| Hot Dog! | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Buck Owens |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | November 16, 1988 |
| Studio: | Maximus |
| Genre: | Country, rockabilly |
| Label: | Capitol[1] |
| Producer: | Jim Shaw |
| Prev Title: | Our Old Mansion |
| Prev Year: | 1977 |
| Next Title: | Act Naturally |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
Hot Dog! is an album by the American musician Buck Owens, released in 1988.[2] It was Owens's first studio album since deciding in 1979 to quit the music business.[3] The first single was the title track, which Owens had originally recorded under the name Corky Jones.[4] Owens shot a video for the single.[5]
The album peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.[6] Owens supported it with a 1989 North American tour.[7]
Partly recorded in Fresno, the album was produced by Jim Shaw.[8] [9] "Under Your Spell Again" is performed as a duet with Dwight Yoakam.[8] Hot Dog! contains covers of "Summertime Blues" and "Memphis".[10] "A-11" is a cover of the Hank Cochran song; "The Key's in the Mailbox" was written by Harlan Howard.[11] "Second Fiddle" is a version of Owens's first charting single.[12]
Robert Christgau admired the "emotion and commitment" of some of the songs. USA Today praised the "group of rejuvenated rockabilly classics like 'Summertime Blues', 'Put a Quarter in the Jukebox' and 'Keys in the Mailbox'."[13] The Houston Chronicle wrote that the album "is not without its charms ... Owens is still in fine voice."
The Advocate concluded that Hot Dog! "sounds a bit tentative, but that might be expected after many years of semi-retirement... He can still write good songs, and that voice is unmistakable."[14] The Kingston Whig-Standard noted that Owens "attacks each song with zest but at the same time stays within the parameters of traditional country music."[15] The Los Angeles Times stated that Owens's "off-center phrasing always keeps his structurally simple songs of heartbreak and loss musically fresh."[16]
AllMusic wrote that "this isn't one of Owens' best albums by a long shot, but it is a fun session."