"Blue Moon" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

written by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

and

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, B ...

in 1934 that has become a standard

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. Early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

and

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for " The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an ...

. In 1961, "Blue Moon" became an international number-one hit for the

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group The Marcels, on the ''Billboard'' 100 chart and in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and later that same year, an instrumental version by The Ventures charted at No. 54. Over the years, "Blue Moon" has been covered by many artists, including versions by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

, Jo Stafford,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, Under the Streetlamp, Ray Stevens,

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, Al Bowlly, Amália Rodrigues,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, Bobby Vinton,

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is common ...

The Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The a ...

The Mavericks The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band ...

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and later ...

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Chromatics, and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

included the song in a medley on his album '' On the Happy Side'' (1962). The

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

recorded the song on their album '' The Trinity Sessions''.

Background

Rodgers and Hart were contracted to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

in May 1933. They were soon commissioned to write the songs for '' Hollywood Party'', a film that was to star many of the studio's top artists. Rodgers recalled,

One of our ideas was to include a scene in which Jean Harlow is shown as an innocent young girl saying—or rather singing—her prayers. How the sequence fitted into the movie I haven't the foggiest notion, but the purpose was to express Harlow's overwhelming ambition to become a movie star ('Oh Lord, if you're not busy up there,/I ask for help with a prayer/So please don't give me the air ...').

The song was not recorded (the movie was released without Harlow in 1934) and MGM Song "Prayer (Oh Lord, make me a movie star)" dated June 14, 1933, was registered for copyright as an unpublished work on July 10, 1933.Brent, Bill
"The Story of Blue Moon", ''Weekly Bugle''
Retrieved June 6, 2005. Hart wrote new lyrics for the tune to create a title song for the 1934 film '' Manhattan Melodrama'': "Act One:/You gulp your coffee and run;/Into the subway you crowd./Don't breathe, it isn't allowed".Kanfer, Stefan. "Richard Rodgers: Enigma Variations", ''City Journal'', Autumn 2003. The song, which was also titled "It's Just That Kind of Play", was cut from the film before release, and registered for copyright as an unpublished work on March 30, 1934. The studio then asked for a nightclub number for the film. Rodgers still liked the melody so Hart wrote a third lyric: "The Bad in Every Man" ("Oh, Lord ... /I could be good to a lover,/But then I always discover/The bad in ev'ry man"), which was sung by Shirley Ross. After the film was released by MGM, Jack Robbins—the head of the studio's publishing companyMartini, Alessandro
"Song: Blue Moon", ''LorenzHart.org''
. Retrieved June 6, 2005.—decided that the tune was suited to commercial release but needed more romantic lyrics and a punchier title. Hart was initially reluctant to write yet another lyric but he was persuaded. Robbins licensed the final version of the song to ''

Hollywood Hotel The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood, and landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible fr ...

'', a radio program that used it as the theme. The cover of Robbins' 1934 sheet music edition credits Ted Fio Rito (vocal by Muzzy Marcellino) as introducing the song, recorded on Brunswick 7315, October 19, 1934. The song charted in the Top Ten for 18 weeks in '' Variety'', reaching number 1 on January 26, 1935. The song was also recorded by Glen Gray and the

Casa Loma Orchestra The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American dance band active from 1929 to 1963. Until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands. With the decline of the b ...

for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

in November 1934 and Connee Boswell for Brunswick Records in 1935. It subsequently was featured in at least seven MGM films, including the Marx Brothers' '' At the Circus'' (1939) and ''

Viva Las Vegas ''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by George Sidney and starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The film is regarded by fans and film critics as one of Presley's best films, and it is noted for the on-screen chemistry b ...

'' (1964). There are two introductory verses in the original Robbins sheet music edition.

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

and

sang the first verse in their 2004 version of the song ('' Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III''). The last line of the first verse is: "Life was a bitter cup for the saddest of all men." On September 16, 2018, an article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said that Liz Roman Gallese, a documentary filmmaker, claimed on her website a 1936 lawsuit that "Blue Moon" was written by her late father, Edward W. Roman. The family story was "that her father had sold the song for $900 to buy a car, or maybe that he had 'settled' with the rich and famous Rodgers and Hart for that amount." Ted Chapin, the chief creative officer of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, said that he had not heard of Gallese's story and that it seemed "a little far-fetched."

