As of ten minutes to three Eastern time on Sunday afternoon, X-Mas Dolly’s blog still says this week is a freebie, and I’m going with that. If that isn’t right, tough bananas.
We’re in the “dog days of summer,” the month when it’s hot, and humid, and stormy, where you can take a thousand showers and still feel hot and sticky. As Wikipedia tells us, this is around the same time Sirius, the “dog star,” rises in the morning, around sunrise. Thus the name. So, in honor of the dog days, five songs about dogs. Kind of.
Martha My Dear – The Beatles A song by Paul McCartney from the group’s white album (side 2, track 1) that was dedicated to his English sheepdog, Martha. It was credited to John and Paul, although John had nothing to do with it (and he probably gave his songwriting partner grief over it).
Get Down – Gilbert O’Sullivan Someone asked in the comments if this is a song about a dog or a girlfriend, and someone answered “probably.” Whatever, it was mighty popular in the Seventies.
Hound Dog (and Down Home Shakedown) – Big Mama Thornton Yes, Elvis did it, but he got it from Big Mama Thornton, who shows how we do it on the South Side. The first two and a half minutes are “Hound Dog,” the rest of this is an incredible harp (i.e. harmonica) performance by Big Mama, John Lee Hooker, Walter “Shakey” Horton (also known as Big Walter), Doctor Ross, and
I didn’t quite catch the last name
J. B. Lenoir. And yes, that’s Buddy Guy playing the guitar, and the great blues session man Freddie Below on drums.
Black Dog – Led Zeppelin A song that was so popular here, “96 Rock” (WKLS in Atlanta, now “Power 96” that plays a lot of boy-band music, if anyone cares to listen to FM radio any more) played it at least once a day, as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” It is a great song by the band The Yardbirds became.
Me and You and A Dog Named Boo – Lobo Lobo is Roland Kent LaVoie, and this was his first single, from 1971. It reached #5 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts that year.
And that’s it for Monday’s Music Moves Me. What are your favorite “dog” songs?
Monday’s Music Moves Me is sponsored by X-Mas Dolly, Callie, Stacy, Cathy, and Naila Moon, so be sure and visit them, where you can also find the Linky for the other participants.