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Mr. Moonlight
Composer(s) : Roy Lee Johnson
Year : 1962
Alan W. Pollack 's "Notes On" Mr. Moonlight
Selecteer gewenste toonaard :
Oorspronkelijke toonaard: F#
Getoonde toonaard:
Mister ....... Mo-onlight,
You came to me, one summer night
And from your beam you made my dream
m
And from the word, you sent my girl
And from above you sent us love,
And now she is mine, I think you're fine
Cause we love you, Mr. Moonlight.
Mr. Moonlight, come again please,
Here I am on my knees begging if you please,
On the nights you don't come my way, I pray and pray for each day
Cause we love you, Mr.Moonlight.
SOLO over...?
On the nights you don't come my way, I pray and pray for each day
Cause we love you, Mr.Moonlight.
Mr. Moonlight, come again please,
Here I am on my knees begging if you please,
On the nights you don't come my way, whoa, I pray and pray for each day
Cause we love you, Mr. Moonlight.
Roy Lee Johnson
Despite 40 years in the music business, details about Roy Lee's life are rather scarce. He was born on 31 December 1938,
reportedly in Heard Count, Georgia, and started his recording career as a member of the Brassettes of Hoganville who cut
a 45 for Ebb. Some other members of the group went on to join the Ohio Untouchables, Johnson was not among them.
He surfaced next as guitarist and vocalist for Piano Red, for whom he wrote and sang "Mr Moonlight", the flip of
Red's small eponymous hit "Dr Feelgood". Since the Beatles covered Johnson's song it's an easy assumption that this
number has brought him the biggest pay checks he's ever received.
Alternate version:
This is the 'Beatles for Sale' version, this song is also released on the album Anthology 1
but it hasn't got 'And now she is mine...' instead replacing it with another 'On the nights you don't come my way...'.
Seems like this is the Beatles' cover which everyone loves to hate; it must be something about the self-consciously
campy vocal, lugubrious Hammond organ, and generally queasy blend of dooh-whop and Latin musical styles. But get
beyond this if you can and discover a number of compositional details which are more reminiscent of the Beatles'
own style than you'd ever expect from the surface.
As with "Rock And Roll Music", the original version turns out to be less extremely inflected than the Beatles'
cover of it. One of the strangest variances is in the choice of key, the original having been in G. I can't
honestly figure what would have influenced the Beatles to do it in the very unusual key of F# Major, unless
the half-step difference was just sufficient to keep John from cracking on the high notes. Still, I'd assume
they must have fingered it in an easier key like E or F and used some capo.
Ook op Beatles for Sale:
Ook op Anthology 1:
(c) 2024 Serge Girard
(c) Alan Aldrigde, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics