Something For The Dogs...

Before we get started, I should thank the folks over at the I'm Learning To Share! blog (http://learning2share.blogspot.com/2009/04/search-term-jugheads-hat.html) for the nice plug...I'm glad to see other people like whoopee hats! I notice that I've been getting more download traffic on some of those older posts as well! Thanks again!
*********************************************
For the last couple of weeks, the biggest news out of Washington seems to concern Bo Obama, the official First Doggie.

Of course, there have been many other Presidential Pooches in the past, but none in (relatively) recent years had the eye of the press like LBJ's beagles, Him and Her. Much of the hoopla was about this photograph, taken in May 1964:



LBJ caused a storm of protest when he lifted Him by the ears. The president replied that the dog actually enjoyed it.

I dunno...does Him look like he's smiling?

Anyway.....Him was the subject of an interesting 45 by Daws Butler and Dave Barry...Butler's voicework in cartoons is well-documented elsewhere, and Dave Barry (1918-2001) was also a cartoon voiceman and comic. There is no relation between this Dave Barry and the syndicated writer of the same name.

45-53265 Dog's Best Friend - Part 1 Daws Butler & Dave Barry Capitol 5361
http://www.box.net/shared/fr85ekcytx
Early 1965: Daws Butler, Him and LBJ; Dave Barry, the reporter.

Strangely enough, Part 2 has a different title:

45-53266 H-H-Him - Part 2 Daws Butler & Dave Barry Capitol 5361
http://www.box.net/shared/1u1z3kcqxl
Same info.

Here's another pseudo-political record about a canine, issued in 1959 to cash in on Disney's The Shaggy Dog.

Dog Gone It, It's A Dog! Shaggy's Speech Buena Vista F-337 http://www.box.net/shared/1maxa9fivj
1959: Shaggy Dog and Toy Poodles, vocal. Tutti Camarata composed the piece and probably led the orchestra. The voice of Shaggy Dog sounds suspiciously like Paul Frees.

*********************************************

I was reminded of another Dog's Best Friend record, issued around 1957, featuring a pair of songs inspired by Rin Tin Tin.

Yup, this is one of those little six-inch yellow vinyl 78s, but it still has its sleeve!:

---A Dog's Best Friend Dennis Ballabia & Anne Lloyd Golden R370 http://www.box.net/shared/ip67dnohns
---Cold Nose, Warm Heart Dennis Ballabia & Anne Lloyd Golden R370 http://www.box.net/shared/ioxd09y1t9
1957: Dennis Ballabia & Anne Lloyd and The Sandpipers, vocals; Mitch Miller Orch.

Gad, that yellow vinyl was terrible...but it was made to be played on those awful children's phonographs of the day...

Columbia's budget Harmony label issued a whole LP about Rinty and friends...I'm guessing that the four adventures on this album were originally singles in the Columbia children's series. If enough Sanctum readers ask, I can be persuaded to post this album...it's actually rather entertaining, especially for those of us who are going through our second (or third) childhood.

*********************************************

I think I'll play a few other doggie songs now...ones that aren't heard too often. My dogs won't sing Christmas songs or sit in a window...

I have two versions of a cute jazzy novelty of 1922, That Barking Dog (Woof! Woof!)...
This one is by The Original Memphis Five, a hugely popular group that seems to have shown up on just about every record label in the early 1920s. They blast through Dog with characteristic aplomb...and someone (unidentified) supplying the barks.

Note the spelling...Barking has a "-g" and each Woof has its own exclamation point!

10215 That Barking Dog - Woof! Woof! The Original Memphis Five Vocalion 14461 http://www.box.net/shared/3hsdzcfqhp
NYC, 6 November 1922: Phil Napoleon, trumpet; Charles Panelli, trombone; Jimmy Lytell, clarinet; Frank Signorelli, piano; Jack Roth, drums.

Cute record. Plenty hot, too. Oh, the brown shellac on this record isn't anything special...if anything, it is less durable than the usual black stuff.
Here's another version of the same song, played a bit straighter, and without the barks.

The spelling is a bit different too...the "-g" is missing from Barkin', and only the second Woof! gets the exclamation point. The Woofs are in parentheses too!

Does anybody out there have the sheet music? I'm curious to see what the actual punctuation should be.

Oh yes...remember The Parenthetical Woofs? A band that should have been...

80592-2 That Barkin' Dog (Woof Woof!) Frank Westphal Orchestra Columbia A-3743
http://www.box.net/shared/4y3ffmtsr1
Chicago c. 12 October 1922: Frank Westphal, piano & leader; Charles Burns, another (unknown), trumpet; Herb Winfield, trombone; Jack Richards, Bill Richards, alto saxes; unknown, tenor sax; unknown, banjo; John Jensen, tuba; unknown, drums.

Notice, on this version, there's an interpolation of a song called Walking The Dog.

Here's another (full) version of Walkin', performed by a young up-and-comer named Hoagland Carmichael.

13724-B Walkin' The Dog Carmichael's Collegians Champion 40001 http://www.box.net/shared/62xmxb21bi
Richmond, Indiana, c. 2 May 1928: Bud Dant, cornet; Chauncey Goodwin, clarinet & alto sax; Harold Keating, clarinet & tenor sax; Hoagy Carmichael, piano, vocal, and leader; Eddie Wolfe, violin; Arnold Habbe, banjo; Jack Drummond, bass; Andy van Sickle, drums.

This is actually the third issue of this record...it was originally issued on Gennett in 1928, and on Gennett's cheaper label Champion shortly thereafter. My copy is on a Decca-pressed Champion from 1934. None of 'em are very common. Too bad.

This record is so great, I've got to play the flip side (and it's a Hoagy composition to boot)...I'll dedicate it to the last administration:

13722-A March Of The Hoodlums Carmichael's Collegians Champion 40001
http://www.box.net/shared/r6x8okist1
Same personnel and date.

Just over thirty-five years after Hoagy's record, Rufus Thomas had a new method of Walking The Dog:

STX-7171 Walking The Dog Rufus Thomas Stax S-140
http://www.box.net/shared/bm8io3hjl9
Memphis, 21 August 1963: Rufus Thomas, vocal; others unidentified (sounds like Booker T and the MGs to me).

For the record, my copy of this record has a white label, and the flip side is Fine And Mellow. Other copies are blue labeled and have You Said on the flip.

*********************************************
One of my favorite songs from any Disney movie is this one...

87268 He's A Tramp Peggy Lee Decca 9-29427

http://www.box.net/shared/dljtzib40b

1955: Peggy Lee and The Pound Hounds (The Mellomen), vocal; Oliver Wallace, Disney Orchestra.

I suppose I should play the flip side...otherwise Elvis and the other Grits Cats might not let me in to do another radio show.

87270 The Siamese Cat Song Peggy Lee Decca 9-29427

http://www.box.net/shared/oa9ari42xb
1955: Peggy Lee, vocal; Oliver Wallace, Disney Orchestra.

In 1991, Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke were finally awarded over $2 million from Disney, who had been raking in lots of money from the home video market (without remembering that Lee and Burke retained the rights to the songs they co-composed).

*********************************************

Oh...it looks like there'll be another Zorch/Grits Radio spectacular NEXT Sunday (tentatively May 10? Roll over to http://gritsradio.pmlol.com/ and click on "Listen live")...sometime between 6:00 and 8:00 PM EDT, exact time hasn't been determined. We may just do it over Grits Radio and forgo the whole shortwave thing...if so, it'll be a bit more freewheeling. That way we don't have to constantly watch the clock...no station IDs to interrupt the trains of thought either. We shall see....

*********************************************

See you then...I think I have to chase my tail.