"I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on ...

. It is Snow's most recorded song.

Recording and lyrics

According to Snow, he proposed the song for his first session for

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 Ari ...

in 1949, but recording director Stephen H. Sholes turned it down. "Later on, in the spring of 1950, in Nashville, Mr. Sholes had not remembered the song, so I recorded it," Snow recalled. The song has four bars of verse followed by eight bars of chorus with the final lines referring back to the verse:

Charts and critical reception

The single reached number one on the ''Billboard'' country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying a record for the most weeks atop the chart.

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wau ...

, ''Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs 1944 to 2005'', Record Research, 2005 It was the first of seven number-one ''Billboard'' country hits Snow scored throughout his career on that chart. The song's success led to Snow joining the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a di ...

cast in 1950. "I'm Moving On" is one of three songs in the history of the ''Billboard'' country charts to spend 21 weeks at number one, the others being 1947's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" by

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the '' Billboard'' c ...

and 1955's " In the Jailhouse Now" by

Webb Pierce Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the ...

. It spent 44 weeks in Billboard's top 10. Until August 2013, the three songs jointly held the record for most weeks at the top position on the country chart, until being surpassed by " Cruise" by

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

, which logged its 22nd week atop the chart on August 10, 2013. According to music writer John Morthland, "The chugging beat establishes that this is a train song, and the fiddle and steel push harder than is usual on Nashville records from this era... There's real anger and determination in Snow's voice, which sometimes sounds too smooth for this type of song."

Charting versions

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

In 1959, a version by

reached number forty on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

singles chart and number eleven on the

R&B singles chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. Charles's version with his soul band featured congas and

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

, giving the Spanish tinge to a

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while th ...

blues. It was recorded on June 26, 1959, at his last recording session with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

, months before he signed with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. Produced by

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian film ...

, Charles provides the lead vocals, and is backed by the Raelettes. The Ray Charles Orchestra provided the instrumentation. *

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as "Sweet Dreams (Don Gibson song), Sweet Dreams" and "I Can ...

reached No. 14 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart with a recording of the song in 1960. *

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

In June 1963, his Smash Records single reached No. 56 on the Hot 100. *

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

recorded the song for their EP ''Got Live If You Want It!'' in 1965. Their version charted in Sweden, reaching No. 3 on ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record ch ...

'' and No. 7 on Kvällstoppen. *

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Recorded an uptempo live version of "I'm Moving On" which reached No. 5 on the Hot Country Singles chart and No. 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensi ...

'' Country Tracks chart in Canada in the spring of 1983. *Hank SnowIn 1977, he recorded a sequel titled "I'm Still Movin' On" with some new lyrics. It is tribute to country artists who died, including

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

and

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

and also mentions other country musicians, such as

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

Snow's single reached no. 80 on the Country Music charts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'm Moving On (Hank Snow Song) 1950 singles 1959 singles 1983 singles Hank Snow songs Ray Charles songs Don Gibson songs Emmylou Harris songs Big House (band) songs Terri Clark songs Dean Brody songs Al Hirt songs Elvis Presley songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients RCA Victor singles Warner Records singles Songs written by Hank Snow 1950 songs Song recordings produced by Stephen H. Sholes