Billy Swan ‎- Rock 'N' Roll Moon (1975)

Best-known for the 1974 number one hit "I Can Help," soft-spoken Billy Swan has struggled and succeeded through various musical eras, somehow keeping the true roots feel in his best records. A fine songwriter, guitarist, producer, part-time Jerry Lee Lewis-styled piano pumper, and professional jack-of-all-trades, he is simultaneously a living link to the first great era of rock 'n' roll and one of its most credible foot soldiers.

The follow up to "I Can Help" was the single, "Everything's the Same (Ain't Nothing Changed)," from his second album "Rock ´N´ Roll Moon" in 1975.

His first big break was in 1962 when Clyde McPhatter recorded "Lover Please", a song written by Swan when he was in a local band called Mirt Mirly & the Rhythm Stoppers, and which had first been recorded by Bill Black. McPhatter's version quickly became a pop hit.

Swan moved to Memphis to work with Black, but this was cut short with Black's illness and subsequent death in 1965. He also for a time worked on Elvis Presley's Graceland estate. He then moved to Nashville, which enabled him to write hit country songs for numerous artists, including Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings, and Mel Tillis.  Finding work as a producer meant that Swan could leave his job as an engineer's assistant. He plugged along during the early 1970s writing songs and working in bands headed up by friend Kris Kristofferson and by Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky Friedman. In 1975 the gift of a compact RMI organ provided the impetus for his greatest commercial achievement.

Track listing

01.  "Everything's The Same (Ain't Nothing Changed)"  (Billy Swan)  - 2:34  

02.  "You're The Pain (In My Heart)"  (Billy Swan)  - 2:37  

03.  "(You Just) Woman Handled My Mind"  (Billy Swan)  - 3:15  

04.  "Stranger"  (Kris Kristofferson)  - 3:34  

05.  "Baby My Heart"  (Billy Swan)  - 3:04  

06.  "Got You On My Mind"  (Howard Biggs)  - 3:01  

07.  "Come By"  (Billy Swan)  - 2:44  

08.  "Ubangi Stomp"  (Charles Underwood)  - 2:22  

09.  "Home Of The Blues"  (Johnny Cash, Glen Douglas, Vic McAlpin)  - 2:32  

10.  "Overnite Thing" (Usually)  - 3:08  

11.  "Rock And Roll Moon Blues (Part I)"  (Billy Swan)  - 2:47

Release:  1976

Recorded at:  Youngun Sound Studio, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Label:  Monument

Genre:  Rock & Roll

Length:  32:02

Producer:  Billy Swan, Chip Young

Personnel

Billy Swan - Vocals

Mike Leech - Bass

Hayward Bishop - Drums

Dennis Linde - Guitar [Acoustic]

John Christopher - Guitar [Acoustic]

Chip Young - Guitar [Electric]

John Christopher - Guitar [Electric]

Bobby Emmons - Organ

Bobby Wood - Piano

Bobby Emmons - Piano [Electric]

The Bill Justis Orchestra - Strings, Horns

Weldon Myrick - Guitar (Steel)

Gayle Whitfield - Horns

Tommy Smith - Horns

Farrell Morris - Marimba, Percussion

Bill Joor - Trumpet

George Tidwell - Trumpet

Harold Bradley - Guitar (Acoustic)