This is a country-style ballad that was far too mawkishly sentimental for my taste. I only made it through 59 seconds of it.
"Old Shep" was written by country music singer-songwriter Red Foley in 1935. He recorded it several times during his career, releasing his first recording of it in 1936. It's also been recorded by Hank Snow, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Pat Boone, among others.
Ralph DeMarco seems to have left not much of an internet footprint behind him. Search results confuse him with a different Ralph DeMarco who was a community leader in New York City. AI search results for him claim that he was 15 years old when this was recorded but I cannot confirm this with any website generated by humans. I was able to determine that his version of "Old Shep" reached #91 on the Billboard Hot 100, so it was more popular in Toronto than in most places.
A setlist website claims that DeMarco performed "Old Shep" on the Dick Clark show in New York on December 5, 1959; this, presumably, marked the high point of his career.According to the Discogs website, DeMarco released one other single, "Lonely For A Girl". I couldn't find it on YouTube, but there is a link to a song titled "Donna" that somebody named Ralph DeMarco (possibly this one) released in 1962. It appears to be standard doo-wop but I saw no reason to listen to it.
Created October 27, 2026.