Moanin' in the Moonlight
Encyclopedia
Moanin' in the Moonlight was the first full-length album
by American
blues
singer Howlin' Wolf
. The album was a compilation of previously-issued singles by Chess Records
. It was originally released by Chess Records as a mono
-format LP record
in 1959 (see 1959 in music
). The album has been reissued several times, including a vinyl reissue in 1969 titled Evil.
' Memphis Recording Service
in Memphis, Tennessee
on May 14, 1951 or August 1951. These two songs were sold to the Chess brothers, Leonard
and Phil
, who released them as a single on August 15, 1951. The rest of the songs on the album were recorded in Chicago
, Illinois
and were produced
by either the Chess brothers and/or Willie Dixon
.
by Billboard
editor Paul Ackerman
. The label pressings from the original series have different colors on it because several pressing plants were used.
The album was featured on an advertisement in Billboard magazine on August 10, 1959, which misspelled the album's title as Howlin' at Midnite.
magazine ranked the album as #153 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
, except when noted.
Side one
Side two
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
. The album was a compilation of previously-issued singles by Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
. It was originally released by Chess Records as a mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
-format LP record
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
in 1959 (see 1959 in music
1959 in music
-Events:*January 5 – The first sessions for Ella Fitzgerald's George and Ira Gershwin Songbook are held.*January 12 – Tamla Records is founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in Detroit, Michigan....
). The album has been reissued several times, including a vinyl reissue in 1969 titled Evil.
Recording and production
The two earliest songs on Moanin' in the Moonlight were "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years". These two songs were recorded at Sam PhillipsSam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
' Memphis Recording Service
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
on May 14, 1951 or August 1951. These two songs were sold to the Chess brothers, Leonard
Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
and Phil
Phil Chess
Philip Chess is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928...
, who released them as a single on August 15, 1951. The rest of the songs on the album were recorded in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and were produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by either the Chess brothers and/or Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
.
Artwork, packaging, and promotion
The original version of Moanin' in the Moonlight featured cover artwork by Don S. Bronstein and sleeve notesLiner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
editor Paul Ackerman
Paul Ackerman
Paul Ackerman was an influential music journalist.Ackerman was born in New York, New York. From 1943 to 1973 he was the music editor of Billboard magazine....
. The label pressings from the original series have different colors on it because several pressing plants were used.
The album was featured on an advertisement in Billboard magazine on August 10, 1959, which misspelled the album's title as Howlin' at Midnite.
Accolades
In 1987 Moanin' in the Moonlight was given a W.C. Handy Award under the category of "Vintage/Reissue Album (US)". Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine ranked the album as #153 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Track listing
All songs written by Chester BurnettHowlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, except when noted.
Side one
- "Moanin' at Midnight" – 2:58
- "How Many More Years" – 2:42
- "Smokestack Lightnin'Smokestack Lightning"Smokestack Lightning" is a classic of the blues. In 1956, Howlin' Wolf recorded the song and it became one of his most popular and influential songs...
" – 3:07 - "Baby How Long" – 2:56
- "No Place to Go" – 2:59
- "All Night Boogie" – 2:12
Side two
- "EvilEvil (Howlin' Wolf song)"Evil", sometimes listed as "Evil ", is a Chicago blues standard written by Willie Dixon. Howlin' Wolf, also known as Chester Burnett, recorded the song for Chess Records in 1954. It was included on the 1959 compilation album Moanin' in the Moonlight...
" – 2:55 (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) - "I'm Leavin' You" – 3:01
- "Moanin' for My Baby" – 2:47
- "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" – 2:53
- "Forty-FourForty-Four (song)"Forty-Four" or "44 Blues" is a blues standard whose origins have been traced back to early 1920s Louisiana. However, it was Roosevelt Sykes, who provided the lyrics and first recorded it in 1929, that helped popularize the song...
" – 2:51 (Roosevelt SykesRoosevelt SykesRoosevelt Sykes was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper". He was a successful and prolific cigar-chomping blues piano player, whose rollicking thundering boogie-woogie was highly influential.-Career:Born in Elmar, Arkansas, Sykes grew up near Helena but at age 15, went on...
, credited to Burnett) - "Somebody in My Home" – 2:27
Personnel
The following people contributed to Moanin' in the Moonlight:- Howlin' WolfHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Willie Johnson – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Willie Steele – drumDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
s - Ike TurnerIke TurnerIsaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on "How Many More Years" - Hubert SumlinHubert SumlinHubert Sumlin is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic...
– guitar - Hosea Lee Kennard – piano
- Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Earl Phillips – drums
- Jody WilliamsJody Williams (blues musician)Joseph Leon Williams , better known as Jody Williams, is an American blues guitarist and singer. His singular guitar playing, marked by flamboyant string-bending, imaginative chord changes and a distinctive tone, was influential in the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s.-Career:In the mid 1950s,...
– guitar - Otis SpannOtis SpannOtis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
– piano - Lee Cooper – guitar on "No Place to Go"
- Fred BelowFred BelowFred Below was a leading blues drummer, best known for his innovative work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. Nobody laid more of the Chicago blues rhythmic foundations, particularly its archetypal backbeat, than Fred Below.-Career:He was born in Chicago, and started playing drums...
– drums on "All Night Boogie" - S. P. Leary – drums on "I'm leaving You"
- Adolph "Billy" Dockins – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
on "Moanin' for My Baby" - Otis "Smokey" SmothersOtis "Big Smokey" SmothersOtis "Big Smokey" Smothers was an African American, Chicago blues guitarist and singer. He was once a member of Howlin' Wolf's backing band, and worked variously with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, J. T. Brown, Freddie King, Little Johnny Jones, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon...
– guitar on "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" - Sam PhillipsSam PhillipsSamuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
– producer on "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years" - Leonard ChessLeonard ChessLeonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
– producer - Phil ChessPhil ChessPhilip Chess is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928...
– producer
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
1959 | Chess Records Chess Records Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases.... |
mono Monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path... LP LP record The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
LP-1434 |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
February 1965 | Chess Records | mono LP | CRL 4006 |
| United Kingdom | January 1967 | Marble Arch Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man... |
mono LP | MAL 665 |
| United States | 1969 | Chess Records | mono LP | LP-1540 |
| United States | 1986 | MCA Records MCA Records MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003... /Chess Records |
mono LP | CH-9195 |
| mono Cassette Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel... |
CHC-9195 | |||