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.
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
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."
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!
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.
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 !
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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"!
I always loved this song. IMHO, one of best Lennon vocals as a Beatle.
Bad Boy. An even better Lennon vocal than Twist and Shout!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
"Yes It Is" is sublime
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!
funniest organ solo ever
Good point MrBig. The organ solo sounds like a roller rink!