"Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th century American folk standard, written in 3/4 time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1932.

The lyrics tell of the singer's troubled past with his love, Irene, and express his sadness and frustration. Several verses make explicit reference to suicidal fantasies, most famously in the line "sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and drown," which was the inspiration for the 1964 Ken Kesey novel Sometimes a Great Notion.

In 1950, US folk group The Weavers recorded a version which became a US #1. Although generally faithful, the Weavers chose to omit some of Lead Belly's more controversial lyrics, leading Time magazine to label it a "dehydrated" and "prettied up" version of the original.^[1]

Due to the recording's popularity, however, The Weavers' lyrics are the ones generally used today.

Subsequent to 1950, the song was recorded by numerous artists across several genres. In 2002, Lead Belly's 1936 Library of Congress recording received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

The song has also come to fame as being the terrace song for Bristol Rovers FC who play in the English Football League 1.

[edit] Covers

In 1950, one year after his death, the American folk band The Weavers recorded a version of Lead Belly's classic. The single first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on June 30, 1950 and lasted 25 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.

The Weavers' enormous success inspired many other artists to release their own versions of the song, many of which were themselves commercially successful.

Frank Sinatra's cover, released only a month after The Weavers', lasted nine weeks on the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on July 10, peaking at #12. Later that same year, Ernest Tubb & Red Foley had a #1 country music record with the song ^[2], and both Dennis Day and Jo Stafford released versions which made the Best Seller chart, peaking at #22 and #26 respectively.

On the Cash Box chart, where all available versions were combined in the standings, the song reached a peak position of #1 on September 2, 1950, and lasted at #1 for 10 weeks.^[3]

The song was basis for the 1950 parody called "Please Say Goodnight to the Guy, Irene" by Ziggy Talent. It also inspired the 1954 "answer" record "Wake Up, Irene" by Hank Thompson, a top ten hit on Billboard's country chart.

Band From TV did a cover of the song, with Hugh Laurie doing piano and vocals.

[edit] Selected list of recorded versions

• 1934 Lead Belly, Library of Congress
• 1950 The Weavers, US #1
• 1950 Frank Sinatra, US #1
• 1950 Ernest Tubb & Red Foley, US #1 country
• 1979 Raffi (album: Corner Grocery Store)
• 1967 Originals on Soul Records, part of Motown Group
• 1969 The Kingston Trio (album: Once Upon a Time)
• 1971 John Sebastian (album: Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian)
• 1976 James Booker (album: Junco Partner)
• 1992 Dr. John (album: Goin' Back to New Orleans)
• 1994 Meat Puppets (EP: Raw Meat)
• 1999 Kelly Joe Phelps (album: Shine Eyed Mister Zen)
• 2006 Tom Waits (album: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)
• 2008 The Blues Preachers (album: Dry Long So)
• 2009 Deer_Tick, secret song (album: Born On Flag Day)
• Gene Autry
• Maureen Tucker
• Moon Mullican
• Jerry Reed
• Gordon Jenkins
• Jerry Lee Lewis
• Johnny Cash
• Jackie Greene 'Free Stream'.
• Ry Cooder
• Bill Frisell
• Alex Harvey
• 1986 Michelle Shocked (album: The Texas Campfire Tapes)
• Bryan Ferry
• Half Man Half Biscuit
• Kelly Joe Phelps
• Little Richard
• Kevin Ayers
• Pete Seeger
• The Irish Rovers
• The Chieftains
• Les Paul & Mary Ford
• Peter, Paul & Mary
• Mississippi John Hurt
• Bob Hope
• Nat King Cole
• Odetta
• Carl Perkins
• Big Bill Broonzy
• Lonnie Donegan
• Robert Johnson
• Chet Atkins
• Mantovani
• Leon Russell
• Tom Waits
• Van Morrison with Lonnie Donegan
• Brian Wilson
• Jim Reeves
• Jimmy Buffett
• Shivaree, on their cover album Tainted Love: Mating Calls and Fight Songs
• Grateful Dead 12-31-83
• The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl played and recorded this together live.
• Maximum Roverdrive - A mysterious group of musicians associated with Bristol Rovers FC, recorded another version. This version is played at the Memorial Stadium on matchdays.
• Mitch Miller and the gang (On the album of their singalong folk songs) from 1959.
• Peter, Paul and Mary, as a finale of a live concert in the 1980s.
• The Swampnobs to be released 2008 on the album "The Hidden Mantra of Damnation"
• Moxy Früvous insert a portion of "Goodnight, Irene" into "The Drinking Song" on Bargainville
• Gary Holton and Casino Steel

[edit] See also

• Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, another Lead Belly song covered by The Weavers
• Sometimes a Great Notion, 1964 novel by Ken Kesey

[edit] References

• Oliver, Paul (1984). Songsters and saints: vocal traditions on race records. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-24827-2.

[edit] External links

• Good Night Irene - lyrics and midi on RienziHills.com Retrieved on 2009-08-10.
• Bristol Rovers football fans singing Goodnight Irene