"Friends in Low Places" was written in 1989 by songwriters Earl Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell and first released by David Wayne Chamberlain in 1989.[2][3] The two songwriters had given the song to Brooks to record as a demo soon before the release of his self-titled first album, when he was a relatively unknown singer. Enamored with the song, Brooks recorded his version the next year. Mark Chesnutt recorded the song for his second album Too Cold at Home.
Writing
According to Earl Bud Lee, one of the song's co-writers, the idea of the song was born when he and some songwriting friends gathered for lunch one day at Tavern on the Row, a popular Nashville eatery.[4] When the check came, Lee realized he had forgotten his money. He was asked how he was going to pay for the meal, and he replied, "Don't worry. I have friends in low places. I know the cook."[4] Lee and his songwriting partner, Dewayne Blackwell, immediately recognized that the line "friends in low places" had potential, but they did not act upon it immediately.[4]
Some months later, Lee and Blackwell were at a party, celebrating a recent No. 1 hit by another songwriter. They began to talk about the dormant "friends in low places" idea, and "at that very moment, it all started to come together in a song," Lee said.[5] Because nothing else was available, they wrote the song on paper napkins.[5] When the songwriters polished "Friends in Low Places", they contacted Garth Brooks to see if he would record a demo for them.[5]
Guitarist James Garver added "The Oasis", the name of the bar in the song, after an establishment in his hometown of Concordia, Kansas.[6]
Song structure
"Friends in Low Places" is in a moderate tempo and the key of A major. The song begins with arpeggios on the chords A, A♯dim7, Bm7, and Eadd9, a pattern which is repeated throughout the verses. The intro was not originally part of the song, but was improvised by session guitarist Mark Casstevens.[7] The chorus uses A-Bm-E twice before ending on an A chord.[8] An electric guitar solo with pedal steel guitar flourishes is played between the first chorus and second verse.
The song spans from a low note of E2 to F♯4.
Brooks's demo
Lee and Blackwell had met Brooks when he was a shoe salesman in a Nashville store, looking for his big break. The two struck up a conversation with the struggling musician, and upon learning his background, they gave him some work making demos of their songs. They were impressed with his voice and talent, but there was not much else they could do for him.[5] When Blackwell contacted Brooks to make the "Friends in Low Places" demo, Brooks explained to Blackwell that he was newly signed to Capitol Records, and that his first single and first album were already scheduled.
The demo of "Friends in Low Places" was recorded at Windwalker Studios, in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Musicians on the demo were John Beland (of The Flying Burrito Brothers) on acoustic and electric guitars, along with session aces Steve Turner on drums, and bassist Larry Paxton. Frank Green was the recording engineer. The actual master recording of "Friends in Low Places" borrowed quite a lot from the original demo, copying Beland's now famous acoustic guitar intro.
After recording the demo (the last he made),[9] Brooks thanked Lee and Blackwell for all of their help. He then expressed his liking for the song, wishing aloud that he had heard it several weeks earlier, when he was recording his new album.[5]
Shopping the song to other artists
Brooks provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:
"'Friends in Low Places' was the last demo session I ever did as a singer. The demo was for Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell. I sang the session out in Hendersonville, and for the next two weeks the chorus to this song kept running through my head. I knew it would be a year and a half before the release of No Fences because Garth Brooks was just getting ready to be released. I asked Bud Lee and Dewayne if I could hold on to it and, without a blink of an eye, they both said yes. Putting that kind of faith into an unknown artist is unheard of. Thanks Dewayne and Bud for believing in me." [10]
While Brooks claimed in the liner notes that "Friends in Low Places" was held for him, David Chamberlain recorded it first in 1989.[2]Mark Chesnutt also recorded it in 1990.[3][5] His version appears on his 1990 debut album Too Cold at Home (released only a month after No Fences), and was the B-side to his late-1991 single "Broken Promise Land".[11]
In 2000, songwriter Dewayne Blackwell recorded and released the songon the compilationIn the Beginning: A Songwriter's Tribute to Garth Brooks[12][13]
In 2021, singer-songwriter Drew Pizzulo recorded his cover of the song that topped the Cover charts and peaked at #11 in Country on soundclick.com.[14]
In 2024, Travis Kelce covered the song on the Kansas City Chiefs championship parade after their Super Bowl win, prompting Brooks to invite Kelce at the opening of his "Friends in Low Places Bar and Honky Tonk" in Nashville.[15]
