Cal Smith — The Lord Knows I’m Drinking

November 4, 2007

Back when I was in college in the early 90s there was a great radio station my roommate and I would listen to when we had late night study sessions. They played good classic country mixed in with newer stuff all day, but at night they’d play full albums and had no commercials and no DJs. I guess the main reason the radio station didn’t make it was that they couldn’t sell commercials for their entire broadcast time.

One of our favorite songs this station played was Cal Smith’s “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking”. Growing up in Nashville with a musician dad, I’d been around country music for my whole life, but somehow I’d never heard this song, or at least didn’t remember hearing it. Because we only heard it late at night when they didn’t have DJs I had to ask my dad to find out that Cal Smith was the singer.

We really liked the first line of the song…

Hello Mrs. Johson

You self-righteous woman

Sunday school teacher

What brings you out slummin’?

The other day I heard something else I’d never heard before while listening to the America channel on XM Radio…Bill Anderson and Willie Nelson have a version of the this song as well. I’m still pretty partial to Cal Smith’s version.

Subscribe to Country Radio Classics

subscribe by email:

Read More About: , Bill Anderson, Cal Smith, Willie Nelson