Moody Blue (song)

"Moody Blue" is a song made famous by Elvis Presley. The song was written and originally recorded by Mark James in 1975^[1] on the Mercury label, with the B side "Wrong Kind Of Love". James previously penned Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" and other songs.

"Moody Blue"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Moody Blue
B-side	"She Thinks I Still Care"
Released	29 November 1976 (1976-11-29) (single) June 1977 (1977-06) (Moody Blue album)
Recorded	February 4, 1976
Studio	Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee
Length	2:53
Label	RCA Records
Songwriter(s)	Mark James
Producer(s)	Felton Jarvis
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"Hurt" (1976) "Moody Blue" (1976) "Way Down" (1977)
Blue vinyl pressing
US Limited release edition

"Moody Blue" was recorded by Presley in February 1976 in the Jungle Room of his Graceland home and released as a single that November; it was Presley's last No. 1 hit in his lifetime. It topped the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in February 1977^[2] and peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March.^[3][4] RCA Records issued an extremely limited quantity of the "Moody Blue" single in an experimental translucent blue vinyl pressing, with "She Thinks I Still Care" as the B side. Six months after "Moody Blue" topped the Country chart, Presley was dead.

Elvis' only performance of the song in its entirety was on February 21, 1977, at a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina; he had sung a portion during the show the night before.^[5]

Both the February 20th false start and the February 21st concerts had soundboard recordings made that included the song. The recordings were released on compact disc in 2007 by the Follow That Dream label and in 1995 by Fort Baxter, respectively; audience recordings and still photos of both performances also exist.^[6]

Elvis version chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1976–77) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 17 Canadian RPM Top Singles 57 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 3 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[8] 2 Ireland (IRMA)[9] 7 New Zealand (RIANZ)[10] 5 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[11] 9 UK Singles Chart[12] 6 US Billboard Hot 100[13][14] 31 US Billboard Hot Country Singles 1 US Billboard Easy Listening[15] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Rank Australia KMR[16] 47 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary [17] 41 New Zealand [18] 26

References

1. "Moody Blue". Allmusic. 2007-06-21.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 273.
3. rfanous (2023-10-11). "Billboard Hot 100™". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 504.
5. "Elvis Presley In Concert". www.elvisconcerts.com. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
6. "February 21, 1977 Concert". Elvis Presley In Concert. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
8. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
9. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Moody Blue". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
10. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1977-04-24. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
11. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 1 September 2018.
12. UK Official Charts, 5 March 1977
13. rfanous (2023-10-11). "Billboard Hot 100™". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
14. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
15. "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 1977-02-19. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
16. Australian-charts.com
17. MBAJ&printsec=frontcover Billboard, December 24, 1977.
18. "Top Selling Singles of 1977 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1977-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-11.

External links

• Elvis Presley - Moody Blue on YouTube