"Hungry Hound" is a song composed by Louisiana blues singer Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow, best known for being covered by The Residents. The original Dyin' Dog demo recording of "Hungry Hound" was recorded in the mid-1970s; thought to be lost for many years, it was first released in 2019 on the limited edition vinyl box set The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog.
The Residents' version of the song was previewed on their live tour In Between Dreams; a live recording from April 2018 was released on the live album In Between Dreams Live in 2019.
The studio version of the song was featured as the second track on their album Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs of Dyin' Dog, released by Cherry Red Records on July 10, 2020. The CD and vinyl editions of the album also include the original Alvin Snow demo.
History[]
Alvin Snow demo recording[]
"Hungry Hound" was written by blues singer Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow and recorded at Little Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana, with his band Dyin' Dog and the Mongrels, featuring The Residents' former collaborator Roland Sheehan.
The lyrics depict a man learning of his lover's violent murder and lamenting his loss, claiming he will "never find another bitch to hump my hungry hound".
Snow went missing in January 1976 following a series of personal tragedies, including that of his lover Miss Lillian, and was never heard from again; Dyin' Dog and the Mongrels promptly disintegrated and the Little Studios demo session would remain unreleased and unheard for 37 years.
The Residents' version[]
Roland Sheehan re-discovered the Dyin' Dog demo session in 2016 inside a box in the now abandoned Gem Theater in Dubach, Louisiana. By this time, Sheehan had recently been in touch with his former collaborators The Residents, and showed the demos to the group, which ultimately inspired them to develop a project spotlighting the unreleased material.
The Residents first performed the song (alongside two other Dyin' Dog songs) on their 2017-2019 live tour In Between Dreams. A recording from an April 2018 performance was released on the 2019 live album In Between Dreams Live (later reissued as In Between Dreams Live in San Francisco with a bonus DVD in 2020).
In September 2019, Psychofon Records released the limited edition 7" vinyl box set The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog, featuring Snow's original recording of "Hungry Hound", as well as the other eight Dyin' Dog demos. The following year, in 2020, The Residents released Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs of Dyin' Dog, an album of covers of the nine Dyin' Dog songs, as well as six original compositions inspired by his lyrics. Both The Residents' version of "Hungry Hound" and the Dyin' Dog demo are included on the album.
For The Residents' September 2021 Dog Stab! live performances (originally intended to promote the Metal, Meat & Bone and Duck Stab! Alive! projects), the group performed eleven tracks from the album, including "Hungry Hound". The group also performed the song at their 50th Anniversary secret show in January 2023.
For the re-calibrated 2023 version of the Dog Stab! tour (now renamed Faceless Forever), the number of Dyin' Dog songs was minimized, with "Hungry Hound" being one of six songs carried over from the earlier shows.
Lyrics[]
Original version (1975)[]
They called me to come to the graveyard They said my baby was there They said somebody done stabbed her And burned off all her hair
I stared at her dead body There wasn't much for me to say I loved her like a seasick sailor Loves a windy day
She's gone and God, I miss her Lying in the ground I'll never find another bitch To hump my hungry hound
She's gone She's gone She's gone
The Residents' version (2020)[]
They called me to come to the graveyard They said my baby was there They said that someone stabbed her And burned off all her hair
I stared at her dead body There wasn't much for me to say I loved her like a seasick sailor Loves a windy day
She's gone and God, I miss her Lying in the ground I'll never find another bitch To hump my hungry hound
She's gone She's gone She's gone
List of releases[]
- In Between Dreams Live (2019) [Version 1]
- The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog (2019) [Version 2]
- Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs Of Dyin' Dog (2020) [Version 3] [Version 2]
- In Between Dreams Live In San Francisco (2020) [Version 1]
List of versions[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In Between Dreams live recording, The Chapel, San Francisco, April 2018 (2:13)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dyin' Dog and the Mongrels studio demo, Little Studios, Shreveport, Louisiana, 1975 (2:07)
- ↑ Cole Street studio recording, 2015-2020 (2:03)
See also[]
- Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow
- The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog
- Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs of Dyin' Dog
- In Between Dreams
- Faceless Forever (tour)
- 50th Anniversary secret show