(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine

"(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Tom T. Hall. It was released in November 1972 as the second and final single from the album, The Storyteller. The song was Hall's third number one on the U.S. country singles chart and earned him his second nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. "(Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine" spent one week at the top and a total of thirteen weeks on the chart.[1] On June 1, 2014, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine" #93 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.[2]

"(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine"
Single by Tom T. Hall
from the album The Storyteller
B-side"Grandma Whistled"
ReleasedNovember 13, 1972
RecordedJuly 12, 1972
Mercury Custom Recording Studio
Nashville, Tennessee
GenreCountry
Length4:09
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Tom T. Hall
Producer(s)Jerry Kennedy
Tom T. Hall singles chronology
"More About John Henry"
(1972)		 "(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine"
(1972)		 "Hello, We're Lonely"
(1972)

Content

The song is a true account of Hall's experience at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where he had a conversation with an old porter (janitor) at a Miami Beach hotel. The porter appraises his own life by concluding that the only worthwhile things are the three listed in the song's title.[3]

Covers

The song has been covered by artists such as Frankie Laine--whose version changed what the bartender was watching from Ironside to Rawhide, George Burns, John Prine and Mac Wiseman, and Ferlin Husky. Alf Robertson recorded the song in 1977 in Swedish as Hundar och ungar och hembryggt äppelvin (Swedish for Dogs and children and home brewed apple wine), with new lyrics by himself.[4] and with the song he also scored a Svensktoppen hit for 10 weeks between 2 November 1980-[5]-18 January 1981[6] which included topping the chart.

Chart performance
Chart (1972–73) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Australian (Go-Set)[8] 21
New Zealand (Listener)[9] 17

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 149.
  2. 93. Tom T. Hall, 'Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine' (1972) Photo - 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time | Rolling Stone
  3. Randall, Alice; Little, Carter; Little, Courtney (2006). My Country Roots: The Ultimate MP3 Guide to America's Original Outsider Music. Thomas Nelson, Inc. pp. 92. ISBN 1-59555-860-8.
  4. "Svensk mediedatabas". Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  5. "Svensktoppen". 1980. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  6. "Svensktoppen". 1981. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  7. "Tom T. Hall Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. "Go-Set Australian charts - Top Records for the Year of 1973". Archived from the original on 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  9. Flavour of New Zealand, 27 August 1973


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