Goodnight Irene

Jerry Garcia

Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, 10/31/87, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band/Jerry Garcia Band, 2004

Others

Library Of Congress Recordings, Leadbelly, 1936
Single, Weavers and Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, 1950
Live At Carnegie Hall, The Weavers, 1956
Hum and Strum Along, Chet Atkins, 1959
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3, Pete Seeger, 1959
Good Night Irene, Leadbelly, 195?
Negro Folk Songs for Young People, Leadbelly, 1960
Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1960
America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Milt Okun, 1961
Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Springfields, 1962
The Country Music Hall of Fame: The Greatest Collection of Country Hits Ever Assembled in One Album, Various Artists (Sunshine Boys), 1962
Bobby Vee Meets The Ventures, Bobby Vee and The Ventures, 1963
Take This Hammer, Leadbelly, 1965
Plays Leadbelly, Clifford Jordan, 1965
Last Sessions, Mississippi John Hurt, 1966
Good Golly Miss Molly, Little Richard, 1969
Last Sessions, Vol 4, Leadbelly, 196?
Travelling Shoes, Guy Mitchell, 196?
America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Milt Okun, 196?
Country Music Hall Of Fame, Gene Autry, 1970
A Taste of Country, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1970
High Mountain Hoedown, High Mountain Hoedown, 1970
Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian, John Sebastian, 1971
Hank Wilson's Back, Leon Russell, 1973
Woody's Story: As Told by Will Geer and Sung by Dick Wingfield, Will Geer and Dick Wingfield, 1973
Greatest Hits, The Irish Rovers, 1974
Dollars Dollars and More Dollars, Little Richard, 1975
Chicken Skin Music, Ry Cooder, 1976
Scotty Stoneman Live In LA With The Kentucky Colonels, Scotty Stoneman w/ Kentucky Colonels, 1979
The Sun Years, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1982
Ooh My Soul, Little Richard, 1983
The Sun Years, Johnny Cash, 1984
Living On Hallelujah Side, Joseph Spence, 1987
Star Dreamer - Nightsongs and Lullabies, Priscilla Herdman, 1988
Folkways - The Original Vision, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1988
Life In Exile After Abduction, Maureen Tucker, 1989
Folk Songs for Young People, Pete Seeger, 1990
Greatest Hits, Kingston Trio, 1990
Troubadours Of The Folk Era Vol. 3, Various Artists (The Weavers), 1992
Another Country, The Chieftans, 1992
Columbia Years 1943-1952 The Complete Recordings, Frank Sinatra, 1993
Lead Belly's Last Sessions, Leadbelly, 1994
Folk Song America, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1994
Out On The Rolling Sea, Various Artists (Japheth Dean), 1994
Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1, Leadbelly, 1996
Best Of The Decca Years, Weavers, 1996
The Best of the Brothers Four, The Brothers Four, 1996
Smithsonian Folkways American Roots Collection, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1996
Over the Hills and Far Away, The Springfields, 1997
Very Best of the Springfields, Springfields, 1998
Wildcat Tamer, Dale Hawkins, 1999
40 Most Popular American Folk Songs, Paul & Margie, 199?
The Complete Studio Recordings, Mississippi John Hurt, 2000
Faithful Virtue: The Reprise Recordings, John Sebastian, 2001
American Roots Music, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 2001
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1, Pete Seeger, 2002
Vanguard: Roots of Folk, Various Artists (Leon Bibb), 2002
Roots of Ry Cooder, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 2002
Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 3, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 2002
Will The Circle Be Unbroken, The Trilogy, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 2003
Live In L.A., Scotty Stoneman with The Kentucky Colonels, 2003
Songs of the South: Farther Along, Various Artists (Ry Cooder), 2004

Notes

Also performed by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson and the Tower of Power at the 'Blues For Salvador' show on January 23, 1988 at Oakland.

Goodnight Irene is nearly always credited to Leadbelly, or to Leadbelly and Lomax, on LPs and CDs. He though claimed to have been taught it by an uncle. It is thought to be a Tin Pan Alley song from the first decade of the century but may be earlier. In Songsters and Saints, Paul Oliver auggests that the song was written in 1886 by Gassie Davis, as Irene, Goodnight.

The title is Irene on early Leadbelly recordings.