Moon Mullican albums
MOON MULLICAN ALBUMS:
"MOONSHINE JAMBOREE" - This ACE compilation of Mullican’s King years is the best intro to Moon’s music. The styles covered include blues ("Pipeliner blues", "Trifling woman blues", a great version of Memphis Minnie’s "What’s the matter with the mill"), R&B ("Rocket to the moon", "I done it"), country ("Leaving you with a worried mind", "It’s a sin to love you like I do"), blues boogie ("Rheumatism boogie"), gospel ("I’m gonna move home bye and bye") & country-blues ("Lonesome heated blues"). These are only some of the many diverse styles of Moon Mullican and while this CD can’t do justice to the extent of Mullican’s full talent, it is the closest to doing so as is humanly possible.
"OLD TEXAN: SINGS 16 OF HIS FAVORITE TUNES" - This reissue of an original King album goes almost exclusively country. Moon’s version of "Jambalaya" is available on this collection - a Cajun song Moon co-wrote with Hank Williams. Other country highlights include the Western Swing flavored "So long", the country waltz "Mighty pretty waltz" & the pure country balladry of "Heartless lover". There are a few non-country songs like "1001 sleepless nights", which is a tough blues, the rock ‘n’ roll attempts from 1956 ("7 nights to rock", "I’m mad at you") and the Southern-themed blues "Southern hospitality".
"SINGS HIS ALL-TIME HITS" - Moon’s top country hits are gathered together on King this collection. Such country songs as "I’ll sail my ship alone", "I was sorta wondering" & "You don’t have to be a baby to cry" have gone on to become well-recorded standards and classics of the pre-rock ‘n’ roll country era. Other Mullican hits of the ‘40s & ‘50s took more of a Cajun ("Jole blon") or country-boogie ("Cherokee boogie") nature. The cult favorite "Pipeliner blues" is also available on this collection.
"MOON’S ROCK" - for those who want to sample Moon’s post King work, this comprehensive Bear Family CD is ideal. Despite ‘interference’ from the un-needed Anita Kerr singers, Moon excels throughout this CD. Always capable of hopping from sentimental ballads ("My love", "I don’t know why" & "Anything that’s part of you" are examples here) one minute to blues ("Early morning blues", "My baby’s gone" & a reworking of "Pipeliner blues" are examples here), this is why Moon was so influential on early rock ‘n’ roll and why he adapted so well to it.
"Moon’s rock", "Sweet rockin’ music" & others are every bit the equal of the rock ‘n’ roll while "This glass I hold", "She once lived hear", "Mr. Tears" & "That’s me" are topclass country music. Tracks like "Quarter mile rows" & a standout cover of Jerry Lee Lewis’ "Fools like me" reveal that Moon was always listening and adapting to new styles (style he himself helped to develop).
"SWEET ROCKIN’ MUSIC" - This Charly vinyl contained nothing new if you had the "Moon’s rock" CD. However, in its day, it was a useful place to get a few unreleased Moon tracks.
"22 GREATEST HITS" - Another very interesting collection of Moon’s hits. This CD is a useful place to get "Ragged but I’m right", a jazzy bluesy song which was Moon’s last big hit. Also on this CD are lots of very exciting instrumentals, rare Mullican blues classics like "Grandpa stole my baby" & "What have I done to make you go away" & even an example of Mullican live on the Grand Ol’ Opry.
"I LEFT MY HEART IN TEXAS" - This German CD is the best sampler for Moon’s more rural King material. It has a lot of the songs that are on "Moonshine jamboree" and others but many rarities. "Worries on my mind", "Wait a minute", "Don’t let temptation turn you round" & "I left my heart in Texas" are superb country-blues, while "Broken dreams", "Without a port of love" & a fast version of "I’ll sail my ship alone" are alltime country classics.
