Talk:Old Shep

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This isn't right

Latest comment: 11 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

This entry claims that Red Foley wrote "Old Shep" about his own dog, which is provably false.

1. Red Foley didn't write the lyrics. Willis Arthur did.

2. Even more problematic, Willis Arthur took the title, the story and the entire concept of the song from a song also called "Old Shep" and originally recorded not that long before by the popular British Country & Western group the Hill Billies, whose records were often released in the U.S.

More info at Secondhandsongs here.

I would link the original British record of "Old Shep" but I am blocked from providing links to Youtube. However, you can easily find the Hill Billies' record of it there. It was written by Ted Ford and Bill Ezra Sirett, and performed by the Hill Billies (Bill Ezra Sirett, Ted Ford, Con "Lefty" Calnan and Ben Evans). It was released June, 1935.

The Hill Billies are now almost forgotten, but they were apparently the most popular British Country & Western group of the 1930s. They put out dozens of records over eight years (1934 to 1941), and even though they mostly recorded American songs with affected American accents, they were good enough that a lot of them were also released in the U.S. A bunch of their records were also released in Australia. "Old Shep" was the B-side of their recording of "Red River Valley." Slade Barker (talk) 20:39, 27 September 2025 (UTC)Reply