Bark! The herald canines sing...

 

Read all about Carl Weismann's Singing Dogs here.  The Danish Weismann was an ornithologist who made field recordings of birds--recordings that were often ruined by the sounds of barking dogs.  It's not completely clear whether Carl, in league with producer Don Charles, accomplished his singing-dog tracks by using the stray barks (so to speak) on his bird-song tapes or if he and Charles specifically recruited four dogs (all of whom barked in a different pitch) and recorded them in a studio.  I'm guessing it was the latter scenario, because the dogs all had names--Pearl, Dolly, King, Caesar, and (later) Pussy.  A dog named Pussy--that's correct.  It's possible Carl and Don had wanted to name the dog Cat, but he or she objected, and they compromised with "Pussy."

Anyway, since the dogs all had names, and because they all barked in the correct pitches for creating tunes, I'm guessing they had to be studio dogs.  With contracts, royalties, doggy treats, etc.  I consider this arf-fully likely.

We'll be hearing a DJ edition of The Singing Dogs' first single--the one from which the famous barking Jingle Bells hails (did I just type, "from which the famous barking Jingle Bells hails??), and which also includes equally brief bark-athons of Pat-a-Cake, Three Blind Mice, and Oh! Susanna (the last title, in fast and slow versions).  And, while these are all familiar tunes to us humans, imagine how fresh and exciting they must have sounded to the performers.

As a bonus, we'll hear a Singing Dogs 78 I had to search like crazy to find in my rows and stacks.  At one point, almost all searched-out, I checked the Internet Archive--and found not a scent of it.  So I resumed searching, and up it sat--er, up it turned: 1956's Hot Dog Boogie (credited to dogs Dolly and Caesar) and Hot Dog Rock and Roll (credited to dogs Pearl and King).  No mention of Pussy--I suppose it's possible he or she had a paw in the writing process, but was unable to fetch any of the credit. (Cha-dunk, crash!)

I wish I owned those pic labels.  I don't--I swiped the images from Discogs.  And I just recalled that the regular, non-DJ release of the first single (with Jingles Bells, etc.) included a circus-style opening, with either Carl or Don introducing the dogs over a drumroll: "Lades and gentlemen..."  (I forget the rest.)  There was also circus-style music spliced in at the end of each selection.  That lead-out music was removed for this DJ issue--hence, the abrupt stops.

I should note--and I hope I don't offend any Dean Martin fans--that Spike Jones was inspired by the Singing Dogs when he did his all-barking take-off on Memories Are Made of This.  I believe I've seen a picture of Spike Jones pretending (?) to conduct a chorus of canines.  Also--and I had no idea this record existed--there was 1974 Singing Dogs LP on the Mr. Pickwick label, recorded by Carl Weismann!  This LP probably followed from the success of RCA's 1971 Jingle Bells re-release.  

Arf!

DOWNLOAD: The Singing Dogs, Directed by Carl Weismann, 1955-56

Lee