"MR. PIANO MAN" - Moon recorded a lot of great material, firmly rooted in his old style, at Starday records in the 1960s. This vynil collects many of such performances. "Just plain lonesome" is another variant on the blues style and echoes the bluesier ballads of Elvis Presley in many ways.Songs like "Down on the bayou" and "Cajun coffee song" indicate Moon's love of the Cajun lifestyle while songs such as "This glass I hold","Fools like me" and "I'll pour the wine" shows that Moon was one of the best country vocalists of his times."Lips so warm and yet so cold" and "The way you're treating me" are further evidence on Moon's feel for the blues and these songs in fact combine both blues and country.The instrumental "Piano man rag" (also called "Caberat piano" and "The bottom of the glass" on subsequent albums,though the latter song is a country ballad in its own right - see the notes on "PLAYING AND SINGING) shows us Moon's excellence as a pianist.The double entendre "Ain't Nothin' Like Lovin' " is a good bluesy number with just enough country appeal as well.Overall,this is a great album from Moon and one that shows that he didn't ever compromise to the commerciality of the times to a degree that destroyed other artists.
"PLAYING AND SINGING" - This album was an eclectic mix of re-recordings of old King hits,a new hit,new country songs and old country songs,a Cajun song and some of the best instrumentals Moon has ever recorded.Such instrumentals as "Magnolia rag","Caberet piano (a.k.a. Piano man rag)","Farewell","Moonshine" (a different one to his King era "Moonshine blues") & "Louisian" are among the greatest piano playing Moon ever done and reveal his styles of blues,ragtime,jazz and hybrids of all these on the keyboard."Bottom of the glass" was a new country ballad,firmly in the tradition of its many predecessors in Moon's career (note that "Caberat piano"/"Piano man rag" was issued under the title "Bottom of the glass" on the "22 greatest hits" album)."Wabash cannonball" was a fine version of an older song,while "Ragged but I'm right" was Moon's last big hit."I'll sail my ship alone","Mona Lisa" and "Sweeter than the flowers" were revisits to the King years while "Jole blon" was a revision of the King song and one of the best pieces of Cajun he ever recorded. "Make friends" was a wellmeaning gospel number.The styles covered are from a wide cross-section of music and reveal Moon's greatness in all of these.
"THE MANY MOODS OF MOON MULLICAN"
Moon hadn't many albums out on him on King."Sings 16 of his favorites" is the only other one I think.Like that,"Many moods" emphasises - as the title states - a variety of styles.Tracks like "Moon's Tune","Grandpa stole my baby" & "Good deal Lucille" emphasise a blues/R&B derived sound."Oh she's gone but not forgotten" is a blues with a nod to bluegrass and echoes of the traditional "Clementine". Blues,bluegrass and "Clementine" is a hell of a mix and only Moon could think of mixing all these diverse elements on the one song.The song would be a natural for Bill Monroe without a doubt."Crippled for life","There goes the bride" & "Goodnight Irene" are excellent straight country ballad performances. "Why don't you love me" is a track along the
lines of "Everyone knows that I'm lonesome" or "You had your way" - call it blues ballad,early country ballad, western swing ballad,Moon Mullican ballad,whatever - quite uncategorizable. "My tears will pour like rain" is another uncategorizable song that mixes blues, country,jazz,etc. all in one."Don't take my picture down" & "Sweeter than the flowers No. 2" were meant to have been country ballads but are blues by the time Moon is finished with them."Pan handle rag" & "Mexicali rose" are organ instrumentals and keep it varied as per usual with Moon."Jole blon's sister", obviously the weakest track on the album,is 100% novelty but on an album that emphasises 'many moods' it is merely just another string to Moon's bow."When love dies where does it go" is another uncategorizable blues based track that further demonstrates Moon's seemingly endless well of styles and influences.
The cover of the album presents a cool photo of Moon that I haven't seen anywhere else before.
Unfortunately,the album is not available on CD yet.It is a very rare album but if anyone is interested to some degree in Moon Mullican,you should certainly pick this up if you get the chance.
"SHOWBOY SPECIAL"
This is a great collection of music. Not only is this CD full of amazing music never released before on CD - it also is the first [2000] attempt to reissue Moon chronologically [a second volume was released 2 years later].
The music here is excellent. "Worries on my mind", "There's a chill on the hill tonight", "I didn't think you'd ever leave me" and "You had your way" are all excellent examples of Moon's country singing [that mixes blues and country together]. From a pure blues perspective, there is "Lonesome hearted blues" and "Let me rock you baby". "What have I done that made you go away", "There's a little bit of heaven everywhere" and "I've got nobody but you" owe lots to Moon's 1930s western swing years but also to the future country-boogie style as well.
