Moon Mullican

His Scots-Irish immigrant ancestor, James Mullikin, was born in Scotland, arriving in Maryland, United States in the 1630s from Northern Ireland.

His paternal grandfather was Pvt. Wilson G. Mullican, who served in the 6th Mississippi Infantry, Confederate States Army, at the Battle of Shiloh.

Mullican's parents, stepmother, and grandparents are all buried in Stryker Cemetery, Polk County, Texas.

As a child Mullican began playing the organ, which his religious father had purchased in order to better sing hymns at church.

However, Moon made friends with Joe Jones, a black sharecropper on the family farm, who introduced him to the country blues.

Moon's parents did not always approve, and he was torn between playing religious and secular music.

After making his mark as a local piano player, Mullican left home at age 16, going to Houston, where he performed and sang in local clubs.

Mullican was born to Oscar Luther Mullican (1876–1961) and his first wife, Virginia Jordan Mullican (1880–1915), near Corrigan, Polk County, Texas, United States.

They were a farming family of Scottish, Irish and Eastern European ancestry.

Aubrey Wilson Mullican (March 29, 1909 – January 1, 1967), known professionally as Moon Mullican and nicknamed "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players", was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist.

He was associated with the hillbilly boogie style which influenced rockabilly.

Jerry Lee Lewis cited him as a major influence on his own singing and piano playing.

Mullican once stated, "We gotta play music that'll make them goddamn beer bottles bounce on the table".

It is also highly likely the widely popular syndicated comic strip Moon Mullins, which debuted in 1923, played a role in the similar nickname and alliteration sticking to Mullican.

His earliest influences were popular blues artists of the day such as Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leroy Carr, together with country musicians including Jimmie Rodgers, and Bob Wills.

By the 1930s, Mullican had acquired his nickname "Moon".

Although published sources suggest it is short for "moonshine" or possibly from his all-night performances; his family says it was because he loved to play "Shoot the Moon", a variation of the dominoes game "42".

By the end of the 1930s, he had become a popular vocalist with a warm, deep, vocal delivery.

Mullican frequently met up with another pianist, Black Boy Shine, when performing around Houston.

Combining nicknames, for a short time in the 1930s, they performed as a duo called "Moonshine".

In 1936, he covered Cab Calloway's "Georgia Pine" and also sang his own compositions "Ain't You Kinda Sorry" and "Swing Baby Swing" for Leon Selph's Western swing band, The Blue Ridge Playboys.

He played and recorded with Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers, the Sunshine Boys, and Jimmie Davis.

In the early 1940s, he returned to the Texas Wanderers as lead singer and pianist, sang on the hits "Truck Driver's Blues" and "I'll Keep On Loving You".

However, after leaving the band in 1942, he became a session musician playing on the songs of Floyd Tillman, Ernest Tubb, and Red Foley.

In 1945, he put together his own band, The Showboys, who quickly became one of the most popular outfits in the Texas-Louisiana area with a mix of country music, Western swing, Cajun music, and Mullican's wild piano playing and singing.

Although their style was highly eclectic and included country ballads, some of their music clearly foreshadowed what would later be called rock and roll.

In September 1946, Mullican cut 16 recordings as band leader, for King Records in Cincinnati.

His first release, "The Lonesome Hearted Blues" b/w "It's a Sin to Love You Like I Do" sold quite well, but did not chart.

His second release, "New Jole Blon" in December 1946 (later recorded by Doug Kershaw), reached number 2 on the Country and Western chart, sold one million copies and was the beginning of a long string of hits.

In the mid-1950s, many artists, such as Lefty Frizzell and George Jones experimented with rock and roll as its popularity began to gain ground on traditional country-and-western in the mid-1950s.

Seeking some of that success, Mullican recorded four rock sides with Boyd Bennett and His Rockets, including "Seven Nights to Rock".

However, both singles failed to chart.

He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1951.

Mullican was one of the highest-selling artists on King Records.

Though not a major chart success, he was popular in the southeastern United States with records such as "The Leaves Mustn't Fall", "Hey Shah", "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry", "Nine Tenths of the Tennessee River", and "I Was Sorta Wonderin'".

Before he signed to Coral in 1958, he had three other hits with King, including "Hey Shah".

In 1958, Mullican was signed by country music producer Owen Bradley to Decca Records' subsidiary label Coral Records, and recorded more rock songs including "Moon's Rock" and "Sweet Rockin' Music".

Devastated by the failure of his rock sides, Owen Bradley convinced Mullican to record his original songs in the burgeoning new more lush style of country music, the Nashville sound.

However, Bradley was frustrated with Mullican; he reportedly said himself, "There was nothing I could do with him."

Mullican, whose style was largely in traditional honky tonk, found it difficult to make such a large adjustment to his style and was dropped from Coral in 1959.