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Salty Dog Blues

For other uses, see Salty dog (disambiguation).

"Salty Dog Blues" is a folk song from the early 1900s.[1] Musicians have recorded it in a number of styles, including blues, jazz, country music, bluegrass. Papa Charlie Jackson recorded an adaptation for Paramount and Broadway in 1924.[2] According to Jas Obrecht, "Old-time New Orleans musicians from Buddy Bolden’s era recalled hearing far filthier versions of 'Salty Dog Blues' long before Papa Charlie’s recording."[3] Similar versions were recorded by Mississippi John Hurt and Lead Belly.[2]

The Morris Brothers version includes "Let me be your Salty Dog, Or I won't be your man at all, Honey let me be your salty dog."[2] According to Richard Matteson:

The Morris chord progression for Salty Dog was also used by other performers, leaving the Morris version as an arrangement at best. During the 1920s and 30s, many country performers claimed they wrote any song that they copyrighted. This was a customary practice because the royalties meant big money in some cases.[2]

Music Services, an administrator for music publishers, identifies the song as "Public Domain",[4] while the performing rights organizations American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)[5] and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)[6] list songwriters and composers of over 10 works titled "Salty Dog Blues".

  1. ^ Richard Matteson Jr. (2006). Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book. Mel Bay Publications. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7866-7160-1.
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Matteson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Obrecht, Jas (June 23, 2011). "Papa Charlie Jackson: The First Popular Male Blues Singer". Jas Obrecht Music Archive. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  4. ^ "Salty Dog Blues". musicservices.org. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  5. ^ "ACE Repertory: Salty Dog Blues". ASCAP. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  6. ^ "BMI Repertoire: Salty Dog Blues". BMI. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2019.

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