"Friends in Low Places" is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
[5] 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.
[10] While Brooks claimed in the liner notes that "Friends in Low Places" was held for him, David Chamberlain recorded it first in 1989.
[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".
[14] 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.
[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.
[15] 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.
[20] 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.
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.
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".
[23] 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,[24] but the song appeared on Brooks' 2016 The Ultimate Collection[25] box set.