| Title: | Mr Moonlight |  |
| Credits: | Roy Lee Johnson | |
| Recorded: | EMI Studios, London, 18 October, 1964, Abbey Road 2 | |
| Line- up: | Lennon vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar McCartney harmony vocals, bass, Hammond organ Harrison harmony vocals, lead guitar, African drum; Starr percussion | |
| Producer: | George Martin | |
| Engineer: | Norman Smith | |
| Location: | Beatles For Sale - track 6 | |
| UK release: | 4th December 1964 (LP: Beatles For Sale) | |
| US release: | 15th December 1964 (LP: Beatles '65) |
Begun after I'm A Loser, this gross quasi-calypso (1) got as far as four takes before being junked and remade two months later. Bolstered by massive double-tracked harmonies, Lennon's berserk delivery blasts away much of the song's gaudy chintz, only for this to be reinstated in all its gold lam6 ghastliness by McCartney's Hammond organ solo. (How much of this is a joke is hard to say, The Beatles being by no means immune to bad taste.(2))
The percussion track remains a minor curiosity in that, while Harrison's wallops on an African drum are beyond rational dispute, Starr's alleged bongos suggest instead the slapped packing-case which Derek Taylor's sleeve-note ascribes to his part in the similarly excruciating Words Of Love.
(1) The original was the B-side of a club R&B hit 'Dr Feelgood', released on the Okeh label in 1962 by Dr Feelgood and The Interns (a pseudonym for Georgia singer-pianist Piano Red and his band).
(2) The solo was originally played on comically quivering slide guitar by Harrison (Anthology 1).
Anthology notes:
A Hard Days Night had featured 13 new songs from John and Paul but Beatles For Sale ran only eight - the six remaining numbers were cover versions, refugees from an earlier era, when the Beatles' nightly performances in Liverpool and Hamburg required a repertoire of no little length and breath. So, after completing Baby's In Black and I'm A Loser, two new Lennon-McCartney songs that were ready to be recorded, the Beatles turned back the calendar to mine a couple of their old R&B favourites. Both featured searing John Lennon Vocals
First issued in 1962 by Dr Feelgood and the Interns, Mr. Moonlight was the first . The version on Beatles For Sale was a re-make, taped at EMI on 18 October, but four unreleased takes were recorded on 14 August, and a combination of One and Four is presented here. The first broke down after John's laudable attempt at the shouted introduction. "Nearly!" commented Paul, a wry smile in his voice, as he encouraged his band mate to have another crack at it. Take 4, only the second complete run-through, lacked the organ track that distinguished the October re-make, but George's guitar solo in the bridge proves that experimentation with new and different sounds was now a definite quest.