“Blue Moon” is a popular song which was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz “Larry” Hart in 1934. It was featured in the movie “Waikiki Wedding”, where it gained popularity on Hawaii, but did not become a national hit until 1946 when recorded by Frank Sinatra.
The first public performance of this jazz standard was by bandleader Charlie Barnet with a vocal by June Christy. Frank Sinatra first sang it with the Tommy Dorsey band in 1944. Although Sinatra was not at that time singing commercial pop tunes, he performed “Blue Moon”, although it did not achieve great popularity.
The song was used again in 1950 in the movie called “Young Man With A Horn”, sung by Doris Day, playing Jazz singer Terry Shaw. The song gained popularity with the rise of “The King” Elvis Presley who sang it over and over again during concerts in 1956 at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Blackmore’s Night performed this song under the name “Avalon” for their album Minstrel Hall.
It was Frank Sinatra, who after his rehabilitation from drug addiction, turned this song into a pop hit in 1960. Frank Sinatra’s version peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Easy Listening chart for five weeks in 1962.
The lyrics were written by Lorenz Hart in 1934 and Richard Rodgers composed the music. Larry Hart had written the lyrics first so Rodgers composed the melody and then wrote a second set of lyrics which he sang in the Sinatra recording
