Skip to main content

Music Soothes The Savage Beasties!

There's too much negativity on the internet these days. Political crap, negative rants (yes, I'm guilty), conspiracy theorism, etc. I wish there were more positive posts...so as I'm a "put up or shut up" kinda guy, here ya go!

I'm sure most of you have seen this picture before:


This was the logo for the old RCA Victor label. Nipper hearing his master's voice. Iconic in it's own way.

Anyhoo, it's long been said that music doth sooth the savage beast. Let me share a personal story about just this!

I used to have 2 weiner dogs; Otis & Dixie. Otis was a pure bred miniature Red Dachshund and Dixie was a Beagle/Dachshund mix. Really two of the best pets/companions/roomies a guy could ever want.  Otis was one helluva chick magnet too! Take that dog for a walk and the women gathered round!

Anyhoo, when one has two dogs in the same house, there's bound to be all sorts of noisy moments. These two were no exception.

One day, I was in my dining room (which I tend to use as more of a workspace than actual room for eating), working on a guitar on the dining room table. The dogs were chasing each other all over the house, going nuts as usual.  At one point, they came running into the dining room, still barking and chasing and acting like four-legged fools.

I had an old boom box in the room and was listening to a 2 disc set by Les Paul. It was his output prior to teaming up with Mary Ford. Lots of Rhubarb Red and Georgia White and Les Paul Trio stuff. 

As the dogs were carrying on, the track "It's Been A Long, Long Time" came on. It was Les Paul & his trio backing Bing Crosby. Well damn it if the dogs didn't stop in their tracks at the sound of ol' Bing's voice! They stopped, looked over at the boom box, and slowly, almost reverently, walked up to the boom box, sat down, cocked their heads and just stared. It was like a 21st century version of the old RCA Victor picture!!!!! Oh how I wish I'd had a camera handy!

This was no fluke I found out. These 2 dogs just LOVED some Bing Crosby! Whenever something by Bing would come on...whether it be on a CD, the radio, TV, etc., they would stop whatever they were doing and come sit and listen. Seriously! It was a hoot!

I was still gigging a LOT back then, so I found that if I was going to be gone for anything more than 4-5 hours, all I had to do was put a disc of Bing Crosby music on continuous play, and the dogs would be well-behaved the whole time I was gone!

OK...that's pretty much the whole story. The weiner dogs are both long gone now. I miss them. My cat is pretty cool...but she's not as characterful as the weiners were. Don't get me wrong...she's a character...just more laid back.

Take good care of your pets. They're taking care of YOU in their own way.

Woof! Meow! Chirp! etc!!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Clearing up the Great Gretsch/Rockabilly Sham!

I've had a long-standing friendly argument with a couple of friends about guitars. This has gone on for 20+ years. We're all pickers, and we're all usually lumped under the rockabilly category too. They both love Gretsch guitars. I can take them or leave them. Rockabilly fans have asked me many times why I don't play a Gretsch, which is often associated with rockabilly music.   First, I point out that what I play ain't exactly rockabilly. Sure, there's a definite rockabilly influence...but there's also blues, jazz, surf, garage, punk, country, Tex-Mex, and even some Gypsy & African influences in my music. A Gretsch just ain't gonna cut it. Don't get me wrong, Gretsches have their place and their own, unique sound. But...for a picker who is coming from the afore-mentioned influences, a Gretsch just ain't gonna cut it.   The new Gretsches, mostly reissues, are well-made guitars. MUCH better made than the original ones, which tended to ...

Since they changed YOUR life, how about YOU changing someone else's?

The recent deaths of Lemmy and David Bowie have caused a mighty ripple through humankind. People that I never would've guessed to be "fans" have shown their true colors. An old lady I know, it turns out, is a huge Motorhead fan. Folks I work with, who seem much more at home listening to bland modern country, have vocalized their lifelong love of Bowie's music and movies. These two musicians changed a lot of lives for the better. Both died of cancer. As a two-time cancer survivor, as well as being a musician, their death hit home with me...and hit hard. I was lucky enough, both times, to not only survive but to also have decent health insurance at the time. My out of pocket costs were minimal. Many aren't so lucky. With Obamacare we're all forced to pony up for affordable health insurance...or be fined. For many, it's just not feasible. One of the groups hardest hit by the US health care nightmare is musicians. Professional musicians make their liv...

Colin Hardy: We'll Meet Again

 2026 has been off to a rough start. Not even a month in, and I’ve already lost a few friends. Now, before anyone reaches for the tiny violins and assumes I’m whinging - relax. I’m not. Yes, it always hurts to lose someone, but I’ve learned to use moments like these to lean into the good memories: the reasons we got along in the first place. This morning, I found out my old buddy Colin Hardy passed away over the weekend. Col hailed from Stoke-On-Trent (which I always jokingly called Stoke-On-Rye ). He was a working-class bloke through and through, but we shared a deep love of music — especially the old-school rockin’ variety. We first crossed paths on a music-sharing site and immediately began raiding each other’s collections. This was back in the dial-up days, when downloading a single MP3 could take half an hour if the phone didn’t ring. Eventually, we started emailing instead. Col sent me tracks by the likes of Crazy Cavan, Freddie Fingers Lee, and others. He was always hungry f...