Many of the songs included here would become big country and bluegrass standards later. "Foggy river" is one that comes to mind. Moon also helped to popularize "Columbus stockade blues", now a major standard across all country categories. "When a soldier knocks and finds nobody home" coupled with "New Jole blon" became Moon's first hit single and started a long string of hits [both nationally and locally] for Moon.
The only minor disappointment is that Moon had a guest vocalist doing "Milk cow blues". I would love to have heard Moon do that himself - as he often sang that live and with the original lyrics. This is basically too good a song on a Moon Mullican record for someone else to sing. This is Moon's type of song.
"THE EP COLLECTION"
The EP Collection CD, released in 2000, is the first CD to include most of Moon's major hit songs from his King years. The big national hits ["I'll sail my ship alone", "Sweeter than the flowers", "New Jole blon", "Cherokee boogie" and "Mona Lisa"] are here [the only absence is "Goodnight Irene"]. Apart from these, there are many important local hits like "The leaves mustn't fall" and "I was sorta wondering" [which was covered by Jerry Lee Lewis and Hank Snow, later]. Making their debut on CD or any long-playing record for that matter are "Rock 'n' roll Mr Bullfrog", a lively jazzy jump blues, the war effort bop of "Tokyo boogie" and 4 boogified instrumentals.
45 RPM - MOON MULLICAN "JUST FOR LAUGHS" / "JACKSON COUNTY" (for information on these 2 songs,check out the part of the website about song descriptions).
45 RPM - MOON MULLICAN "WHERE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS GROW"/"THE END OF THE RAINBOW" (for information on these 2 songs,check out the part of the website about song descriptions).
45 RPM - MOON MULLICAN "MEXICALI ROSE"/"PAN HANDLE RAG"
"CLIFF BRUNER AND HIS TEXAS WANDERERS" - this box set from Bear Family is the closest that is available to a Moon Mullican box set. Cliff Bruner was different to most Western Swing and bluegrass fiddlers in that he was never a breakdown fiddler - his style was rooted in jazz. Many singers have sung with Bruner’s band - but none of them have even come near Moon Mullican.
With the Bruner band, Moon recorded 3 of his greatest blues ("Old Joe Turner blues", "Kangaroo blues" & "New falling rain blues") as well as styles as diverse as oldtime pop ("When you’re smiling"), bluegrass ("Sparkling blue eyes") and ballads ("The other way"). There are hints of Jimmie Rodgers, black blues, Bing Crosby and bluegrass on Moon’s contributions to this set - but above all, this music established Moon’s career for once and for all as the most important country-blues singer/player since Jimmie Rodgers.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS: HILLBILLY BLUES - 1928-1946" - Many of Moon's songs remain hard to get and only for various artists collections like this,many of Moon's early performances with some obscure-ish groups would have been lost forever.This compilation gives us "Lay me down beside my darling",which Moon sang and played with The Sunshine Boys.Also,Moon plays piano (but doesn't sing lead) on the Sunshine Boys' "What's the matter with Deep Elem".
"VARIOUS ARTISTS: KINGS OF WESTERN SWING" - Moon also recorded "Pipeliner blues" with the Sunshine Boys and this is another various artists compilation (put out by Charly) and it features Moon's Sunshine Boys version of "Pipeliner".Moon played piano behind other singers on one or two other tracks on this CD,too.Also,the instrumental, "Jessie" is here - if you don't own the Cliff Bruner box set.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS: STOMPING WESTERN SWING" - on this Various artists Western swing CD (issued by President), you will find Moon's version of "Pipeliner blues" from his 1940 sessions with the Modern Mountaineers. This was the first version of the song Moon ever did. Also on this CD is "Sundown blues", another Mullican blues song featuring him on vocal and piano.Apart from these,Moon plays piano on a Sunshine Boys track but doesn't sing it.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS: NITE SPOT BLUES" - this compilation has one of Moon's earliest vocal performances "Swing baby swing" done with Leon Selph's Blue Ridge Playboys in 1936.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS: JITTERBUG JIVE" - As we have seen, many Mullican vocal performances are hidden behind other names."Mean Mama blues" by the Charles Mitchell Orchestra is a fine Mullican blues track with Moon on vocals and piano and Cliff Bruner on fiddle as well as Mitchell on steel.Also,on this CD is a version of "Rackin' it back" done with the Modern Mountaineers.This instrumental would also turn up on a Bob Dunn's Vagabonds session and this one also featured Moon.
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