Singing Dogs

Remember back in 1970, when you heard that (horrible to some) rendition of “Jingle Bells” by the Singing Dogs? Well, you may not realize this, but those dogs got their start about 15 years earlier, in 1955.

“Jingle Bells” was originally part of a medley of tunes sung by the Dogs, beginning with “Pat-A-Cake”, “Three Blind Mice”, and then “Jingle Bells”. The 1955 RCA Victor release also included the effects of a carniv(or)al to showcase their talent, including that of a carnival barker. The record was complemented with a faithful (well, as faithful as could be expected) rendition of Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susanna” on the other side. There was even an article about the Dogs written up in LIFE Magazine, in their December 19, 1955 issue for those who choose to seek it out (for those who don't, see below).

Around 1970, some DJ dug out the old record and began playing it with much success. So much, in fact, that RCA went so far as to re-release the 1955 “Jingle Bells” track, though in a slightly edited version, in 1970. Since the stand alone “Jingle Bells” track was just over a minute long, they extended it by taking a part of the track and tagged it on to the ending to bring it closer to 2 minutes. They dropped all carnival activities in the process.

As an additional aside about the 1955 release, special preview copies of the record were released just for radio play. What they did was track each tune separately, such that they weren’t banded together. There was also no carnival activity here either, just the Dogs singing. They started the one side with “Jingle Bells“ which was attributed to Pearl. “Pat-A-Cake” was attributed to Caesar, and King got credit for “Three Blind Mice” (Note: this was before Elvis was signed to the label). With regard to “Oh! Susanna”, Dolly got credited on that one. That track was also split into two separate parts, beginning with a fast version, and then a slow version. On the regular release, both tracks were strung together as one, only in reverse order, the slow version going into the fast version. The 1955 release was also complemented with a picture sleeve, showing the Dogs as a quartet. Picture sleeves are known to exist on both the 45rpm and 78rpm versions (I have both).

As to the track posted here, what you’re hearing is a compromise of the 1955 and 1970 release of “Jingle Bells”. What I did was to recreate the 1970 edit of “Jingle Bells”, using only the 1955 release, and retained all the “Carnival activity associated with the original. As an added embellishment on my part, I under-dubbed part of the instrumental bridge to the beginning introduction to keep it Seasonal throughout. The Dogs would go on to record once more in 1956, with “Hot Dog Rock ’N Roll” and “Hot Dog Boogie”, which was also re-issued in the 1970’s. The 1956 release also featured a picture sleeve of the Dogs (by then a quintet, with the addition of Pussy), also in both formats.