Blue Moon Of Kentucky

From Wikipedia:

“Blue Moon of Kentucky” is a waltz written in 1945 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys. Some think the origins may trace back to “Roll Along, Kentucky Moon”, a similar waltz recorded 20 years prior by Jimmie Rodgers. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney. The song is the official bluegrass song of Kentucky.

In 2002, Monroe’s version was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2003, CMT ranked “Blue Moon” number 11 in its list of 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

Bill Monroe version

Monroe’s earliest-known performance of “Blue Moon of Kentucky” was on the Grand Ole Opry broadcast of August 25, 1945. He first recorded it for Columbia Records on September 16, 1946, at The Wrigley Building in Chicago, Illinois. That recording was released in early 1947. At the time, the Bluegrass Boys included vocalist and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjoist Earl Scruggs, who later formed their own bluegrass band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Both Flatt and Scruggs performed on the recording, although Bill Monroe supplied the vocals on this song. The song, described as a “bluegrass waltz”, had become a United States wide hit by 1947 and also became enormously popular with other bluegrass, country, and early rockabilly acts. The song was revered at the Grand Ole Opry; Carl Perkins played an uptempo version of this song in his early live performances.

After Presley’s more rock-oriented version became popular, Monroe tweaked the Blue Grass Boys’ arrangement of it, starting it slowly, playing one round, and then jumping into a 4/4 time signature, as Presley had done, turning it into a barn-burning bluegrass classic”.

Elvis Presley version

The search for another song to release along with “That’s All Right” at Sun Records in July 1954 led to “Blue Moon of Kentucky” via Bill Black. Presley’s version turned “it from a waltz to a bluesy rocker”.

According to Scotty Moore:

We all of us knew we needed something…and things seemed hopeless after a while. Bill is the one who came up with “Blue Moon of Kentucky”…We’re taking a little break and he starts beating on the bass and singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, mocking Bill Monroe, singing the high falsetto voice. Elvis joins in with him, starts playing and singing along with him.

The Blue Moon Boys – The Story of Elvis Presley’s Band

Presley, Moore, and Black, with the encouragement of Sam Phillips, transformed Monroe’s slow waltz, in 34 time, into an upbeat, blues-flavored tune in 44 time. After an early rendition of the song, Sun Records owner Sam Phillips exclaimed, “BOY, that’s fine, that’s fine. That’s a POP song now!” As with all of the Presley records issued by Sun, the artists were listed and stylized as “ELVIS PRESLEY SCOTTY and BILL”.

The same night that Dewey Phillips first played the flip side of this first release of Presley’s music on WHBQ, “That’s All Right”, Sleepy Eye John at WHHM loosed “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. Bob Neal of WMPS played the record, too. The pop jockeys, entranced by something new, began slipping “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” in among the easy-listening pop of Teresa Brewer, Nat Cole, Tony Bennett, and others.

With Presley’s version of Monroe’s song consistently rated higher, both sides began to chart across the Southern United States. Billboard has the song listed only in Memphis, and as number six with “That’s All Right” at number 7 on October 9 in the C&W Territorial Best Sellers. By October 23, “Blue Moon” was in the top 10 in Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans, with “That’s All Right” absent from the listings.

Fellow Sun Records artist Charlie Feathers has often claimed that he came up with the arrangement of the song used by Presley. While others sources claimed that it was Presley who arranged the song. Monroe, at first, did not care for Presley’s version until “powerful checks” (in sizeable amounts) began rolling in for Monroe’s writing credit. […]

Paul McCartney was influenced by both Elvis Presley’s and Bill Monroe’s versions of “Blue Moon Of Kentucky.”

In 1972, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” was part of the setlist for the 1972 Wings Over Europe tour. A live performance from this tour was released in 2018 on “Wings Over Europe”, which was an album released as a bundle with the “Wild Life” / “Red Rose Speedway” box sets.

In 1974, a different lineup of Wings recorded a live studio version during the filming of the 1974 documentary “One Hand Clapping.” The track remained unreleased for decades, circulating only as a bootleg until its official debut on the 2024 “One Hand Clapping” album.

In 1991, Paul McCartney recorded an acoustic version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” which was released on “Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)“. This version combined the Bill Monroe and Elvis Presley versions.

In 1994, during the Anthology sessions, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were filmed playing “Blue Moon of Kentucky” during an impromptu jam session. It was released on the Bonus DVD of the Beatles Anthology video series.

Though he has never before released it on records, McCartney followers in the right place at the right time will recall this one cropping up during Wings’ initial (1972) low-key jaunts around British universities and European cities. Though written by Bill Monroe at the end of 1946 – at which time, plucking his mandolin and backed by his Blue Grass Boys, he taped the first recording – the best know version was cut by an echo-drenched Elvis Presley in only his second Sun Studio session, 6 July 1954. Ray Charles, the Tornados and Al Kooper are among those who have since committed it to disc.

From Unplugged liner notes

I originally heard the Elvis version, uptempo and echoey, then later I heard the Bill Monroe original, a slower waltz version, and loved his nasal delivery. I also saw him doing it on telly, in America, a couple of times. So I thought, for Unplugged, that it would be nice to do his version first and then go into the uptempo Elvis one.

It’s a song from way back that I had confidence in singing, and that’s often enough to choose it for an act. It’s funny – I never meant to record it, but I did it on the early Wings tours, which we recorded, and now this, which we’ve released, and it’s become a bit more important than I intended it, really. But that’s OK.

Paul McCartney, from Club Sandwich 58, Summer 1991

Lyrics

Variations

• A "One Hand Clapping" version. 2024 mix • From "One Hand Clapping"
• B "One Hand Clapping" version. 2024 Dolby Atmos mix • From "One Hand Clapping (Dolby Atmos)"
• L1 Live version • "MTV Unplugged" • Jan 25, 1991 • From "Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)"
• L2 Live version • The Hague • Congresgebouw • Netherlands • Aug 21, 1972 • From "Wings Over Europe"

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

Videos

Live performances

“Blue Moon Of Kentucky” has been played in 22 concerts and 1 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” has been played