Howlin' Wolf - "Oh Red!" (1953 Blues, Rock & Roll sound file, information, and lyrics)

daddynap, Dec 3, 2011

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Edited by Azizi Powell This pancocojams post presents information about African American Blues and Rock and Roll singer Howlin Wolf. This pancocojams post also showcases a YouTube sound file of Howlin Wolf's record "Oh Red", That record is a cover of a 1936 Swing Jazz song by the Harlem Hamfats.

The lyrics for Howlin Wolf's song "Oh Red" is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the Howlin Wolf for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound files on YouTube. -snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-harlem-hamfats-1936-1937-swing-jazz.html for a pancocojams post entitled "The Harlem Hamfats' 1936 & 1937 Swing Jazz Records "Oh! Red", "New Oh! Red", & "It Was Red" (information, sound files, & lyrics)".

INFORMATION ABOUT HOWLIN WOLF
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howlin%27_Wolf
"Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade career, he recorded in genres such as blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock.

[…]

He started his recording career in 1951 after being heard singing by then 19-year-old Ike Turner, and then formed his own band in Chicago. Five of his songs managed to get on the Billboard national R&B charts, and he also released several albums in the 1960s and 1970s, and made several television performances as well....He released his final album The Back Door Wolf in 1973, and also made his last public performance in November 1975 with fellow blues legend B.B. King. After years of severely declining health, Burnett died in 1976, and was posthumously inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

 [...]

With a booming voice and imposing physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists.

[…]

Several of his songs, including "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful", have become blues and blues rock standards. "Smokestack Lightnin'" was selected for a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, and three of his songs were listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[4] In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[5]"...

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LYRICS - OH RED
(Howlin Wolf, 1953)

Oh Red, what should I do?

Oh Red, what should I do?

I'm sick an tired of askin' ya to sing them blues

Now Red, let's dance a while

Oh Red, let's dance a while

I'm sick an tired, tellin' ya to hold my hand

Oh Red, let's break 'em down

Oh Red, let's break 'em down

I'm sick an tired, tellin' ya to hold my hand

Now Red, you sweet to me

Oh Red, you sweet to me

But I'm sick an tired, tellin ya to hold my hand

Oh Red, we gonna swing a while

Oh Red, we gonna swing a while

I'm sick an tired, tellin' ya to hold my hand

Online Source-  https://genius.com/Howlin-wolf-oh-red-lyrics

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WHAT DOES "RED" MEAN IN THIS  HOWLIN WOLF SONG? 
Here's a comment that I wrote in the discussion thread for this YouTube sound file in response to a question from that sound file's publisher about what "Red" means in that Howlin Wolf song (and in the Harlem Hamfats songs "Oh! Red", "New Oh! Red" and "It Was Red".)

 " "Red" in this song refers to a woman. However, my guess is that the woman is a "redbone".

 Here's one definition of redbone from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=redbone:

"A female or male of African American descent who is light skinned with red undertones.

Beyonce, Halle Berry, Ciara, and Sanaa Lathan are redbones.

by Nancy88 December 9, 2006"
-end of quote-

 ... a person who is "red" ("redbone") isn't necessarily first generation mixed raced.

 A Black person in the United States calling another Black person "redbone" or "red" usually isn't considered an insult or a compliment.  Instead, in African American culture, "redbone" and "red" are descriptive terms such as "light skinned" and "dark skinned"."
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Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-redbone-yellowbone-and-browning.html for a 2013 pancocojams post entitled "What "Redbone", "Yellowbone", and "Browning" Mean".

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