- Style
- Old-time
- Tradition
- Southern and Midwestern old-time
- Form
- Reel
- Keys
- A and G
- Level
- 1
- Played on
- Fiddle and Mandolin
In the public domain. Source
Music
100bpm
Click any note to start from there
Chord chart
History
Fiddlers from West Virginia to Texas play some tune called "Ida Red," and the versions differ a lot, though nearly all keep the same closing phrase. Most are in A, often with the fiddle cross tuned to AEae. Jeff Titon thought the words point to an African American or minstrel origin, but no earlier source has been found.
Fiddlin' Cowan Powers of Scott County, Virginia, recorded it in 1924 with his children Charlie, Orpha, Carrie and Ada, the first family band on record in country music. Riley Puckett's 1926 version was one of the best selling country records of that year.
Ida Red, she lives in town, She weighs three hundred and forty pounds. Down the road and across the creek, Can't get a letter but once a week.