Recording
After the success of Brooks's eponymous debut album, he contacted the writers of "Friends in Low Places" to ask if the song was still available, and they said it was.[5] In keeping with the raucous theme, a large contingent of backing vocalists accompanied Brooks as the chorus was repeated until a fadeout. Among the members of the group were Brooks's then-wife, Sandy, and both songwriters, Blackwell and Lee.[9] At one point near the end of the song, one of the musicians opens a beer can, which is picked up by a microphone. When the album was being mastered, the sound of the beer can was originally mistaken for an audio glitch. Later on, one of the crowd members shouts "Push, Marie!" in reference to Garver, who was in the hospital while his wife was giving birth.[7]
Recognizing the song's potential, producer Allen Reynolds, in consultation with Capitol Nashville president Jimmy Bowen, decided that Brooks's rendition was going to be the first single from his new album, No Fences.[16] In July 1990, Brooks's mother, Colleen Carroll, inadvertently leaked the unreleased song to an Oklahoma radio station, setting off a frenzy and forcing the single and album to be rush-released.[17]
A live album recording was made in Wichita, Kansas, on the final night of five shows, on November 16, 1997. Ticket demand was so high the Sunday night show was added and a 'Low Places' live version with the third verse was recorded and went on the double disc live album.
Critical reception
"Friends in Low Places" entered the Hot Country Songs on August 18, 1990. It took eight weeks to reach No. 1, where it remained there for four weeks until it was succeeded by "You Lie" by Reba McEntire.[18]
The song was an immediate success within the country music fandom. Brooks told a reporter from USA Today in October 1990, when the song was still at its chart peak, that he had received letters from high school students saying that they wanted to use "Friends in Low Places" as their "class song," only to have it opposed by their principals because the song is about escaping into drinking. Brooks agreed with the principals, saying, "We've had a lot of fun with that song, but it's nothing to base your values on."[19]
It made the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart in 1995 as a double-sided reissue hit with "The Dance". The song also appeared on Brooks's 1994 compilation The Hits. In 2003, the song was listed No. 6 on CMT100 Greatest Songs of Country Music broadcast.[20] and the No. 1 spot on the network's 40 Greatest Drinking Songs: Morning After.[21]
Starting in 2008, "Friends in Low Places" became the traditional sing-along song during the sixth inning at Kansas City Royals home games at Kauffman Stadium. Garth Brooks has recorded dozens of different introductions to be played on the Jumbotron display before the start of the song. The tradition ended in 2014 when Don't Stop Believin' by Journey was chosen as the new sixth inning song, even though the lyrics mention a "city boy raised in south Detroit", home to the Royals' American League Central division rival Detroit Tigers, and Journey hails from San Francisco, whose Giants defeated the Royals in the 2014 World Series.
In a 2009 essay on Brooks, Chuck Klosterman reflected on the song's success. Brooks, he argued, had filled a void in popular culture left by Bruce Springsteen during the 1990s:
...[H]e made songs that satisfied all the same needs as Bruce's did, except with a little less sincerity and a little better understanding of who his audience was. "Friends in Low Places" was as effective as pop music ever gets: It's a depressing song that makes you feel better. Singing along with that song was like drunkenly laughing at a rich person and knowing that you were right ... It's a song that makes me want to get drunk out of spite. Garth told stories about blue-collar people who felt good about what their bad life symbolized ...[22]
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #35 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[23]
The "third verse"
The original version of "Friends in Low Places" has two verses. In 1991, Brooks added a "third verse" to the song in live performances. His spiel leading to the new verse claimed that he thought the song's original verse did not reflect how he would really act in that situation. Its lyrics are heavily based on the second verse, with only the last few lines changed, culminating in "Just wait 'til I finish this glass / Then sweet little lady, I'll head back to the bar / And you can kiss my ass".[24]
25th anniversary version
In September 2015, it was announced a new version of "Friends in Low Places" would be released on Brooks's 25th anniversary No Fences album. The song featured George Strait, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, and Keith Urban singing along with Brooks. The 25th anniversary edition of the album was scrapped over royalty disputes,[25] but the song appeared on Brooks' 2016 The Ultimate Collection[26] box set.
