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Moon Mullican

American Country and Western singer, songwriter, and pianist (born March 29, 1909 near Corrigan, Polk County, Texas –died January 1, 1967 in Beaumont, Texas)

Called "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players," Moon Mullican was a representative of the hillbilly boogie style which influenced rockabilly.

Born into a religious family, Mullican learned to play religious hymns on his family's organ. At the same time, he was introduced to country blues by a black sharecropper friend, Joe Jones. By age 16, he was so proficient on the piano that he left home to play the piano and sing professionally in local clubs in Houston.

Between 1937 and 1940, he recorded with Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers for Decca; in 1941, he made several recordings on the same label with Jimmie Davis. In 1945, he founded his own band, Moon Mullican And The Showboys, with whom he recorded for the Decca label between 1946 and 1947. Their song "New Pretty Blonde (New Jole Blon)" reached nr. 2 on the U.S. Country charts. Moon Mullican became one of King's bestselling artists and recorded with that label until 1956, but now as a featured artist accompanied by an anonymous string band. In 1949, he even had a nr. 1 hit with "I'll Sail My Ship Alone."

Toward the mid-1950s, Mullican's popularity began to wane. He experimented with rock 'n' roll, recording four sides with Boyd Bennett And His Rockets in 1956. In 1958, he signed with Decca and tried to adopt the then popular Nashville sound, but when none of these releases charted, Coral dropped him in 1959.

Mullican continued to perform in the 1960s and even to record, but with smaller labels such as Decca, Decca, and Decca. He suffered a heart attack on New Year's Eve in 1966, to which he succumbed on the next day.

Data provided by Discogs