Forum Activity for @lil-plumer

cats & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm, Sadie at the Back Door

cats & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Ok, so Robin made a thread of songs that have dogs in them.

It might not have as many, but....
I demand equal time for CAT songs and tunes!!! LOL

Anyone know some cat tunes?.... :)

updated by @strumelia: 07/31/23 09:18:10PM

Suzanne, we'd need to know the scale/VSL length of your dulcimer (distance in inches, from nut to bridge).
updated by @strumelia: 02/10/16 11:52:23AM

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Randall, it's a good one and you do it up right. I appreciate your posting the link.

Randall McKinnon said:

I just uploaded the entire song on my website-- www.randallmckinnon.com . You'll find it under the "Music" tab...Hope you enjoy it!

Robin Thompson said:

Randall,

Never too late to add a good dog song!

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Randall,

Never too late to add a good dog song!

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Here it is:
My Dog Loves Your Dog

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Back in the 20s, Cliff Edwards, known as "Ukulele Ike," sang a song called "My Dog Loves Your Dog."Some of the lyrics go:Look how she pets himAnd look how she lets himPlay around the wayI'd like to play with youChows and Pekinese who have pedigreesAre crazy over my houndBut your little mutt simply got him nutsAnd he gladly gave her his last piece of liver 'causeMy dog loves your dogYour dog loves my dogIf our doggies love each otherWhy can't we?

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Yeah, that song's a killer.That's the part of farming that breaks your heart.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

EmLee, thanks for giving me the name James King and the Echo Mountain title-- I think that may have been the song I heard on radio.Paul, what to say about Barney? Powerful. Thanks for the link

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I've been known to play Old Rattler , mostly on banjo, though. I did work up a dulcimer version of this horse song, Barney.

I played it once at a late jam at Buckeye Dulcimer Festival, but it didn't seem to go over too well. One comment was on the order of "What a weird song." I guess if a person never cried at Old Shep, or the end of Old Yeller, Barney might seem weird. I've never played that one in public since that night. If ya can't cry at a good tear-jerker about dogs, cats, etc, you must have a hole in your soul. Better get that looked at.Paul

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the adventures of Ilene, The Two Legged Dog , as recorded by Cindy Funk of Sweetwater. Based in part on the story of a real dog named Skeezix, which she saw on TV.Hop around, hop around Ilene,Hop around just like a frog.Of legs she's got half,Please try not to laugh,At Ilene the two-legged dog.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

That's it! I must have Doc's version on vinyl somewhere, because I couldn't find in in my CD/iTunes collection. Not knowing the name of that song was driving me crazy. Now I can sleep tonight.D.T. Flint Hill said:

Good one!

I believe that forlorn doggie was last seen in the song Life Gets Teejus, Don't It ?

Cal Tinney did a popular version in the late 1940s and Doc Watson did a live recording in the early 1970s.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Good one!I believe that forlorn doggie was last seen in the song Life Gets Teejus, Don't It ?Cal Tinney did a popular version in the late 1940s and Doc Watson did a live recording in the early 1970s.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

"Hound dog howlin', he's so forlorn,The laziest dog that ever was born.He's a howlin' so 'cause he's a sitting on a thornAnd he's just too tired to roll over."That comes from some Doc Watson tune whose name I can't remember.And I heard years ago that the Beatles song "Martha My Dear" was about Paul's English sheepdog.Fun stuff.D.T.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Certainly no dog ever bit a baby in an OT tune.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Good one, Hunter!

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Mary Z Cox posted this "Old Blue" on YouTube-- and she's playing her new Paul Conrad-made Timbre Hill dulcimer:

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I mentioned this one on the cat post: "Henry Thomas" by John Sebastian, from the late 1966 album "Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful".My cat - dragged in - through the door - one fine mornOn its back - ears hungForty pounds of feet and tongue.Ooh wee, my dear Henry, dig the dog the cat dragged in.Can't fight - won't bite - has bugs - eats rugsSmells flowers - sleeps hoursGrowing like a dinosaur.There's a slide whistle solo. Go figure!(The late Zal Yanovsky, lead guitarist for the Spoonful, and quite likely the slide whistle player, moved to Kingston and opened a great gourmet restaurant, Chez Piggy, which is now run by his daughter, as well as Pan Chancho Bakery, both in historic buildings. Zal was quite the character in this town.)

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks Flint! Here's a picture of my dulcimer "Ellie" that I played the tune on. You can see why it is an appropriate instrument for a song about an old yellow dog.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

This really cooks, Phil. Like it a lot.It's striking to me how some old-time tunes sound like baroque French dance music when they're played on the dulcimer. I think it's the pacing and the implied harmony of the chords. A lot of those old gavottes and minuets started out as "country music" or turned into country music as they trickled down from the French court to the villages. Whatever, this sounds really rustic and pretty.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Here's my version of Old Yellow Dog. It probably should go faster but I tried it both ways and kinda like this one better.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Goodnight Little Cowup is my favorite sweet, sappy, country dog song. It's by Stephanie Davis, who has three Australian Shepherds.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Oh, "Gnarled" is great and great fun-- thanks for including it here, fellas!Suzanne, I've never seen these lyrics nor before heard the song. Poignant. Thank you.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Gnarled This has been a fun thread!

