Origins: Old Dog Blue

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 10:43 PM

Well Joe, I can see why you didn't harvest Rick's verse as there are a number of errors in it.

First, he can't spell Rottweiler, an obvious problem, Then there's is the idea of naming a Rottweiler "Blue." Anyone with a lick of sense knows that Rottweilers are black and rust and unknown in any other color, least of all blue.

As you're aware, "Blue" refers to the classic Blue Ticked Coon Hound whose hairs are multi-colored, each tipped with blue. blue is also known on other hounds, often in it's pure variety as opposed to ticked. This can be found on Great Danes and also on Weimaraners, although the AKC will not recognize the color or a longhair coat on a Weim even though it's been around for a long time, just rare. You met a "blue" doggie right here at my place as I recall he spent a lot of time laying on your foot. Blue Longhair Weimaraner......not named Blue though!

I also feel Rick was in error praising the behavior of the dog he mentions by calling him a good dog. I back your decision not to take such a poorly written verse to the DT.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 10:36 PM

Joe, I will transcribe from a 1928 Jim Jackson recording of Old Dog Blue. It is everything you could want in an old Georgia recording from the time of the Skillit Lickers.

Subject: Origins; Old Blue / Old Dog Blue
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 10:05 PM

I can't believe the Digital Tradition has only three verses for this song. I harvested this sucker in a hurry. Have there been other versions posted? Anybody have a version they'd like to post in this thread?
I realize Rick Fielding posted his own version here (click), but I couldn't bring myself to harvest it. Sorry, Rick, I know you tried.
-Joe Offer-

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Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Old Blue

DESCRIPTION: "I had a dog and his name was Blue...." The singer tells how Blue aided him in 'possum hunting, then goes on to describe Blue's death and burial.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913
KEYWORDS: dog death burial hunting
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 295, "Old Blue" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
BrownIII 220, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Hudson 74, pp. 201-202, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 7, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-Singing, pp. 111-112, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 157, "Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 738, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 396, "Old Blue" (1 text)
DT, OLDBLUE
Roud #4313
RECORDINGS:
Jim Jackson, "Old Dog Blue" (Victor 21387B, 1928; on AAFM2) (Vocalion 1146, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Old Blue" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
Art Thieme, "The Split Dog" [combines song and tall-tale] (on Thieme01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Deep Blue Sea (II)" (floating lyrics)
File: R295

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2017 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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And the Digital Tradition lyrics:

OLD BLUE

I had a dog and his name was Blue
I had a dog and his name was Blue
I had a dog and his name was Blue
Betcha five dollars he's a good 'un too

Here Blue, you good dog you

Shouldered my gun and i tooted my horn
Gonna find a possum in the new ground corn
Old Blue barked and I went to see
Cornered a possum up in a tree

Old Blue died and he died so hard
Shook the ground in my backyard
Dug his grave with a silver spade
Lowered him down with links of chain

Every link I did call his name
Here Blue, you good dog you
Here Blue, I'm a-coming there too

@animal
recorded by Joan Baez
filename[ OLDBLUE
TUNE FILE: OLDBLUE
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF

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OLD BLUE

My old dog Blue
'll make a 'possum walk a log,
Make a 'possum clim' a tree,
Then set down and bark for me.
G'on! Blue, you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

He'll make a 'possum walk a lim',
Then set down and laugh at him;
I'd get the 'possum and carry him home,
Blue'd get nothin' but the bones.
G'on! Blue you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

My old blue dog is dead and gone,
Left this nigger here to moan;
I went to the barn one sunny day,
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

I buried him in a beautiful shade,
Dug his grave with a silver spade;
Let him down on a golden chain;
At every link I'd call his name:
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

Going to heaven some Sunday morn,
Going to tell you what I'll do:
Get St. Peter's golden horn,
Then go out and blow for Blue;
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

Sung by Negro construction gang, 1915-1916. Origin in minstrel songs and spiritu
als. Perrow collected a version in 1909. On old records of the 1920s and taken u
p by Joan Baez and other folk singers.
White, N. I., American Negro Folk Songs, 1928 (1965), p. 207-207.


