John Rare
What are the rare Beatles songs Long Lost John and Mr.Moonlight?
Long Lost John
An outtake recorded during the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, Long Lost John was a cover version of Lonnie Donegan’s 1956 single Lost John.
Lost John was a traditional folk song popularised by Donegan.
Lost John was Donegan’s third single, and reached number two in the UK charts. It became a staple of skiffle groups in the 1950s, and Lennon would likely have performed it with the Quarrymen in Liverpool. He also led The Beatles through a version of it during the January 1969 sessions for Let It Be.
“When we were kids in Liverpool in the late ’50s we loved rock ‘n’ roll, and we loved American artists, but the man who really started the craze for the guitars as far as I am concerned was Lonnie Donegan. Me and my mates followed his gigs with interest.”
Lonnie was the first person we heard of from England to get the coveted number one in the charts with Rock Island Line and we studied his records avidly and even did a few of his numbers. We all bought guitars in order to be in a skiffle group and it was this craze which swept the country.
Lonnie’s great vocal style was, and still is, highly original, and his love of the blues and early folk music is something we all could relate to very easily.
Mr. Moonlight
A 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.
The song was written by Roy Lee Johnson. The first known recording was by blues pianist Piano Red, recording as Dr Feelgood and the Interns. It was released as the b-side of Dr Feelgood, a minor R&B hit in 1962.
The Beatles attempted the song twice in the studio in 1964. The first time was on 14 August, when they recorded four takes – the last of these was for a time considered the best.
Anthology 1 contains takes one and four. The first broke down almost immediately; take four was complete, and featured a frantic slide guitar solo by George Harrison.
The Beatles re-made the song on 18 October. Again they recorded four takes, the last two of which featured McCartney’s somewhat gaudy Hammond organ solo.
Despite a blistering vocal from John Lennon, Mr Moonlight is held by many Beatles fans as one of the least successful songs in their catalogue.
John Coltrane w/ Wynton Kelly Trio VERY RARE
