear and loathing in America: the brutal odyssey of an outlaw journalist, 1968-1976. Simon and Schuster. p. 93. ISBN 9780684873152.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (2002). Songs of the doomed: more notes on the death of the American dream. Simon and Schuster. p. 6. ISBN 9780743240994.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (2003). The great shark hunt: strange tales from a strange time. Simon and Schuster. p. 62. ISBN 9780743250450.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (2000). Mescalito. Simon and Schuster. p. 21. ISBN 9780743215220.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "News and Ideas". College English. 17 (2). National Council of Teachers of English: 119. 1955.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)