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Blue Moon of Kentucky

Rating:
4.4 / 5

Words & Music: Bill Monroe

Blue moon, blue moon, blue moon,
keep shining bright.
Blue moon, keep on shining bright,
You're gonna bring me back my baby tonight,
Blue moon, keep shining bright.

I said blue moon of Kentucky
keep on shining,
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.
I said blue moon of Kentucky
keep on shining,
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.

Well, it was on one moonlight night,
Stars shining bright,
Wish blown high
Love said good-bye.

Blue moon of Kentucky
Keep on shining.
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.

Well, I said blue moon of Kentucky
Just keep on shining.
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.
I said blue moon of Kentucky
keep on shining.
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.

Well, it was on one moonlight night,
Stars shining bright,
Wish blown high
Love said good-bye.

Blue moon of Kentucky
Keep on shining.
Shine on the one that's gone and left me blue.

Recordingdate: 1954/07, first released on: single (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Blue Moon of Kentucky:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)

Availability

Find available albums with Blue Moon of Kentucky.

Jerome wrote on June 16, 2008
classic! Original: 4 stars Remix: no star..
bastiaanvinke wrote on February 27, 2009
Love the sub songs. I don't care about the remixes...
ta2k wrote on February 27, 2009
The word 'classic' sums it up perfectly. One of my favourites. TCB
old shep wrote on February 27, 2009
A superb song and performance by a very young Elvis, and this was just a B side.
italianfan wrote on February 27, 2009
Whenever i hear this song, i can just imagine a hot memphis night, sun going down a 'weird' looking kid walking round with a guitar. I love it.
Pedro Nuno wrote on February 27, 2009
This is Elvis at his very best, with only 19 years! It's unbelivable how good he was from the very begining! This is My Elvis!
dgirl wrote on February 27, 2009
Ah youth & rebellion. An old bluegrass standard turned upside down. This is Elvis!
derekd wrote on February 27, 2009
This was Elvis in 1954. Doing the songs he liked, and doing them in a style no one else had seen. This really was the birth of Rock 'n Roll. Check out the Us & Uk charts. Nothing anywhere near what Elvis was about to do. Those 'Sun' recordings are always worth listening to. This was the real Elvis.
Great Dane wrote on December 04, 2009
Nice song from his early years,but the real Elvis? No! His heart lies in gospel and ballad, as you can see he never did it again in his final years.
Monster wrote on December 04, 2009
There are three seperate melodies throughout this song and Elvis' performance, his wonderful voice really brings out the best of them. Marvellous.
sitdown revamped wrote on December 04, 2009
that's creativity in person...that's what made Elvis Presley so unique
Deano1 wrote on December 04, 2009
While not exactly one of my favorite songs to listen to today, I would have to be a fool not to recognize the significance of this recording. The flip side of his first single "That's All Right, Mama", but so much more than that. A unique, wonderful piece of blues / country / rock n' roll that never lacks in energy. Elvis was not yet a great vocalist, but wow, what a voice he had.
sugartummy wrote on February 27, 2013
After Bill Monroe heard Elvis' version, he immediately re-recorded a version more simular to Elvis'. A brilliant recording.
Gorse wrote on March 01, 2013
I always preferred this track to its A side That's All Right Mama on this, his first professional release. The soaring echoing vocal sounds as good to me in 2013 as when I first heard it. This might have been the real Elvis for his fans, but not the man himself as he was gospel and ballad at this time, and basically remained that way through his career. -5 stars.
Bestoftherest8301 wrote on May 18, 2013
This is the real Elvis, the king of rock 'n roll, not the king of gospel, not the king of ballads. I'm sorry I can't agree that he was a gospel man or even a ballad man. Just exactly how many gospel albums did he put out, compared to let say rock n roll, or even mixed rock / pop albums? If you listen to his home recordings he sang a whole variety of songs and occasional gospel ones crop up. Too much emphasis is incorrectly placed on him singing gospel by some , it was an influence and he enjoyed singing some gospel, but to call him a gospel man is not correct. I sometimes think the gospel albums and songs were a publicity gimmick to balance his (at the time) image. I love this song and would play it anytime against ANY of his overblown ballads. This is 5 stars.
lsp2231 wrote on May 18, 2013
One of my favourite early tracks - five stars. I disagree though that this is the real Elvis. Before That's All Right/Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Elvis recorded only ballads at Sun. I think the "real Elvis" always mixed different styles. He performed a gospel tune, "Peace In The Valley" on the Ed Sullivan Show just after the Million Dollar Quartet session (mainly gospel) and before the January 1957 recording sessions (4 gospel songs).
alanfalk wrote on May 18, 2013
Love this tune, can't sit still when listening to it, but isn't it lame to try to reduce Elvis to a one type singer ? The Real Elvis when we talk about his music is everything he sang and recorded in his career and that includes soundtrack songs as Well,but his talent always shined through one way or another, in his voice, phrasing or the emotion he put into a song. The depressing songs are just as much part of the "real" Elvis as the joyfull ones, and when he was alone singing he problably didn't sing songs like this at all.
ElvisSacramento wrote on May 19, 2013
This is such a beautiful, catchy and fun bluegrass song and Elvis easily has the very best renditions of it. The best era of Elvis' career will always be the 1950's because of recordings just like this one. I love all of Elvis' music from the 1950's.
Great Dane wrote on August 16, 2013
Anyway, i love this track as it was also on one of my first albums: "A date With Elvis"
Cruiser621 wrote on February 26, 2019
5-stars. This tune has gotten much better thru the years with the remastering process if you will, which cleans up the sound substantially. Wish it still did not have so much echo on it. Lead off track on the LP "A Date with Elvis".
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