"Ida Red" is an American traditional song of unknown origins. 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).

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 Bob Wills

Bob Wills

James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...

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

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...

 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

The Hot Club of Cowtown

The Hot Club of Cowtown is a hot jazz/western swing trio, comprising; Elana Fremerman , Whit Smith , and slap bass player Jake Erwin, who also sing in three-part harmony...

 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

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

 "Maybellene

Maybellene

"Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...

" reached #10 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. "Maybellene" is an adaptation of "Ida Red" as recorded by Roy Acuff

Roy Acuff

Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...

 in 1939.

Bluegrass and Country

Bluegrass and country versions, as performed by Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

 and Roy Acuff

Roy Acuff

Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...

, use the traditional humorous free floating verses, but in 4/4 time instead of following the easy going Appalachian tempo.