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Goodnight Irene

Composer: Traditional

Jerry Garcia

info Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, 10/31/87, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band/Jerry Garcia Band, 2004
info Pure Jerry: Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Feb 28, 1986, Jerry Garcia & John Kahn, 2009
info Ragged But Right, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 2010
info Garcia Live: Volume 14: Jan 27, 1986, Garcia / Kahn, 2020
info Garcia Live 14 Bonus CD: Jan 28, 1986, Garcia / Kahn, 2020

Others

no info Library Of Congress Recordings, Leadbelly, 1936
no info Single, Weavers and Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, 1950
no info Live At Carnegie Hall, The Weavers, 1956
info Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1958
no info Hum and Strum Along, Chet Atkins, 1959
info American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3, Pete Seeger, 1959
no info Good Night Irene, Leadbelly, 195?
no info Negro Folk Songs for Young People, Leadbelly, 1960
no info Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1960
no info America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Milt Okun, 1961
info Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Springfields, 1962
no info The Country Music Hall of Fame: The Greatest Collection of Country Hits Ever Assembled in One Album, Various Artists (Sunshine Boys), 1962
no info Bobby Vee Meets The Ventures, Bobby Vee and The Ventures, 1963
no info Take This Hammer, Leadbelly, 1965
no info Plays Leadbelly, Clifford Jordan, 1965
info Original Sun Sound, 1965
info Just Plain Folk, Various Artists (The Banjo Barons), 1965
no info Last Sessions, Mississippi John Hurt, 1966
info In Action!!!!, Billy Lee Riley, 1966
no info Good Golly Miss Molly, Little Richard, 1969
no info Single (Goodnight Irene / Change Me), Glen Garrison, 1969
no info Last Sessions, Vol 4, Leadbelly, 196?
no info Travelling Shoes, Guy Mitchell, 196?
no info America's Best Loved Folk Songs, Milt Okun, 196?
no info Country Music Hall Of Fame, Gene Autry, 1970
no info A Taste of Country, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1970
no info High Mountain Hoedown, High Mountain Hoedown, 1970
no info Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian, John Sebastian, 1971
info Hank Wilson's Back, Leon Russell, 1973
no info Woody's Story: As Told by Will Geer and Sung by Dick Wingfield, Will Geer and Dick Wingfield, 1973
no info Greatest Hits, The Irish Rovers, 1974
no info Dollars Dollars and More Dollars, Little Richard, 1975
no info Chicken Skin Music, Ry Cooder, 1976
info Third Time Around, The Lost & Found, 1978
no info Scotty Stoneman Live In LA With The Kentucky Colonels, Scotty Stoneman w/ Kentucky Colonels, 1979
no info The Sun Years, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1982
no info Ooh My Soul, Little Richard, 1983
no info The Sun Years, Johnny Cash, 1984
no info Living On Hallelujah Side, Joseph Spence, 1987
no info Star Dreamer - Nightsongs and Lullabies, Priscilla Herdman, 1988
info Folkways - The Original Vision, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1988
info Classic: The Definitive Edition of His Sun Recordings 1956-1963, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1989
no info Life In Exile After Abduction, Maureen Tucker, 1989
no info Folk Songs for Young People, Pete Seeger, 1990
info The Man in Black: 1954-1958, Johnny Cash, 1990
no info Greatest Hits, Kingston Trio, 1990
info Troubadours Of The Folk Era Vol. 3, Various Artists (The Weavers), 1992
info Another Country, The Chieftains, 1992
no info Columbia Years 1943-1952 The Complete Recordings, Frank Sinatra, 1993
no info Lead Belly's Last Sessions, Leadbelly, 1994
info Folk Song America, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1994
info Out On The Rolling Sea, Various Artists (Japheth Dean), 1994
no info Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1, Leadbelly, 1996
no info Best Of The Decca Years, Weavers, 1996
info Larger Than Life, Sleepy LaBeef, 1996
info The Best of the Brothers Four, The Brothers Four, 1996
info Smithsonian Folkways American Roots Collection, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 1996
info Over the Hills and Far Away, The Springfields, 1997
info Very Best of the Springfields, Springfields, 1998
info Generations of Folk, Vol. 1: Festival of Folk, Various Artists (Weavers), 1998
info Wildcat Tamer, Dale Hawkins, 1999
info 40 Most Popular American Folk Songs, Paul & Margie, 199?
info Great Memory Folk Songs, Various Artists (Weavers), 19??
info The Complete Studio Recordings, Mississippi John Hurt, 2000
info Complete Recorded Works: 1939-1947, Vol. 6: 1947, Leadbelly, 2000
info Faithful Virtue: The Reprise Recordings, John Sebastian, 2001
info American Roots Music, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 2001
info Folk Music, Various Artists (Weavers), 2001
info American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1, Pete Seeger, 2002
info Vanguard: Roots of Folk, Various Artists (Leon Bibb), 2002
info Roots of Ry Cooder, Various Artists (Leadbelly), 2002
info Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 3, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 2002
info Will The Circle Be Unbroken, The Trilogy, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 2003
info Live In L.A., Scotty Stoneman with The Kentucky Colonels, 2003
info Songs of the South: Farther Along, Various Artists (Ry Cooder), 2004
info The Legend, Johnny Cash, 2005
info Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Weavermania), 2006
info Twice Upon a Time, The Kingston Trio, 2008

Notes

Also performed by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir with Carlos Santana, Tower of Power and others 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.