August 30, 2023 – The Moon
A blue moon happens rarely, (once in a blue moon actually), but there is one tonight. For the second time this month, the moon will be in its full glory.
The blue moon will peak at 9:36 P.M, an hour after sunset.
I mentioned last week that I was researching old versions of Blue Moon on iTunes. I found 25 of them. I know how nerdy this is, but Bear and I are going to spend the evening of August 30th watching the moon and listening to all 25 versions of the song.
Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart composed Blue Moon way back in 1934. A guy named Muzzy Marcellino of The Ted Fio Rito Ochestra was the first to record it. Muzzy took it all the way to #1 in January of 1935. Blue Moon was recorded by various other artists in the 1930s and ‘40s but it never regained lasting commercial success.
That all changed in 1956 when Elvis Presley put his version on the charts.
Elvis’s Blue Moon remained on the Billboard Top 100 list for 17 consecutive weeks.
The Marcels recorded a doo-wop version in 1961, adding the unforgettable opening line, “bomp-baba-bomp, dip-da-dip-da-dip“. Blue Moon was forever changed.
Blue Moon is the quintessential love song. The narrator is professing his good fortune of meeting the love of his life, an occurrence so rare it could only happen once in a blue moon.
Every crooner on the planet has recorded Blue Moon, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Bobby Vinton, Dean Martin, Chris Isaak, The Supremes, and a hundred other smooth voices have put their personal touch on the standard.
Our old friend and neighbour, Ian Tyson did a splendid version on his Live at Longview album.
Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton collaborated on a rendition of Blue Moon for Stewart’s Stardust (Volume III) album. Stewart added a verse at the beginning of the song professing his loneliness.
“With no one to stay up for, I went to sleep at ten. Life was a bitter cup, for the saddest of all men”.
The line enhances the impact of Stewart meeting the girl of his dreams later in the song, but the concept of Rod Stewart going to bed early, or lonely, seems inconceivable.
There are so many great covers of Blue Moon. If I had to rank them, my choice would be Cowboy Junkies at #2. Margot Timmins and her Canadian band put a unique spin on Blue Moon Revisited (a song for Elvis). It is worth a listen.
But my all-time favourite version is sung by Raul Malo of The Mavericks. Malo’s delivery is rare, you only hear a voice like his once in a Blue Moon.
The Mavericks recorded Blue Moon for the Apollo 13 soundtrack; a movie dedicated to people who have actually been there.
I am looking forward to sitting on the deck this evening looking skyward, watching and listening to …
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