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks for the links, Ken. I was familiar neither with the legend surrounding Gelert nor the story of Saint Guinefort.Dogs rule! Come to think of it, cats do, too! :)

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Robin, I don't know the song, but the story is known as the "Gelert Legend" among English-speaking people. It's a Welsh story, also found in cultures worldwide, with the faithful dog replaced by a tame bear, a mongoose, or whatever.See also the noncanonical Saint Guinefort who is definitely a good sort of saint.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Ken, "Old Blue" is deserving of the praise it gets.I heard a song on radio about a man who returns to his cabin to find his dog bloodied. Believing the dog to have killed his child, the man kills the dog. Of course the fellow then learns the dog had gotten bloodied protecting (or trying to protect) the child from a wild animal.This ring a bell with anybody? I don't remember the facts of the song well-- probably obvious. Maybe it's one of the maudlin coon dog songs Ken mentioned. Anyway, the song hit me right in the heart. My, was it sad!

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks Robin, for using Old Blue to kick this one off. We lost both our blueticks this year, and they're the last ones we'll have. Too old to keep up with them. :)I think all these have been mentioned, but here are some links.There's "Coon Dog" , aka "Old Coon Dog" which uses pretty much the same tune as Angeline the Baker.Then there's "My Old Coon Dog" sung to the same tune as "Whoa Mule".Here's "Old Rattler" sung by Grandpa Jones.You can buy whole CDs of maudlin coon dog songs if you go to one of the big hunts, but I would recommend it. :)

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

ff,I don't recall ever hearing all the lyrics. And you're right about that last line. I imagine the poor dog might've been off somewhere on a chase if he weren't charged with watching over feckless Betsy and Ike. :)

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

How could you forget the dog:Oh don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike,Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike,With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog,A tall Shangai rooster, and one spotted hog?CHORUS:Singing dang fol dee dido,Singing dang fol dee day.One evening quite early they camped on the Platte.'Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.Where Betsy, sore-footed, lay down to repose --With wonder Ike gazed on that Pike County rose.The Shanghai ran off, and their cattle all died;That morning the last piece of bacon was fried;Poor Ike was discouraged and Betsy got mad,The dog drooped his tail and looked wondrously sad.It's the line "The dog drooped his tail and looked wondrously sad" that always catches me. I can just see him looking at his people thinking, "Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten me into!" ;-) Robin Thompson said:

Right now, I've got fiddler Rayna Gellert's Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin Through The Meetinghouse playing on my iTunes. Neat tune.

folkfan, I don't know all the words to Sweet Betsey from Pike so am glad she took her dog. Of the words I know, she only had her husband Ike with her.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Flint-Hill's "Old Blue" tops my list!When I was little, I wanted to know if there was a dog heaven. Now that I'm well into middle age, I know where I want to go when I die. :)

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

But, isn't the best dog song EVER, "Old Blue?"And you banja pickers ought to know "Cumberland Mountain Deer Race," with various dogs being called by name, and imitated on the banjo. More acoustically realistic is DeFord Bailey's harmonica rendition of "Fox Chase," on the same general theme, only the dogs are chasing a different critter.I regularly have deer and foxes in my yard, but almost never a dog (chasing them, or otherwise). Fairfax County has a leash law, applied pretty strictly to dogs, but not to wildlife. Hardly seems fair.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Mary, have you ever heard John Hartford's old-timey version of "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog"?PS-The second YouTube link didn't take me to your favorite dog tune of all time. :(

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Also the fiddle tunes:Joke on the Puppy (also known as Rye Straw)Ole Coon DogPrairie DogThat's My Rabbit, My Dog Caught It (gotta love old-time fiddle tune names)Road DogCorn DogPretty Little DogLittle Lap Dogand of course,Salty Dog

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Well, of course there is Elvis's "Ain't Nothin but a Hounddog.""Little Black Dog Gone Trottin' Down the Road" (a nice old time fiddle tune) is tabbed and taped on mountain dulcimer in my new "Easy String Band Method for Mountain Dulcimer" book cd.It's also on fiddle and banjo in the key of D on my Vintage Banjo cd.oh--and here's a youtube of the tune on banjo. :)

There's a nice version of "Old Yellow Dog" on my "Walkin' That Banjo Home" cd.And, of course, my favorite dog tune of all time is only available in this Youtube.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Right now, I've got fiddler Rayna Gellert's Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin Through The Meetinghouse playing on my iTunes. Neat tune.folkfan, I don't know all the words to Sweet Betsey from Pike so am glad she took her dog. Of the words I know, she only had her husband Ike with her.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Happy Puppy, and remember that Sweet Betsey from Pike took her dog with her. The old yeller dog along with the Shanghai Rooster.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

There are a few fiddle tunes (with no lyrics) that I enjoy the names of-Stump-tailed Dolly is said to be named after a dog, as is Old Rattler.I also like the fiddle tunes Dogs in the Dishes, and Granny Will Your Dog Bite.

dogs & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Lassie, Ole Yeller, Spot. . . How much is that doggie in the window? B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O. . . Whether you actually had a dog or not, many grew up watching, reading, or singing about a dog.
updated by @robin-thompson: 08/03/23 11:09:45AM

Doug Berch's cool blog

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Doug's photo of the burning dulcimer is almost a heart-stopper. And a prompt to think.It was a pleasure to hear Doug's music at Fort New Salem WV last August!