Elvis Presley version

"Blue Moons first crossover recording to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

came from

in 1954, produced by Sam Phillips. His cover version of the song was included on his 1956 debut album ''

'', issued on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. Presley's remake of "Blue Moon" was coupled with " Just Because" as a single in August 1956. "Blue Moon" spent seventeen weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Top 100, although it reached only . In

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including ''Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' (19 ...

's 1989 film '' Mystery Train'', the three distinct stories that make up the narrative are linked by a portion of Presley's version of "Blue Moon" (as heard on a radio broadcast) and a subsequent offscreen gunshot, which are heard once during each story, revealing that the three stories occur simultaneously in real time. In the movie '' The Outsiders:The Complete Novel'', Presley's version of "Blue Moon" was used throughout this version of the film.

The Marcels version

Background

The Marcels, a

group, recorded the track for their album ''

Blue Moon A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season. The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon ...

''. In 1961, the Marcels had three songs left to record and needed one more. Producer Stu Phillips did not like any of the other songs except one that had the same chord changes as "Heart and Soul" and "Blue Moon". He asked them if they knew either, and one knew "Blue Moon" and taught it to the others, though with the bridge or release (middle section – "I heard somebody whisper ...") wrong. The famous introduction to the song ("bomp-baba-bomp" and "dip-da-dip-da-dip") was an excerpt of an original song that the group had in its act.

Reception

The record reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Pop chart for three weeks and number one on the R&B chart. It also peaked at on the UK Singles Chart. The Marcels' version of "Blue Moon" sold a million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in the '' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll''. The Marcels

version is one of three different versions used in the 1981 film '' An American Werewolf in London'' with this version appearing at the end credits of the film. A version by Bobby Vinton plays during the film's opening titles while a version by

plays during the film's famous werewolf transformation scene. The Marcels' version of the song is referenced in the 1962

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

, ''

A Symposium on Popular Songs ''A Symposium on Popular Songs'' is a special cartoon featurette made by Walt Disney Productions in 1962. It features songs that were written by the Sherman Brothers, with music arrangements by Tutti Camarata. The Shermans also co-wrote the scree ...

'' during the song, " Puppy Love Is Here to Stay" written by

Robert & Richard Sherman The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades inc ...

Chart performance

Other charting versions

American

swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been arou ...

singer

did a cover version of "Blue Moon" that reached the ''

'' charts in 1949. It was released by

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

as catalog number 10311. It first reached the Juke Box chart on March 5, 1949, and lasted three weeks on the chart, peaking at number 21. American jazz singer

did a cover version of "Blue Moon" that reached the ''

'' charts in 1949. It was released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

as catalog number 15428. It first reached the Best Seller chart on April 8, 1949, and lasted five weeks on the chart, peaking at number 20. The record was a two-sided hit, as the flip side, " Again", also charted. American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

the Mavericks The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band ...

covered the song for the soundtrack of the 1995 film ''

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

''. Their version peaked at number 57 on the '' RPM'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. It also charted on the ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, peaking at number 15. A music video was produced, directed by Todd Hallowell. British singer

recorded the song with

for Stewart's 2004 album '' Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III''. Their version was released as a single in early 2005 and peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart in the US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Moon 1934 songs 1949 singles 1956 singles 1961 singles Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Lorenz Hart 1930s jazz standards Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Elvis Presley songs Jo Stafford songs Mel Tormé songs The Mavericks songs Jan and Dean songs Bobby Vinton songs Bob Dylan songs Sam Cooke songs Billie Holiday songs Dean Martin songs Jimmy Bowen songs Gene Summers songs Santo & Johnny songs Football songs and chants Crewe Alexandra F.C. Manchester City F.C. Doo-wop songs Pop standards RCA Victor singles RCA Records singles MGM Records singles Capitol Records singles Canadian-American Records singles

Background

Elvis Presley version

The Marcels version

Background

Reception

Chart performance

Other charting versions

See also

References