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The Beatles' songs, albums, photos, places and much more, including a day-by-day guide to their career from 1957 to 1970 and beyond, plus profiles of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and many others.
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You are here: Home » The Beatles' songs » Mr Moonlight

Mr Moonlight

Beatles For Sale album cover artwork Written by: Johnson
Recorded: 14 August; 18 October 1964
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

Released: 4 December 1964 (UK), 15 December 1964 (US)

John Lennon: vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: harmony vocals, bass, Hammond organ
George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead guitar, African drum
Ringo Starr: percussion

Available on:
Beatles For Sale
Anthology 1

A staple of The Beatles' live act for some years, Mr Moonlight was recorded by the group during sessions for their fourth LP, Beatles For Sale.

Buy from Amazon

Beatles For Sale (Remastered)

The Beatles. EMI 2009, Audio CD, $9.48

4.0


Anthology 1

Beatles. Capitol 1995, Audio CD, $10.99

4.0

The song was written by Roy Lee Johnson. The first known recording was by blues pianist Piano Red, recording as Dr Feelgood and the Interns. It was released as the b-side of Dr Feelgood, a minor R&B hit in 1962.

In the studio

The Beatles attempted the song twice in the studio in 1964. The first time was on 14 August, when they recorded four takes - the last of these was for a time considered the best.

Anthology 1 contains takes one and four. The first broke down almost immediately; take four was complete, and featured a frantic slide guitar solo by George Harrison.

The Beatles re-made the song on 18 October. Again they recorded four takes, the last two of which featured McCartney's somewhat gaudy Hammond organ solo.

Despite a blistering vocal from John Lennon, Mr Moonlight is held by many Beatles fans as one of the least successful songs in their catalogue.

Related articles:

  • Recording, mixing: I'm A Loser, Mr Moonlight, Baby's In Black, Leave My Kitten Alone
  • Recording: Eight Days A Week, Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, Mr Moonlight, I Feel Fine, I'll Follow The Sun, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love
  • Mixing: What You're Doing, Honey Don't, Mr Moonlight, Every Little Thing, Eight Days A Week
  • Mixing: I'll Follow The Sun, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love, Mr Moonlight, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, I'm A Loser, Baby's In Black, No Reply, I Feel Fine
  • I Need You

17 responses to “Mr Moonlight”

  1. Arizona Joe says:
    Sunday 3 May 2009 at 9.55am

    I loved this song because of its pop atypicality, the aforementioned Lennon vocals, and the organ solo.

    One of the great Beatles song? No, but a fine way to add more texture to "Beatles '65."

    Reply to this comment
  2. Burnin' says:
    Friday 16 October 2009 at 9.36pm

    Good word choice on "blistering" to describe John's vocal! While some might say this was a not great song, I say not so! Each time John sings "And the night you don't come my way...", possibly totaling 10-15 seconds worth of Beatles history, is emblazoned in my mind as perhaps the best 15 seconds in musical history! His raw energy and total commitment there (and in so many other songs) is fantastic! Whenever I think of the particular vocal quality that John had that I loved the most, I think of this song and that line as its quintessential expression. That energy is what made John John. That makes Mr. Moonlight a top-10 greatest Beatle song in my book!

    Reply to this comment
  3. Joseph Brush says:
    Saturday 17 October 2009 at 8.39am

    The above comment is the best one that I have read in this particular Beatle website as of this date.
    Hopefully more comments like this will appear relating to the Beatles and their songs.

    Reply to this comment
  4. Ragin' says:
    Sunday 18 October 2009 at 7.17pm

    Burnin' and J. Brush have got it right. John never thought his voice was all that good, but music lovers know that John's voice was one of the most recognizable sounds of the 20th century. Paul's too !
    r

    Reply to this comment
  5. Vonbontee says:
    Wednesday 25 November 2009 at 5.59pm

    Yeah, I never thought this one was so bad either, and I agree that it made for a nice little diversion on Beatles '65/For Sale. Nicely weird instrumentation and a great vocal. And how appropriate that it immediately follows "I'll Follow the Sun"!

    Reply to this comment
  6. J.Garcia says:
    Thursday 11 February 2010 at 6.10pm

    I always loved this song. IMHO, one of best Lennon vocals as a Beatle.

