Santa's Little Helper the dog was a "sympathetic" character. Welker has been praised by staff members for his performances on the show. David Mirkin has noted that "he can do anything, and it fits perfectly. You forget you're listening to a guy, and he's a pleasure to work with." Groening has commented that he was "unbelievably good" at doing animal noises. After 1995, Castellaneta voiced Santa's Little Helper on his own while Welker performed other animal noises until his full departure in 2002, when he was denied a pay raise. In the "questions and answers" section on his website, Welker revealed that the
Mother's Little Helper (Valium). Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Mother's Little Helper" was recorded at the RCA Records studios in Hollywood, California, in March 1966. The song begins with the line that is also heard as the last line in the repeated bridge section: Toward the end of the song, the mothers are warned: The song is based around folksy chords and an eastern-flavoured guitar riff sounding like a sitar, but is a slide riff played on an electric 12-string paired with a mandolin, both instruments played by Brian Jones. Keith plays acoustic rhythm guitar. Keith Richards notes, that the ending