@animal @dog @work @Negro
filename[ OLDBLUE2
FS (taken from Dicho's post above)

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OLD DOG BLUE

I'm goin' back to whar I'm from,
I'm goin' back to whar I'm from,
I'm goin' back to Giles County.
My wife died and left me a bounty.
We done pretty good, jacked around,
That's the reason why I'm goin' back to Giles County.

I had an old dog whose name was Blue,
You know that Blue was mighty true.
You know that Blue was a good old dog,
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow log.
You know from that he's a good old dog.

Blue treed a 'possum out on a limb,
Blue looked at me and I looked at him,
Rapped that 'possum and put him in a sack,
"Do fer me, Blue, 'til I get back."

"Hey, Ring! Yeah, Ring Here! (1)
Hey Ring! Hey, Ring here!"
Who's been here since I been gone,
Little baby girl with the red dress on
Who's been here since I been gone,
Little baby girl with the red dress on.

Old Blue's feet was big and round,
Old Blue's feet was big and round,
Never 'lowed a 'possum to tech the ground.
Me and Blue went out on a hunt.
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow stump.
You know that Blue was a good old dog.
Blue treed a 'possum in a hollow log,
You know from that he's a good old dog.

Old Blue died and I dug his grave, (2)
I dug his grave with a silver spade,
I let him down with a golden chain,
With every link I called his name.

Oh Blue, you good dog you,
Ol' Blue you good dog you,
Blue laid down and died like a man,
Blue laid down and died like a man.
Now he's treein' 'possums in the promised land.

I'm goin' to tell you this jes' to let you know,
Old Blue's gone where the good dogs go.
When I hear old Blue's bark,
When I hear old Blue bark,
Blue's treed a 'possum in Noah's ark.
Blue's treed a 'possum in Noah's ark.

transcription of Jim Jackson, with guitar, recorded for Vocalion in Chicago on 2
2 January 1928 - Vo 1146.
(1) Typical holler when coming to a cabin; hard to decipher. (2) Similar words i
n spirituals and hymns, and in "Deep Blue Sea."

@animal @dog @blues
filename[ OLDBLUE3
FS (taken from Dicho's post below)

Subject: ADD: Old Blue^^
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Dec 01 - 09:11 PM

Lyr Add: OLD BLUE

My old dog Blue
'll make a 'possum walk a log,
Make a 'possum clim' a tree,
Then set down and bark for me.
G'on! Blue, you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

He'll make a 'possum walk a lim',
Then set down and laugh at him;
I'd get the 'possum and carry him home,
Blue'd get nothin' but the bones.
G'on! Blue you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

My old blue dog is dead and gone,
Left this nigger here to moan;
I went to the barn one sunny day,
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

I buried him in a beautiful shade,
Dug his grave with a silver spade;
Let him down on a golden chain;
At every link I'd call his name:
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

Going to heaven some Sunday morn,
Going to tell you what I'll do:
Get St. Peter's golden horn,
Then go out and blow for Blue;
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

Sung by Negro construction gang, 1915-1916. Origin in minstrel songs and spirituals. Perrow collected a version in 1909. On old records of the 1920s and taken up by Joan Baez (see DT) and other folk singers.
White, N. I., American Negro Folk Songs, 1928 (1965), p. 207-207.
Here Posted by Annamill; a shortened version.
@animals @dogs @work @Negro
^^

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Allan Samuels
Date: 20 Mar 99 - 03:03 AM

Great song.....done many times....I have never heard a version I didn't like. But no one has mentioned the recording by Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp- Live at the Gate Of Horn.

Interesting that versions of folk songs are just "versions"......not "covers" as they are called in the pops field. Seems to have less stigma attached in folkmusic.

Allan

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 19 Mar 99 - 03:02 PM

Lonesome EJ,

Sure do love that Dillard's LIVE! album. I remember that it was snowin' so that it was "slicker than deer guts on a door knob." And Blue is sittin' there in the outhouse like it's his house and nobody else is welcome in. I have sick sense of humor.

They said, "if you've ever had this experience, you'll never sing 'Old Blue' the way Peter, Paul, and Mary do."

