''Moanin' in the Moonlight'' is a compilation album and the first album by American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

artist

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

, released by

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

in 1959. It contains songs recorded between 1951 and 1959 previously issued as singles, including one of his best-known, " Smokestack Lightning". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked it number 477 on its 2020 list of "

the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

Recording and production

The two earliest songs on the album were " Moanin' at Midnight" and " How Many More Years". These two songs and 'All Night Boogie', were recorded in Memphis, the first two at

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...

Memphis Recording Service Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll 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 labe ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

in July 1951, and, 'All Night Boogie', the last track on side one, in Memphis in 1953. These songs were sold to the Chess brothers,

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

and

Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...

, who released them on two singles (''Chess 1479'' and ''Chess 1557''), the first two titles being released on August 15, 1951. The rest of the songs on the album were recorded in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and were produced by the Chess brothers and/or

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

Artwork, packaging, and promotion

The original version of ''Moanin' in the Moonlight'' featured cover artwork by Don S. Bronstein and

sleeve notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the progra ...

by ''

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 advertis ...

'' editor

Paul Ackerman Paul Ackerman (February 18, 1908 – December 31, 1977) was an influential music journalist. He is best known for his work at Billboard as music editor. Ackerman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Early life and education Ackerman wa ...

. Label pressings from the original series have different colors because several pressing plants were used. The album was featured on an advertisement in ''Billboard'' magazine on August 10, 1959, which misprinted the album's title as ''Howlin' at Midnite''.

Accolades

In 1987, ''Moanin' in the Moonlight'' was given a W.C. Handy Award in the "Vintage/Reissue Album (US)" category. ''

'' magazine ranked the album number 477 on its 2020 list of

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...

has cited "How Many More Years" (recorded May 1951) as the first record to feature a distorted

power chord A power chord , also called a fifth chord, is a colloquial name for a chord on guitar, especially on electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly pla ...

, played by Willie Johnson on the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

Track listing

All songs written by

Chester Burnett Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

, except where noted. (Although the original 1959 LP, and the UK Chess 1965 issue credited all compositions to 'C. Burnett' owlin' Wolf) ;Side one # " Moanin' at Midnight" – 2:58 # " How Many More Years" – 2:42 # " Smokestack Lightning" – 3:07 # "Baby How Long" – 2:56 # "No Place to Go" – 2:59 # "All Night Boogie" – 2:12 ;Side two # " Evil (Is Going On)" – 2:55 (

) # "I'm Leavin' You" – 3:01 # "Moanin' for My Baby" – 2:47 # "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" – 2:53 # "

Forty-Four "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. "Forty-Four," ...

" – 2:51 (

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

, credited to Burnett) # "Somebody in My Home" – 2:27 *Recorded in Memphis 1951 (tracks 1 & 2), 1953 (track 6) and 1954 (tracks 4, 5, 7 & 11) *Recorded in Chicago 1956 (tracks 3 & 10), 1957 (track 12), 1958 (track 9) and 1959 (track 8)

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''Moanin' in the Moonlight'': *

vocals, harmonica * Willie Johnsonguitar on 'Moanin at Midnight," "How Many More Years," "All Night Boogie," "Smokestack Lightnin," and "Somebody's in My Home" * Willie Steeledrums on "Moaning at Midnight" and "How Many More Years," *

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

piano on "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years" *

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howl ...

– guitar on "Smokestack Lightnin'," "Baby How Long," "No Place to Go," " Evil," "I'm Leaving You," "Moaning for My Baby," and "Forty Four" * Hosea Lee Kennard – piano on "Smokestack Lightnin'," "I Asked for Water," "Somebody's in My Home," and "I'm Leavin' You" *

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, producer on "Smokestack Lightnin'," "Baby How Long," "Evil," "No Place to Go," "Forty Four," and "I Asked Her for Water" * Earl Phillips – drums on "Baby How Long," "Evil," "Forty Four," "Smokestack Lightnin'," "I Asked For Water," "Somebody's in My Home," and "Moaning for My Baby" *

Jody Williams Jody Williams (born October 9, 1950) is an American political activist known for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights (especially those of women), and her efforts to promote new understandings of securit ...

– guitar on "Baby How Long," "Evil," and "Forty Four" *

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924, or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mississippi, ...

– piano on "No Place to Go," "Baby How Long," "Evil," and "Forty Four" *

Lee Cooper Lee Cooper is an English-American clothing and footwear manufacturing company, based in Shoreditch, that specialises in denim products. As well as its own production, the company licences the sale of many Lee Cooper-branded items worldwide. ...

– guitar on "No Place to Go" *

Fred Below Frederick Below Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer who worked with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic structure of Chicago ...

– drums on "All Night Boogie" * S. P. Leary – drums on "I'm leaving You" * L. D. McGhee – guitar on "I'm Leaving You" * Alfred Elkins – bass on "Somebody's in My Home," "Moaning for My Baby," and "I'm Leaving You" * Adolph "Billy" Dockins –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

on "Moanin' for My Baby" and "Somebody in My Home" * Otis "Smokey" Smothers – guitar on "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" and "Somebody in My Home" *

– producer on "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years" *

Leonard Chess Leonard Samuel Chess (born Lejzor Szmuel Czyż; March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969) was a Polish-American record company executive and the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Phil. He was influential in the development of the recor ...

– producer *

Phil Chess Philip Chess (born Fiszel Czyż; March 27, 1921 – October 18, 2016) was a Polish-born American record company executive, the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Leonard. Early life Chess was born to a Polish-Jewish family in the ...

– producer

References

{{Authority control 1959 compilation albums Chess Records compilation albums Howlin' Wolf albums Albums produced by Leonard Chess Albums produced by Phil Chess Albums produced by Willie Dixon Albums produced by Sam Phillips Albums recorded at Sun Studio