Ol' Red

"Ol' Red" is a song written by James "Bo" Bohan, Don Goodman and Mark Sherrill. The song was originally recorded by George Jones on his 1990 album You Oughta Be Here with Me and covered by Kenny Rogers on his 1993 album If Only My Heart Had a Voice, although neither artist released it as a single. It was recorded most recently by artist Blake Shelton, and released in 2002 as the third and final single released from his self-titled debut album.

Content

The song's narrator is a prisoner serving time for committing a crime of passion when he murdered a man whom his wife was having an affair with. He is offered a job tending the prison dog named Ol' Red, a Bloodhound (or possibly a Redbone Coonhound) who is well-known among the inmates for his skill at tracking escaped prisoners.

The narrator writes a letter to his cousin, who delivers an unnamed female Bluetick Coonhound to the prison. The Bluetick befriends Ol' Red and the dogs presumably engage in sexual intercourse as well. After a while, the narrator keeps Ol' Red separated from the Bluetick for several days, deliberately making Red anxious to see her. The narrator then makes his escape attempt, knowing that Red will track down the Bluetick instead. The final lyrics of the song reveal that the escape was successful with Red and the Bluetick having a litter of puppies to boot.

Although it did not reach the Top Ten, "Ol' Red" is one of Shelton's most commonly-requested songs in concert (as well as one of his best-known hits), and he considers it his signature song.^[1]

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil.

Chart performance

"Ol' Red" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 30, 2002.

References