"Hot Dog" is a rockabilly song by country singer

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...

, initially released under the pseudonym Corky Jones in September 1956 by independent Californian country label Pep.

Background and release

Wanting to stretch himself musically and influenced by the likes of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

, Owens wrote and recorded the rockabilly songs "Hot Dog" and "Rhythm and Booze". Not wanting to upset his country fans or for its release to affect his aspiring country career, Owens released the single under the pseudonym Corky Jones. The single was commercially successful locally, but did not get any further due to lacking in national distribution. In 1961, the single was re-released by

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

label New Star as Buck Owens with overdubbed additional instrumentation. The original Pep record was also reissued in 1975. In 1988, Owens re-recorded "Hot Dog" for his album of same name, and it was released as a single by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

on 28 September that year, upon which it charted at number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Country chart.

Personnel

Original recording: *

– vocals, producer * Roy Nichols – guitar * Fuzzy Owen – bass guitar * Lawrence Williams (possibly) – piano * Ray Heath – drums * Red Butler – percussion 1988 re-recording: * Buck Owens – vocals * Terry Christofferson – lead guitar, steel guitar * Doyle Singer – rhythm guitar * John Herrell – rhythm guitar * Jim Shaw – piano, harmony vocals, producer *

Dusty Wakeman Donald "Dusty" Wakeman is an American rock/country music producer and engineer based in Burbank, California. Wakeman is also credited as a bass player on many recordings. Dusty has worked with Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Buc ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Jim McCarty James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only member of the band to featur ...

– drums *

Charlie Paakkari Christina Paakkari, also known as Charlie Paakkari, is an American audio engineer for Capitol Records and the recipient of a 2005 Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the ...

– backing vocals

Shakin' Stevens version

Welsh rock and roll singer

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...

released a cover of the song in January 1980 as the only single from his album ''

Take One! ''Take One!'' is a 1980 album by British rock and roll singer Shakin' Stevens. It was his first release on Epic Records and his first album to enter the UK charts. The album also featured Stevens' first UK charting single "Hot Dog". Backgroun ...

''. It became his first UK hit, peaking at number 24 on the Singles Chart.

Release

Despite being release at the beginning of January, the single did not enter the UK Singles Chart until the second week of February. It stayed in the charts for nine weeks, reaching its peak on the third week of March. The success of the single led ''Take One!'' to enter the

Album Charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

and peak at number 62. The B-side "Apron Strings" is a cover of the song written by

George David Weiss George David Weiss (April 9, 1921 – August 23, 2010) was an American songwriter and arranger, who was a president of the Songwriters Guild of America. He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Weiss was born in a Jewish fa ...

and

Aaron Schroeder Aaron Harold Schroeder (September 7, 1926 – December 2, 2009) was an American songwriter and music publisher. Early years Born in Brooklyn, Schroeder graduated from the school now known as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art ...

, first released by

David Hess David Alexander Hess (September 19, 1936 – October 7, 2011) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director. He came to prominence for his portrayals of murderous villains and gruff characters in several films in the 1970s and 198 ...

in 1959 under the name Billy the Kid. However, the B-side of the single released in New Zealand was a cover of Smiley Lewis' "Shame, Shame, Shame", written by

Kenyon Hopkins Kenyon Hopkins (January 15, 1912 – April 7, 1983) was an American composer who composed many film scores in a jazz idiom. He was once called "one of jazz's great composers and arrangers." Biography Early life and education Hopkins was ...

and Ruby Fisher (the record miscredits the song to

Bob Geddins Robert L. Geddins (February 6, 1913 – February 16, 1991) was an American San Francisco Bay Area blues and rhythm and blues musician and record producer. Geddins was born in Highbank, Texas, United States, a town ten miles south of Marlin, who c ...

and

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...

who wrote a different song of same name).

Reception

Reviewing the song for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Robin Smith wrote "One more from the lumbering rock 'n' roll mastodon that refuses to die. Off we go with cats and chicks gathering round the hot dog stand of a summer's evening. The sort of thing you've heard time and lime before, and will no doubt be tortured with time and time again."

Track listings

7" # "Hot Dog" – 2:48 # "Apron Strings" – 3:06 7" (New Zealand) # "Hot Dog" – 2:48 # "Shame, Shame, Shame" – 2:09

Charts

Other cover versions

* In 1975,

Ray Campi Raymond Charles Campi (April 20, 1934 – March 11, 2021) was an American singer and musician, nicknamed "The King of Rockabilly". He first recorded in the mid-1950s. Campi's trademark was his white double bass, which he often jumped on top of an ...

covered the song on his album ''Rockabilly Lives!'' * In 2001,

Rosie Flores Rosie Flores (born September 10, 1950) is an American rockabilly and country music artist. Her music blends rockabilly, honky tonk, jazz, and Western swing along with traditional influences from her Tex-Mex heritage. She currently resides in Au ...

covered the song on her album ''Speed of Sound''

References

{{authority control 1956 singles 1980 singles 1988 singles 1956 songs Buck Owens songs Shakin' Stevens songs Capitol Records singles Epic Records singles Songs written by Buck Owens Song recordings produced by Mike Hurst (producer)