Track listing
US promotional 7" singleCapitol Nashville, 1990
"Friends in Low Places" (Edit) 3:45 7PRO-79216
"Friends in Low Places" (LP Version) 4:18 7PRO-79239
US promotional CD singleCapitol Nashville DPRO-79217, 1990
"Friends in Low Places" (Edit) 3:45
"Friends in Low Places" (LP Version) 4:18
US 7" singleCapitol Nashville NR-44647, 1990
"Friends in Low Places" (Edited) 3:45
"Nobody Gets Off in This Town" 2:17
US 7" single (live)Liberty S7-57883, 1992
"Friends in Low Places" (Live Version) 7:00
"Thunder Rolls" (Live Version) 4:45
US promotional CD single (live)Liberty DPRO-79365, 1992
"Friends in Low Places" (Live Version) 7:00
"Thunder Rolls" (Live Version) 4:45
UK 7" singleCapitol CL 609, 1991
"Friends in Low Places"
"Not Counting You"
UK CD singleCapitol CDCL 609, 1991
"Friends in Low Places"
"Not Counting You"
"Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)"
The Netherlands CD singleCapitol, 1995
"Friends in Low Places"
"The Dance"
"The River" (Live acoustic version)
Chart positions
"Friends in Low Places" entered the charts on August 18, 1990. It reached number one on October 6 and remained there for four consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by "You Lie" by Reba McEntire.[27]
Troyal Garth Brooks is an American country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the country music single and album charts, multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances, while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.
Brooks & Dunn is an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo recording artists, having charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s. Brooks also released an album for Capitol Records in 1989 and wrote hit singles for other artists.
Patricia Lynn Yearwood is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the Billboard country singles chart. Its corresponding self-titled debut album would sell over two million copies. Yearwood continued with a series of major country hits during the early to mid-1990s, including "Walkaway Joe" (1992), "The Song Remembers When" (1993), "XXX's and OOO's " (1994), and "Believe Me Baby " (1996).
Robert Joseph Bare Sr. is an American country singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", "Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1990.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2005.
"The Dance" is a song written by Tony Arata, and recorded by American country music singer Garth Brooks as the tenth and final track from his self-titled debut album, from which it was also released as the album's fourth and final single in April 1990. It is considered by many to be Brooks' signature song. In a 2015 interview with Patrick Kielty of BBC Radio 2, Brooks credits the back to back success of both "The Dance" and its follow up "Friends in Low Places" for his phenomenal success.
No Fences is the second studio album by the American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 27, 1990, and reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The album also reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200. On the latter chart, it stayed in the top 40 for 126 weeks. No Fences remains Brooks' best-selling studio album to date with 18 million copies shipped in the US, and is the album that made him an international star. It was his first album issued in Europe.
Ropin' the Wind is the third studio album by the American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on September 2, 1991, and was his first studio album to debut at No. 1 the Billboard 200 chart and the Top Country Albums chart. It was the first album by a country singer to top both of these charts since Kenny Rogers just over a decade earlier. It had four runs at No. 1 between September 28, 1991, and April 3, 1992, spending a combined 18 weeks at the top, eventually being certified 14× Platinum by the RIAA in 1998. In the UK, it reached the Top 50 pop albums list and went to No. 1 for several months on the country charts. It is the last studio album on Capitol Records Nashville until the 1995 album Fresh Horses.
