Wake Up Irene

"Wake Up Irene" is a parody song written by Johnny Hathcock and Weldon Allard, performed by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys, and released in 1954 on the Capitol label (catalog no. 21226).

"Wake Up Irene"
Single by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
Released1954
GenreCountry
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)John Hathcock, Weldon Allard

It was a parody of, and answer song to, "Goodnight, Irene". A recording by The Weavers of Goodnight, Irene was released in 1950 and spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the United States pop chart.[1]

The premise of Wake Up, Irene is that Irene was prevented from sleep by the steel guitars and everyone around the country singing goodnight to her for months and months. According to the song, Irene finally fell asleep, and there's not a thing that can wake her.[2]

In May 1954, the song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country and western chart.[3] It was also ranked No. 17 on Billboard's 1954 year-end country and western retail chart.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Goodnight Irene (song by Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra and the Weavers) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  2. "Wake up Irene". LyricFind. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  3. Joel Whitburn (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. p. 294. ISBN 0823076326.
  4. "1954's Top C & W Records". The Billboard. December 25, 1954. p. 17.
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