Log Cabin Stories: Hoyle Nix on Bo-Kay

Hoyle Nix and his West Texas Cowboys - Ida Red (Bo-Kay K-108), 1959

Following my in-depth story on Texas western swing band leader and longtime Bob Wills companion Hoyle Nix, we continue to explore Nix' career and recorded works. The first installment of this litttle series features his first Bo-Kay release from 1959, which finds Nix and the band in top form with their rendition of the old fiddle favorite "Ida Red". It had been recorded more than 20 years earlier by the master Bob Wills himself (although there existed several recordings prior to Wills' take) and therefore became a standard in western swing.

"Ida Red" originally was a traditional fiddle tune played by string bands all over the south. Even early version featured lyrics, which were exchangeable however and the verses were unrelated to each other. The origins of the song are still unknown to this day. The first recording was made by Fiddlin' Powers & Family on Victor #19343 from 1924 and other early versions included those by Dykes' Magic City Trio, Riley Puckett, and Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers. These versions featured traditional string band arrangements but when Bob Wills took the tune in 1938, he partially set lyrics from an 1878 song called "Sunday Night" by Frederick W. Root to it and re-arranged it as a western swing song. Released on Vocalion #05079 in 1938, it became a hit for Wills. He recorded a new version entitled "Ida Red Likes the Boogie" in 1950 for MGM, which reached #10 on Billboard's C&W charts. The following years, cover version popped up by several artists, primarily in the country and western swing fields and "Ida Red" became a favorite especially in the latter genre. It also served as an inspiration for Chuck Berry's first hit "Maybellene" (1955), one of the first rock'n'roll hits and an influence on rock'n'roll and rock music in its own right.

It is well-known that Hoyle Nix toured and performed frequently with Wills during the 1950s and 1960s, so "Ida Red" certainly was part of his repertoire for some years by the time he recorded it. It was his second disc for the local Texas Bo-Kay label, which had been founded by Jesse Smith in 1956 in Lamesa, Texas. Nix and his West Texas Cowboys recorded "Ida Red" as well as its flip side "La Goldrina Waltz" at some point in 1959 at radio KPEP's studio in San Angelo, Texas. Present that day were Nix on vocals and fiddle, Ben Nix on rhythm guitar, Eldon Shamblin on lead guitar, Dusty Stewart on steel guitar, Millard Kelso on piano, Louis Tierney on fiddle/saxophone, Henry Boatman on bass, and Larry Nix on drums.

Released in 1959 on Bo-Kay #K-108, the disc was likely a good seller locally and regionally but never stood a chance for wider distribution. Today, original copies of Nix' Bo-Kay singles can be found frequently at yard sales and such around Lamesa, Odessa, Big Spring, and surrounding areas.