"Moanin' at Midnight" is a blues song written and recorded by

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade car ...

in 1951. The recording was released on

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 and r ...

as his debut single. It charted on ''

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 ...

'''s

R&B 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 ...

, but the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, "

How Many More Years "How Many More Years" is a blues song written and originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1951. Recorded at the Memphis Recording Service – which later became the Sun Studio – it was released by Chess Records and reached No. 4 on the ''Billboa ...

," became the popular side of the record.

Recording and release

Chester Burnett began performing as blues musician Howlin' Wolf in 1948. He formed a band in

West Memphis, Arkansas West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is ...

and performed locally. There he was discovered by Clarksdale native

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 ...

. After Turner and his band the Kings of Rhythm recorded " Rocket 88" for

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

in 1951, he brought Howlin' Wolf to record for Phillips in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

. Howlin' Wolf recorded a session for Phillips at his

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 label ...

in July 1951. The band consisted of Howlin' Wolf singing and playing

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

with

on piano, Willie Johnson on guitar, and Willie Steele on drums. Phillips described "Moanin' at Midnight" as "the most different record I ever heard." Phillips had not yet founded

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

, so he leased his recordings to Chess Records. Chess released "Moanin' at Midnight" in August 1951, with "How Many More Years" as the B-side. "Moanin' at Midnight" reached No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Most Played Juke Box R&B Records chart on November 10, 1951. "How Many More Years" grew in popularity and peaked at No. 4 on the Most Played Juke Box R&B Records chart in March 1952. Turner, who was also a talent scout for the Bihari brothers at

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

, took Howlin' Wolf to record another version of "Moanin' at Midnight" at radio station KWEM in West Memphis. It was released on the subsidiary RPM Records as "Morning at Midnight" in September 1951, the B-side to "Riding In The Moonlight." This caused a conflict between the Chess brothers and the Bihari brothers. Howlin' Wolf recorded a few more singles for RPM, but by 1952, he was recording exclusively for Chess. Howlin' Wolf is the credited songwriter on the RPM release, but the Chess single was originally credited to Carl Germany, who was a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and dance promoter in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Later reissues of the recordings have been revised to credit to Chester Burnett. "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years" later appeared on Howlin' Wolf's debut album '' Moanin' in the Moonlight'' (1959). "Morning at Midnight" and "Riding in the Moonlight" appeared on the compilation ''

Howling Wolf Sings the Blues ''Howling Wolf Sings the Blues'' is a compilation album by blues musician Howlin' Wolf, which was released by Crown Records in 1962.1951 songs 1951 singles Howlin' Wolf songs Chess Records singles