"Ol' Red" is a song written by James "Bo" Bohon, Don Goodman, and Mark Sherrill. The song was originally recorded by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

on his 1990 album '' You Oughta Be Here with Me'' and covered by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

on his 1993 album ''

If Only My Heart Had a Voice ''If Only My Heart Had a Voice'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by country music artist Kenny Rogers released in 1993 by Giant Records. It was Rogers' first album not to chart since 1976. The album includes the singles "Missing You", "Ol' Red" ...

''. Rogers' version was released as a single in August 1993. It was later recorded by

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

, and his version of the song was released in March 2002 as the third and final single from his self-titled debut album. Shelton's rendition was also a Top 20 hit on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, having peaked at number 14.

Content

The narrator is a prisoner serving a 99-year term on a

prison farm A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts work legally or illegally on a farm (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open air, such as in ...

in southern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for committing a crime of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

after catching his wife in an affair with another man, presumably killing one or both of them. 12 years into his sentence (two years in both the Kenny Rogers and Blake Shelton versions), he ingratiates himself with the

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

and is assigned to tend Ol' Red, the warden's prized

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar, rabbits, and since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is ...

who helps catch escapees. The warden in fact ''dares'' the prisoners to try to escape, but none have ever succeeded, as Ol' Red can smell a trail up to two days old and the prison is surrounded by

quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

and

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

s. The narrator bribes a guard to let him send a letter to a cousin in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, who brings in a female

Bluetick Coonhound The Bluetick Coonhound is a breed of coonhound originating in the United States. The Bluetick Coonhound is known for its friendly personality, cold nose, and deep bawl mouth. It is most commonly used as a raccoon hunting dog, but is also kept as ...

and pens her in a swamp just south of the prison. When the narrator takes Ol' Red for his daily exercise run, he passes by the swamp, hoping Ol' Red and the Bluetick will mate. Once they start doing so consistently, the narrator intentionally keeps the dogs apart for several days, then escapes from the prison one evening and heads north toward Tennessee. When the warden turns Ol' Red loose, though, he is so eager to mate with the Bluetick that he runs south toward her pen and completely ignores the narrator's escape. Some time later, the two dogs have bred litters of "red-haired Blueticks" all over the American South, and the narrator muses, "Love got me in here and love got me out."

Kenny Rogers version

In August 1993, Country superstar

recorded a version of the song and included it on his album ''

'' under the Giant Records label.

Blake Shelton version

recorded a version of the song and included it on his self-titled debut album, released in 2001, and was released as the third and final single from the album in March 2002. It also features backing vocals from Rachel Proctor. Although it did not reach the Top 10 on the U.S. country charts, "Ol' Red" is one of Shelton's most commonly requested songs in concert (as well as one of his best-known hits). As a direct result, he considers it his

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

Music video

The music video was directed by

Peter Zavadil Peter Zavadil is an American music video director who works primarily in the field of country music. He has directed many music videos since the late 1990s. He has won the Country Music Association Award for Video of the Year twice from seven nomi ...

. It features a cameo by NASCAR driver

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

(as his cousin),

Bobby Braddock Robert Valentine Braddock (born August 5, 1940) is an American country music, country songwriter and record producer. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Braddock has contributed numerous hit s ...

(as a prison inmate), who produced Shelton's version, and Kirsti Manna (who co-wrote Blake's previous hit "

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

", as Blake's bailiff). It was filmed at the

Tennessee State Prison Tennessee State Prison is a former correctional facility located six miles west of downtown Nashville, Tennessee on Cockrill Bend. It opened in 1898 and has been closed since 1992 because of overcrowding concerns. The facility was severely damage ...

. Many of the cameos would later have a part in Blake's 2004 "

Some Beach "Some Beach" is a song written by Rory Feek and Paul Overstreet and recorded by American country music artist Blake Shelton. It was released in July 2004 as the second single from Shelton's 2004 album ''Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill''. The song be ...

" video, also directed by Zavadil.

Chart performance

"Ol' Red" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 30, 2002.

Year-end charts

Certifications

Merchandising

Shelton, in partnership with

Ryman Hospitality Properties Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and Mass media, media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be trace ...

, operates a chain of restaurants with the name "Ole Red" in

Tishomingo, Oklahoma Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,101 as of the 2020 census, an increase of 2.2% over the population of 3,034 reported at the 2010 census. It was the fir ...

;

Gatlinburg, Tennessee Gatlinburg is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. It is located southeast of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville and had a population of 3,577 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a popular mountain resort town, as it ...

; Orlando, Florida, and

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

's lower Broadway area.

References

{{Blake Shelton singles 1990 songs 1993 singles 2001 songs 2002 singles George Jones songs Kenny Rogers songs Blake Shelton songs Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Songs written by Don Goodman (songwriter) Warner Records Nashville singles Giant Records (Warner) singles Songs written by Mark Sherrill Songs about dogs Songs about prison Songs about Georgia (U.S. state)