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From:
Date: 18 Mar 99 - 08:57 PM

The notes that accompany the new CD version "Anthology of American Folk Music" has a list of quite a number of versions of the song. It makes interesting reading they are online. Start here and follow the relevant links. The original notes by Harry Smith imply that it is a dance tune that has been adapted. Does anyone know what the dance tune is? There is a resemblance to Leadbelly's "Poor Howard"; but that probably means he used the same dance tune.

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: folk1234
Date: 18 Mar 99 - 02:57 PM

"Ole Blue" was done very well on a late '60s album by Ian & Silvia

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: tom-tom
Date: 18 Mar 99 - 01:28 PM

Sorry about that last empty entry.

Jim Jackson's version of Old Dog Blue from the Anthology is really great. In that version, when Blue dies, he digs a grave with a silver spade and lowers Blue down with a golden chain. And whenever he imagines hearing Old Blue bark, he know's Blue has just "treed a possum on Noah's ark." Good stuff, I think.

Though the Byrds give me the heebie-jeebies, I know they do a version of Old Dog Blue.

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From:
Date: 18 Mar 99 - 01:23 PM

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From:
Date: 18 Mar 99 - 05:25 AM

There is a recording from the 20s by Jim Jackson with a resonator guitar. It is called "Old Dog Blue" and it appears in the Anthology of American Folk Music Vol II.

I will probably make a lot of enemies, but I don't like dogs, and I can sort-of smell Ol' blue whenever I hear this song. But the picking of Jackson makes up for a lot.

Murray

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 17 Mar 99 - 05:34 PM

My favorite version is the Dillards', complete with one of the brothers talking about some old blue-tick hound layin up in your outhouse to get shelter from a snow storm so that you can't get in.They had an outhouse that was 50 feet from the main house "Which was about 50 feet too far in the winter. Course in the summer, it was about 50 feet too close."

I had a Lab puppy who grew to be a big-hearted strong-as-a-bull 140 lbs with a brain the size of a walnut.I named him Blue, after the song. He was 14 when he died, after stickin with me through thick and thin. Like the song says "when I get to Heaven, first thing I'll do... Take out my horn and call for Blue"

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Mar 99 - 03:16 PM

Thank you Bill...I believe that here we wre in total agreement!!!

catspaw

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Mar 99 - 02:57 PM

I would not doubt that "Old Blue" has been recorded a hundred times!! Why must a wonderful song like that be connected with any one artist? I just added one more item to my list of "things that make it **folk** music"

"It 'tends' to be folk if the artist is less important than the song"

(yes, I am aware that sometimes you want to recapture some particular version that moved you...out of dozens you have heard...still.. ;-)..)

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Margo
Date: 17 Mar 99 - 01:58 PM

Believe it or not, you can find a recording of this song on a Disney CD of children's music. It is one of the CD's with traditional children's songs. The singer is Larry Groce who has a wonderfully clear voice. It wouldn't be hard to find.

Margarita

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Felipa
Date: 16 Mar 99 - 02:21 PM

Brooks Williams - "Back to Mercy" Green Linnet 2108, 1992
songs include: All That is Gold, Mason-Dixon Line, Dancer's Delight, Old Blue
but this recording is too recent to answer Dan's query, and I haven't heard the recording to say whether it's the same song - there are also songs of horses and cars called "Old Blue"

Subject: RE: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Felipa
Date: 16 Mar 99 - 01:36 PM

According to the DT database, Joan Baez recorded the song. I think Peter, Paul and Mary did too. But that doesn't answer Dan's question, except to say that he can get the words and tune from the DT at Mudcat.

Subject: Old Dog Named Blue
From: Dan in Florida
Date: 16 Mar 99 - 09:57 AM

I am looking for an album; probably recorded in the 60's or possibly the 70's, with a song about a guy who sings of his dog named 'ol Blue'.. One of the lines is... "I had an ol' dog and his name was Blue.... Bet'cha five dollars he's a good dog too..." Other songs on the album, which were performed by a male vocalist and guitarist (name unknown) included a song referring to the 'Natchez Trace' and the 'Stars that fell on Alabam'...along with a recitation of an old Indian chief on how he views the white man. To the best of my memory, the artist performing on the album traveled mostly in the Southeast U.S. Any assistance you may offer me in finding this album is greatly appreciated. Thank you Dan