About 'Goodnight Irene'

 

When I was growing up my grandmother use to enjoy recounting a story about my affection for The Weavers recording of the song in the video above. Their version of "Goodnight Irene" became popular when I was two years old. So I may have first heard it on the radio.

According to my grandmother, the scene that follows played out in a restaurant she and my grandfather frequented. It had a big, lit up jukebox that fascinated me. It seems I was crazy about "Goodnight Irene" and would play it over and over.

As the song played, she said I would sway with the music and hug the jukebox. A three-year-old's dance, of a sort, I suppose. 

Apparently, I also liked the feel of the sound's vibrations. But I don't remember that part. However, I do remember that place's jukebox, itself. It was mostly green. I also vaguely remember pretending it was a rocker ship and I was driving it.

"Goodnight Irene" was the first of several popular songs I fell in love with, as a kid. This flashback is one of my earliest memories about anything.

As a small child I lived in a big old stucco house with my maternal grandparents, who were both fine musicians ... but they had regular day jobs. My grandmother was a nurse and an excellent pianist. My grandfather was a professional barbershop quartet bass, as well as a backup singer for recording sessions, mostly done in D.C. By day, he was an architect/draftsman for the C&O Railway. 

My exposure to their music and that of their friends who came over to party and rehearse, standing around the piano, left quite a mark on me. In particular, in that same time -- early 1950s -- I was a fan of the doowop style, maybe because it sounded something like the harmony of the barbershop quartet style. 

Of course, ever since then -- 70-some years ago -- whenever I hear that recording of "Goodnight Irene," it always takes me back to my rocket ship driving era.

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