Gordon Scott Kennedy is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee whose most successful composition is the international hit song "Change the World", recorded by Eric Clapton, for which Kennedy and his co-writers received a Grammy Award for Song of the Year (1996). Kennedy also received a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album (2007), co-producing, composing, and performing on Peter Frampton's Fingerprints album. He was a member of the Christian rock band White Heart for six years in the 1980s. Kennedy has written 15 songs recorded by Garth Brooks, and has done projects with Frampton and Ricky Skaggs. Kennedy's songs have been recorded by artists including Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krauss, Stevie Nicks, Faith Hill, and Carrie Underwood. His compositions have been heard in the film soundtracks of Tin Cup, For Love of the Game, Where the Heart Is, Almost Famous, Summer Catch, Someone Like You, The Banger Sisters, Phenomenon and Disney's The Fox and the Hound 2.
Double Live is the first live album by American country music singer Garth Brooks. It was released on November 17, 1998, and is a two-disc compilation of live songs, recorded during Brooks's 1996–98 world tour.
"The Thunder Rolls" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth and final single from his album No Fences. The song became his sixth number one on the country chart. Co-writer Pat Alger plays acoustic guitar on the track.
The Limited Series is the first box set released by American country music artist Garth Brooks, released by Pearl Records on May 5, 1998.
Allen Reynolds is an American record producer and songwriter who specializes in country music. He has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Donald Allen Schlitz Jr. is an American songwriter who has written more than twenty number one hits on the country music charts. He is best known for his song "The Gambler", and as the co-writer of "Forever and Ever, Amen", and "When You Say Nothing at All". For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammy Awards, and four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards.
"Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" is a song co-written by Warren Haynes, Dennis Robbins, and Bobby Boyd. It was originally recorded by Robbins himself in 1987 for MCA Records and charted at number 71 on the Billboard country charts. The B-side to Robbins' version was "The Church on Cumberland Road," which was later a number-one hit in 1989 for Shenandoah.
"Callin' Baton Rouge" is a country music song written by Dennis Linde. The song has been recorded by multiple artists since its composition. It was notably recorded by American country singer and songwriter Garth Brooks whose version was a chart-topping single in the 1990s.
"One Night a Day" is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in May 1994 as the fourth single from his album In Pieces and also appears on The Limited Series. A live version of the song appears on The Road album in Brooks' 2016 box set, The Ultimate Collection. The song was written by Gary Burr and Pete Wasner. This song, predominantly featuring the piano and saxophone, is noted for its unique jazz stylings.
Anthony Michael Arata is an American singer-songwriter. His best known song is "The Dance", a number-one U.S. country hit for Garth Brooks in 1990 which was nominated at the 33rd Grammy Awards for Best Country Song. He also wrote the 1994 No. 1 U.S. country hit "Dreaming with My Eyes Open" recorded by Clay Walker. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Suzy Bogguss, Lee Roy Parnell, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood and Emmylou Harris Arata was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dewayne L. Blackwell was an American songwriter active since the 1950s. His songs include "Mr. Blue", a 1959 hit for the Fleetwoods; "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home", a 1982 hit for David Frizzell; and "Friends in Low Places", a 1990 hit for Garth Brooks. His songs have been recorded by the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and Bobby Vinton.
1 2 The Hits (CD booklet). Garth Brooks. Nashville: Liberty. 1994. CDP 7243 8 29289 2 4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Garth Brooks - The Hits: transcription from the CD booklet (bar code 7-2438-29689-2-4)
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p.92. ISBN978-0-89820-177-2.
↑ Collins, Ace. The Stories Behind Country Music's All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. p.278.
↑ Harbrect, Gene (1990-12-07). "Charting the peaks of country music / Garth Brooks heads for high places". The Orange County Register. p.P-6. Accessed via ProQuest 2007-06-06.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top Country Songs 1944-2005. Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Record Research. p.56. ISBN0-89820-165-9.
↑ Zimmerman, David (1990-10-16). "Riding high with Garth Brooks / Country singer vaults 'Fences' to stardom". USA Today. p.D1. Accessed via ProQuest, 2007-06-06.
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