    Reply to this comment
    • thomas says:
      Wednesday 28 April 2010 at 1.34am

      Bad Boy. An even better Lennon vocal than Twist and Shout!

      Reply to this comment
  7. thomas says:
    Wednesday 21 April 2010 at 3.57am

    So, just lurking and reading comments, I was curious to see what people said about Mr. Moonlight. The reason is IMO if there was ever Beatle "filler" song material, this has to be it. While I can understand the song having fans who like it, to me it just hardly seems worthy of the solid, original rockers and hits they were capable of writing by that time, especially coming off A Hard Days Night, their first album with all original songs. Of course this is only one more opine to throw into the mix since there are only a few Beatle songs I really don't like. This just happens to be one.

    Even crediting Lennon's effort on the vocal, I find it a horrible song (lyrically and musically.) As the B-side of a minor R and B single it says something that the most remembered version is a cover used as filler on Beatles For Sale: one, that the Beatles could take a second rate R&B tune and improve it shows how good they were, but two that Mr. Moonlight was really a forgettable song. Almost anything original by Lennon between '63 and '64 is 1000 times better: "I'm A Loser," "You Can't Do That," "It Won't Be Long," "All I've Got To Do," etc.

    Reply to this comment
    • J.Garcia says:
      Saturday 22 May 2010 at 2.56pm

      I was like you and felt this was probably a filler. It probably was, but this is Lennon at his best. I always wandered why they picked this tune. They obviously saw some value in it.

      The melodic content of the song is actually quite good and every single syllable by Lennon is simply fantastic.

      I suspect that liking of not liking the song has to do with the age of the listener. When I 1st heard this tune I was 14 and it clearly made an imprint. I am not sure I would have loved the song if I 1st heard it at age 40.

      Reply to this comment
    • Kelvin says:
      Monday 23 August 2010 at 1.01pm

      Wouldn't all covers be worse than Lennon's songs of '64?
      The song isn't great but it has a charm I can't resist.

      Having said that, is it on my top 50 Beatles songs? no

      Reply to this comment
  8. Dave Bueche says:
    Sunday 25 April 2010 at 6.30am

    If you read Geof Emerick's "Here there and everywhere" he paints a pretty negative picture of George on this one. Apparently they tried multiple times to record a fairly straight ahead melodic solo and Geroge kept flubbing it. Although Paul - at this point probably George's equal or better on the guitar - could have played it, for the sake of face saving he laid down the organ solo instead. Obviously, by the end of the their career George was a gifted muscian, but Emerick really seemed disappointed/contemptuous in his description of this studio work.

    Reply to this comment
    • J.Garcia says:
      Saturday 22 May 2010 at 2.58pm

      GE was also quite negative about GH solo in I'll Follow The Sun. IMHO, the solo for this tune is perfect (including the guitar tone).

      Regarding Mr M: A guitar solo as not right for the song and that is why GH had trouble. Some songs do not need a guitar solo.

      Reply to this comment
  9. GnikNus says:
    Thursday 6 May 2010 at 7.22am

    I think this is one of the few Beatle songs where despite the fact that the actual song is not too fantastic, Lennon's vocals make up for it and make the song at least pretty decent...I would also look at It's Only Love, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, Yes It Is, Run For Your Life, etc, as other songs that he is just such a presence which makes up for the song quality.

    Reply to this comment
    • vonbontee says:
      Monday 23 August 2010 at 9.09pm

      "Yes It Is" is sublime

      Reply to this comment
  10. TheOneBeatleManiac says:
    Wednesday 12 May 2010 at 2.44am

    I tie it with If You've Got Troubles, as the less good song of them. Because, for me, there's no bad song or worst, only weird.
    This song inspires me for a girl, Lennon vocals are great, chorus great, instrumentation may lack, but it's a great attempt though many people reject this cover.
    Maybe it's true that it's the less good cover/song of the Fab Four, but one thinks is truth. Even that, it's great!

    Reply to this comment
  11. MrBig says:
    Monday 26 July 2010 at 6.30am

    funniest organ solo ever

    Reply to this comment
  12. robert says:
    Wednesday 25 August 2010 at 5.11pm

    Good point MrBig. The organ solo sounds like a roller rink!

    Reply to this comment

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