Song of the week #19

Winston's Black Dog

This track was the first I wrote for my, then-untitled, Up on the Downs album and its arrival surprised no one more than me as it is in a completely different style to anything else I have written before or since. 

I would never have predicted that I would (or even could) write a cool-jazz blues song such as this. Winston seems to have strayed from the world of 1950s film noir: The Third Man, The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely all come to mind. For those who don't know, the title refers to Winston Churchill, who suffered from depression all his life, describing it as his "black dog".

Back in late March 2017 I was feeling down so I went for a long therapeutic walk in the Meon Valley. As I was walking, the phrase "Winston's black dog came calling today" kept running through my head. I didn't really take it seriously as a potential song at the time, but later that day I picked up my guitar (capo on 3rd fret for you techies) and began to play a couple of favourite chords over and over again, as is my habit when writing a new song. I experimented with some VERY jazzy-sounding chords - dominant 9ths and 13ths and the occasional augmented 5th - and to counteract the complexity of these chords I kept the tune very simple. The words came easily and quickly - I'm especially fond of the line "He'll try to mess with your mind" - the alliteration makes it a gift to sing. The phrase "He's taken too many men down, got blood on his claws" is another line I enjoy singing.

The arrangement was obvious. The wailing alto sax solo, mimicking a howling dog, was inspired by the playing of Barbara Thompson (of Jon Hiseman's "Colosseum") in the opening music to David Jason's A Touch of Frost.

Some lush vibraphone chords had to be in there, along with an upright double bass (courtesy of my Variax bass guitar which takes such matters in its stride) and a big hollow-bodied Gibson ES-175 much loved by jazz guitarists such as Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery and perfectly emulated by my 6-string Variax guitar. 

Add some atmospheric tremolando strings and a vintage 1930s drum kit played with brushes (one of my favourite Abbey Road virtual instruments) and there was no need for anything else. The vocal took a couple of takes to nail and as usual I included some of my trademark lower third harmonies to bolster the lead vocal line, but in this case they were chromatic dissonant harmonies - quite challenging to pitch correctly.. I've also used a technical device in the middle section which is not often found in pop or rock songs. Taking my cue from the alternating A minor and G minor chords which run through the song, the sax plays in A minor and the jazz guitar, at the same time, plays in G minor - something called bitonality.  

I couldn't resist making a video for it. Just as I had plundered every musical cliche from the film-noir genre I thought I'd do the same with the (necessarily black and white) visuals. Flashing neon signs, "Dutch angle" shots, chiaroscuro lighting effects all went into the mix along with venetian blinds and creepy shadows.

For the 2024 revamp of the song I used an AI effect on the lead vocal as I was never happy with my voice on the song. I also enhanced the alto sax and double bass parts. I also realised, to my horror, that there were some serious synchronisation problems between the audio and visuals so I have fixed those.

Click on the image below to play the YouTube video:

Winston's Black Dog

Winston’s black dog he came calling today
You never know when he’ll arrive or how long he’ll stay.
Winston’s black dog never follows to heel
He never pays any respect, just do what he feels
Once he knows your name and number 
You ain’t never gonna chase him away.
Woah, Winston’s black dog he came calling today

Winston’s black dog he been scratching my door
He’s taken too many men down, got blood on his claws
Winston’s black dog, such a high price to pay
Only way he’ll leave you alone is do what he says
Once he smells your fear arising
He’s like a wound that never will heal
Woah, Winston’s black dog he just do what he feels

Winston’s black dog, he’ll try to mess with your mind
But I’ll show that old flea-bitten hound he’s wasting his time
Winston’s black dog, well, I’ll show him what for
I’ll give that old rascal a kick right out of the door
Gonna change my name and number
And hope he’s gone by the end of the day.
Woah, Winston’s black dog such a high price to pay.