Ida Red - Western Swing

Western Swing

In the 1930s Bob Wills took the old tune and set it to a 2/4 dance beat to be played by his Western swing dance band, the Texas Playboys. 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).