| "I'm Moving On" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Hank Snow | |
| B-side | "With This Ring, I Thee Wed" |
| Released | 1950 |
| Genre | Country |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Writer(s) | Clarence E. Snow (Hank Snow) |
"I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by Hank Snow. The song, a 12-bar blues, reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying the record.[1] It was the first of seven number-one Billboard country hits Snow scored throughout his career on that chart.[1]
The song has four bars of verse followed by eight bars of chorus with the final lines referring back to the verse:
"I'm Moving On" is one of three songs in the history of the Billboard country charts to spend 21 weeks at #1, the others being 1947's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" by Eddy Arnold and 1955's "In the Jailhouse Now" by Webb Pierce. It spent 44 weeks in Billboard's top 10.[1]
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While Hank Snow's version was still on the charts, hillbilly comedians Lonzo and Oscar released a parody version:
The song was famously covered in 1959 by Ray Charles, whose version hit number forty on the pop singles chart and number eleven on the R&B singles chart. Charles's version with his soul band featured congas and maracas, giving the Spanish tinge to a country and western blues. It was also recorded on his last recording session with Atlantic months before he signed with ABC.
Produced by Jerry Wexler, Charles provides the lead vocals, and is backed by the Raelettes. The Ray Charles Orchestra provided the instrumentation.
A live version is included on December's Children (And Everybody's) by the Rolling Stones.
The song was covered by Elvis Presley in 1969.
Emmylou Harris took an uptempo live version of "I'm Moving On" to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada in the spring of 1983.
The song was also covered by Chuck Prophet for a 2007 Jack Daniel's NASCAR television commercial.
There is a version by Warren Smith, as part of a medley of Hank Snow songs.
It has also been covered by Irish rock band Taste.
Big House also covered this song on their 2000 album, Woodstock Nation.
Other artists who have covered the song include: Johnny Nash (1963), Jimmy Smith (1963), Timi Yuro (1963), Dave Dudley (1964), The Rolling Stones (1965), The Everly Brothers (1967), Roy Acuff (1967), The Box Tops (1968), Led Zeppelin (1970) John Kay (1972), Tina Turner (1974), Mickey Gilley (1975), Loggins & Messina(1975), Professor Longhair (1978), Charlie Feathers (1979), Eddie and the Subtitles (1981), Steppenwolf (1987), George Thorogood (1988), Ashley MacIsaac (2002) and Johnny Cash (2003) and Willie Nelson (2008 - a duet with Hank Snow), Rosanne Cash (2009).
| Preceded by "Why Don't You Love Me" by Hank Williams and His Drifting Cowboys |
Billboard Best Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records number-one single (Hank Snow version) August 19, 1950 September 9, 1950 - December 30, 1950 |
Succeeded by "Goodnight Irene" by Red Foley and Ernest Tubb "The Golden Rocket" by Hank Snow |
| Preceded by "Lovesick Blues" by Hank Williams |
Billboard Best Selling Retail Folk Records number-one single of the year 1950 |
Succeeded by "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams |
| Preceded by "Common Man" by John Conlee |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Emmylou Harris version) June 4, 1983 |
Succeeded by "You Can't Run from Love" by Eddie Rabbitt |