Mr Moonlight is a cover of a song, originally recorded by Dr Feelgood and the Interns, that appears on the Beatles For Sale album.
The Beatles BibleA staple of The Beatles’ live act for some years, ‘Mr Moonlight’ was recorded by the group during sessions for their fourth LP, Beatles For Sale.
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WikipediaLooking back at the underlying ratings that support its ranking on this blog, I see that I rated it highly for performance, and a good proportion of that score is due to the first two words which Lennon sings acapella and with complete commitment, as if pleading for his life.
It’s a set piece but every fan loves a goal from the kick off.
As the Wikipedia article and Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In book make clear, this moment was often an important part of the Beatles live set from around 1962:
Mr. Moonlight was great because there would be this moment of tension in the audience. The song would be announced and everybody knew John would have to start on that note—MISTER! Moonlight. There was no chord to precede it, he had to get it right from nothing. (Neil Aspinall, quoted in Mark Lewisohn, All These Years Volume One: Tune In)
As Lewisohn says, deployed as an opening song it “commanded their crowd’s attention before playing so much as a second.”
Like several of the Beatles’ cover versions, this was a pretty obscure track, and a B-side at that. The A-side (also called Dr Feelgood, as in the artist’s name) only made number 66 on the billboard chart. It’s telling that the Beatles sought out such tracks, showing not only how thoroughly they explored the territory, but also the degree of respect they had for every album track and B-side. To the Beatles every song was potentially important and this would generalize to the care and attention they gave to their own work and the level of scrutiny they expected from music fans.
Although I quite like it, I don’t think Mr Moonlight is a favourite with fans in general. The “cheesy” Hammond organ sound comes in for a bit of criticism. Ian McDonald (admittedly not always a discerning critic) describes the song as a “gross quasi-calypso”, whose “gaudy chintz” is somewhat offset by Lennon’s vocal but, but “reinstated in all its gold lamé ghastliness” by McCartney’s organ solo. I can see the point. The particular settings McCartney uses are reminiscent of the kind of Wurlitzer organs that was played at end-of-the pier and ballroom seaside variety shows, which is probably what gives it it’s chintz associations for Macdonald.
Given the way McCartney plays the solo (in a low register with little staccato phrases) and taken alongside the Beatles’ generally sound musical judgement, it seems quite likely that this was deliberate. Maybe the effect is intended to give the song a note of ironic humour which would not be unheard of (for example the “Welcome to Slaggers” section of You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)). On the other hand the sound is not so different from the way Booker T and the MGs used the organ, albeit nowhere near as successful as their R’n’B hits. Anyway perhaps it’s an excuse to share (for comparison) their (1969) version of McCartney’s Michelle:
I think the take home lesson is that the organ is a double-edged instrument. In the right hands it can add a soulful sustained thickness to the backing track, but in the wrong hands cheese and chintz. Handle with care! Overall, I think Mr Moonlight is fun. I really like the vocal (including the harmonies), and whether intended ironically or not, the organ doesn’t really bother me too much. But admittedly, I am heavily swayed by the opening.