"Ida Red" is an American traditional song of unknown origins that was made famous in the upbeat 1938 version by

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

and his

Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

. Wills' "Ida Red" served as the primary inspiration for Chuck Berry's first big hit "

Maybellene "Maybellene" is a rock and roll song. It was written and recorded in 1955 by Chuck Berry, adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune " Ida Red". Berry's song told the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance, the lyrics describing ...

". It is chiefly identified by variations of the chorus: :''Ida Red, Ida Red, I'm a plumb fool 'bout Ida Red.'' Verses are unrelated, rather humorous, and free form, changing from performance to performance. ''Ida Red's'' identity is unknown, but is feminine in most uses. The earliest recording is a one by Fiddlin' Powers & Family (Victor 19434, 1924), which includes vocals. There is also an early well-known instrumental by Dykes Magic City Trio, (Brunswick 125, 1927). Like his father and grandfather, Wills, renowned in parts of Texas for his fiddling talents before he formed the Texas Playboys, would have learned this tune in his earliest days of fiddling. "Ida Red", the personage, appears in a number of other songs only distantly related to the song "Ida Red". One, by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers whose "Shootin' Creek" (Columbia 15286-D, 1928), a version of " Cripple Creek", contains verses from "Ida Red", i.e.: :''Ida Red, she's a darned ol' fool,'' :''Tried to put a saddle on a hump-back mule.'' Alan Lomax includes another in his collection of "Negro Bad Men" songs titled "Ida Red". Other than the title, this song is in no way related to the folk song. This song is of a criminal feeling sorry for himself. In every verse he wails to his woman: :''Oh, weep! Oh, my Ida!'' There are also several songs that share the same tune but unrelated subject matter. These include "Down The Road" and "Over The Road I'm Bound to Go".

Western swing

In the 1930s,

took the old tune and set it to a 2/4 dance beat to be played by his

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

dance band, the

. His 1938 recording (Vocalion 05079) became a hit. The song, as originally recorded by Wills, borrowed lyrics from an 1878 popular song written by Frederick W. Root ("Sunday Night"). The Wills version opens with: :''Light's in the parlor, fire's in the grate,'' :''Clock on the mantle says it's a'gettin' late,'' :''Curtains on the window, snowy white,'' :''The parlor's pleasant on Sunday night.'' "Sunday Night" opens with: :''The light is in the parlor, A fire is in the grate;'' :''The clock upon the mantle Ticks out "it's getting late"'' :''The curtains at the windows Are made of snowy white,'' :''The parlor is a pleasant place To sit on Sunday night, To sit on Sunday, Sunday night.'' Wills and his Texas Playboys performed this arrangement of "Ida Red" in two of his movies; Go West, Young Lady'' (1941) and ''Blazing the Western Trail'' (1945). It has been revived by the award-winning Western Swing band The Hot Club of Cowtown and features on four of their albums: ''Swingin' Stampede'' (1998), ''Continental Stomp'' (2003; live version), ''Four Dead Batteries'' (film soundtrack, 2005), and ''Best Of The Hot Club of Cowtown'' (2008).

"Ida Red Likes the Boogie"

In 1949, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys brought out a boogie woogie version of "Ida Red" called "Ida Red Likes The Boogie" (MGM K10570). In 1950, it spent 22 weeks on the charts, reaching #10. "Ida Red Likes The Boogie" has been recorded by other artists numerous times since.

"Maybellene"

In 1955, Chuck Berry's "

", adapted parts of "Ida Red" as recorded by

in 1938 and is believed to be one of the first rock & roll songs ever recorded, reached #10 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. As a result, Bob Wills was later posthumously inducted into the

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

as an early influence to rock & roll.

Bluegrass and country

Bluegrass and country versions, as performed by

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

and Roy Acuff, use the traditional humorous free floating verses, but in 4/4 time instead of following the easy going Appalachian tempo. A version was recorded by Asleep At The Wheel on their 2-time Grammy Award-winning 1993 Bob Wills tribute album.

References

Bibliography

*Laird, Ross. ''Brunswick Records: A Discography of Recordings, 1916-1931''. Greenwood Press, 2001. *Lomax, John A. and Alan Lomax. ''American Ballads and Folk Songs''. Dover Publications (reprint), 1994. *Pegg, Bruce. ''Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life And Hard Times Of Chuck Berry''. Routledge, 2005. *Root, Frederic Woodman. "Sunday Night". Root & Sons Music Co., 1879. (Sheet music from Library of Congress) *Whitburn, Joel. ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006. {{authority control 1938 songs Western swing songs American folk songs Bob Wills songs Year of song unknown