DOOLEY’S JUNKYARD DOGS: Today is a special date in Georgia football history (especially considering the Bulldogs will likely need a Junkyard Dog-like defensive performance this Saturday to beat the Gators): the 40th anniversary of the official release of “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs.”
On October 29, 1975, at Atlanta’s International Motel, a press conference was held with Georgia football network announcer “Happy” Howard Williamson, Bulldogs head coach Vince Dooley, and the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown, announcing the release of what was believed to be the first “rock ‘n’ roll” related song about a college football team: “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs.”
Inspired in September by Georgia’s surprising but strong defensive performances executed by a small and inexperienced, yet quick and feisty group of defenders, Williamson—the father of current radio broadcast member, Neil "Hondo" Williamson—spent three weeks writing the song and then asked Brown, a big Georgia fan, if he would sing and record the tune. Taking 14 hours to cut and featuring about 35 musicians and singers, “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs” was finally released.
The version of the song most of us have likely heard before is rather edited, mentioning the names of Dooley, Howard, athletic director Joel Eaves, offensive coordinator Bill Pace, and play-by-play man Larry Munson. But, the original version of “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs”—one you’ve probably only heard if you happen to own one of the approximately 100,000 records which were released 40 years ago—also mentions players’ names, curiously including players who didn’t play on defense, or who weren’t members of the Junkyard Dogs. An excerpt from the original version:
There’s Swoopes, Clark, Rusty and Zambiasi
But they’ll hit you man and make you dizzy
There’s Wilson, Johnson, and some dude named Moon Pie
There’s Henderson, Appleby and that character named Miller
Even greater than the thriller in Manila
Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs
Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs
Although not the original tune, I discovered the extended vinyl version, and then set the more than six minutes of the song to highlights of Georgia’s 1975 defense—the original Junkyard Dogs:
On October 29, 1975, at Atlanta’s International Motel, a press conference was held with Georgia football network announcer “Happy” Howard Williamson, Bulldogs head coach Vince Dooley, and the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown, announcing the release of what was believed to be the first “rock ‘n’ roll” related song about a college football team: “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs.”
Inspired in September by Georgia’s surprising but strong defensive performances executed by a small and inexperienced, yet quick and feisty group of defenders, Williamson—the father of current radio broadcast member, Neil "Hondo" Williamson—spent three weeks writing the song and then asked Brown, a big Georgia fan, if he would sing and record the tune. Taking 14 hours to cut and featuring about 35 musicians and singers, “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs” was finally released.
The version of the song most of us have likely heard before is rather edited, mentioning the names of Dooley, Howard, athletic director Joel Eaves, offensive coordinator Bill Pace, and play-by-play man Larry Munson. But, the original version of “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs”—one you’ve probably only heard if you happen to own one of the approximately 100,000 records which were released 40 years ago—also mentions players’ names, curiously including players who didn’t play on defense, or who weren’t members of the Junkyard Dogs. An excerpt from the original version:
There’s Swoopes, Clark, Rusty and Zambiasi
But they’ll hit you man and make you dizzy
There’s Wilson, Johnson, and some dude named Moon Pie
There’s Henderson, Appleby and that character named Miller
Even greater than the thriller in Manila
Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs
Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs
Although not the original tune, I discovered the extended vinyl version, and then set the more than six minutes of the song to highlights of Georgia’s 1975 defense—the original Junkyard Dogs:
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