Police Dog Blues

Album: Let Them Talk (2011)
Charted: 58
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Hugh Laurie, aka, Dr. Gregory House of Fox's television medical drama House, is also an enthusiastic and keen musician, playing a number of different instruments. After signing a contract with Warner Bros, Laurie released a blues album, Let Them Talk, which proved a commercial success, topping the charts in several countries including Argentina and Austria. It also reached #2 in his native UK.
  • The album pays homage to New Orleans blues, a type of music in which Laurie has immersed himself all his life. He told Associated Press: "I'm approaching the source of this music that I've loved all my life and I do so with trepidation and a lot of respect. I hope people will believe and understand I'm not being cavalier about it. This is not a casual thing for me at all. This is more important than almost anything I've ever done."
  • This song was originally recorded in 1929 by Arthur "Blind" Blake, an influential ragtime blues singer and guitarist, who laid down about 80 tracks for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932. Laurie's version debuted at #58 on the Hot 100, taking the song into the singles chart for the first time 82 years after it was written.
  • Lambchop recorded "Police Dog Blues" for their 2022 album, The Bible. The band's mainman, Kurt Wagner, re-listened to Blind Blake's original version during the 2020 unrest surrounding the killing of George Floyd. "It was deceptively upbeat musically and not what I remembered at all," he said. "Then I remembered a police dog is a Shepherd."

Comments: 2

  • Fran from Thousand Oaks, Ca.MORE, more, More !!
  • Hugh Mcphee from Wick, United KingdomHugh Laurie's cover of the song is pretty darn good.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Dr. John

Dr. JohnSongwriter Interviews

The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.