No need to scour for a song sheet with lyrics for "Play It Red." It never was a song, but as the subtitle explains, "A Hot Fox Trot." "Imagination," "Feelin' No Pain," "Hurricane" et al had no lyrics. Instrumental "Hot Fox Trots" were epidemic in 1927.
While it is true that the use or non-use of a comma imparts different meanings to this title, it seems obvious to me that Harry Barris, perhaps not the most grammatically punctilious of men, intended the piece as an homage to Red Nichols - comma or no. The dedication to Red makes the issue exceedingly moot. The omission of the comma had to happen only once for the error to propagate everywhere.
The Nichols quality is written right into the score. All Chelsea Quealey or any good trumpeter had to do was read it verbatim to sound just like Red Nichols!
Would that Harry Barris had gone on to compose "Play It Bix"!