FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 13, 2020

DEAR JERRY: In all of your 30-plus years, and 3,500-plus music related inquires, I'll bet you've never been asked this question:

Was there ever a hit record in the country field of music titled "Dog House Boogie"?

I ask this because when I was in grade school, we had a dog named "Boogie," and my father said he got the name from the song "Dog House Boogie."

Unfortunately, we never had such a record, and to this day I have not heard the right version of "Dog House Boogie."

The approximate time of that song would be very early 1950s, if that helps.
—Lilly Stoneman, Huntsville, Ala.

DEAR LILLY: You are right! You are the first person ever to ask about the song that inspired your family dog's name.

The "Dog House Boogie" in question came out in 1948.

By Hawkshaw Hawkins, "Dog House Boogie" (King 720) reached No. 6 on the Country & Western Top 10, and was Hawkins' second most popular tune, after his No. 1 hit "Lonesome 7-7203" (King 5712).

Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins was killed in the plane crash that claimed the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. The crash occurred March 5, 1963, just three days after "Lonesome 7-7203" debuted on the country music singles chart.

DEAR JERRY: Am I the only person who remembers a certain instrumental from the '60s? It wasn't big band sound, but it was made by a high school band from the south, perhaps Arkansas.

I cannot remember the title, but it came out around the same time as "Because They're Young."

Can you identify this lively recording?
—Gareth Pullins, McMinnville, Ore.

DEAR GARETH: In looking over the charted instrumentals during the summer of 1960, of which there were very few, I am now certain the tune you describe is "National City."

The label credits the Joiner, Arkansas Junior High School Band (Liberty 55244), but at the time (1960) there was no Joiner Arkansas Junior High School, which also means there was no school band.

What you hear on the record is a band of studio musicians, led by session arranger Ernie Freeman.