"Move It On Over" is a song written and recorded by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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, ...

singer-songwriter

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 ...

in 1947.

Background

"Move It On Over" was recorded on April 21, 1947 at Castle Studio in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

, Hank's first session for MGM and the same session that produced " I Saw the Light," " (Last Night) I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep," and " Six More Miles to the Graveyard." Nashville had no session men during this period, so producer Fred Rose hired

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

's backing band, one of the sharpest around, to back Williams. As biographer

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner note ...

observes, Rose probably felt the instrumental break needed a touch of class to smooth out Williams' hillbilly edges, and the band, especially guitarist Zeke Turner, was likely too fancy for the singer's taste. The song is considered one of the earliest examples of

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 ...

music. Though many claim the song "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

," released in 1954 by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

, was the first

single, it resembles "Move it On Over", as both feature the same

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based ...

arrangement with a melody starting with three repetitions of an ascending

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

of the

tonic chord Tonic may refer to: * Tonic water, a drink traditionally containing quinine * Soft drink, a carbonated beverage *Tonic (physiology), the response of a muscle fiber or nerve ending typified by slow, continuous action * Tonic syllable, the stressed ...

. Williams' song was very similar to

Charley Patton Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American musi ...

's "Going to Move to Alabama", recorded in 1929 – which itself was at least partly derived from Jim Jackson's " Kansas City Blues" from 1927. The song also uses

phrases In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

from

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

's "Red Wagon", first recorded in 1939. The song follows a man who is forced to sleep in the doghouse after coming home late at night and not being allowed into his house by his wife. In many respects, the song typified Williams' uncanny ability to express in a humorous way the aspects of everyday life that listeners could relate to - and rarely heard on the radio. As fiddler

Jerry Rivers Jerry Rivers (August 25, 1928 – October 4, 1996) was an American fiddle player. Biography Jerry Rivers was born in Miami, Florida. He played fiddle with the Drifting Cowboys, a band who will be forever associated with their "frontman", the lege ...

later recalled, Hank's

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

s "weren't novelty - they were serious, not silly, and that's why they were much better accepted and better selling. 'Move It on Over' hits right home, 'cause half of the people he was singing to were in the doghouse with the ol' lady." “Move It on Over“ was Williams' first major hit, reaching #4 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 ...

'' Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart and got him a write up in ''The Alabama Journal''. The revenue generated by the song was the first serious money the singer had ever seen in his life. It also earned him a spot on the coveted ''

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...

'', the training ground for 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 div ...

''.

Chart performance

Hank Williams version

Cover versions

Many others have recorded and performed the song subsequently. Notable hit versions were performed by: * Cowboy Copas and Grandpa Jones 1947 * by Jimmie and Leon Short (Decca 46077) * Bill Haley & His Comets recorded July 15, 1957, released on album "Rockin' the Joint!" 1957 *

George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers ''George Thorogood and the Destroyers'' is the self-titled debut album by American blues rock band George Thorogood and the Destroyers, released in 1977. Consisting mostly of covers of blues hits, it includes a medley of John Lee Hooker's "Hou ...

scored a major FM hit with the song when it was released on their second album '' Move It on Over''. *A version by

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

with

George Thorogood George Lawrence Thorogood (born February 24, 1950) is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Delaware. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s rock radio, with hits like his original songs " Bad to th ...

was included on the 1999 '' King of the Hill: Original Soundtrack'' album. It peaked at #66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

References

Sources

* {{authority control 1947 singles 1999 singles Songs written by Hank Williams Bill Haley songs Hank Williams songs Travis Tritt songs George Thorogood songs 1947 songs MGM Records singles