Annotation:I Got a Bulldog

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I GOT A BULLDOG. Old-Time, Song/Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). A song/breakdown, originally recorded by The Sweet Brothers in Richmond, Indiana, in 1928 (the band consisted of Herbert Sweet: fiddle; Earl Sweet: banjo, vocal; Ernest Stoneman: guitar, vocal). Lyrics begin:

I've got a bulldog, he cost five hundred,
I've got a bulldog, he cost five hundred;
I've got a bulldog, he cost five hundred,
In my back yard babe in my back yard.

When he barks he roars like thunder,
When he barks he roars like thunder;
When he barks he roars like thunder,
He barks at you baby he barks at you babe.

Variations of the lyric appear in several American songs, including "Joe Turner Blues." 'Bulldog' is often used in these songs as a euphamism for a revolver, although there was a type of revelover named the Bulldog [1] (a model used by Charles Guiteau to assassinate President James Garfield).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Gennett 6620, The Sweet Brothers (1928)

See also listing at:
Hear the Sweet Brother's 1928 recording at the Internet Archive [2]

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