How Many More Years Midnight", described by Phillips as "the most different record I ever heard", was probably recorded at a different session. Phillips had not yet set up Sun Records and regularly leased his recordings to the Chess label in Chicago. The record was issued as Chess 1479 on 15 September 1951, with "Moanin' at Midnight" as the A-side and "How Many More Years" as the B-side. "Moanin' at Midnight" entered the R&B chart on 10 November 1951, and was followed four weeks later by "How Many More Years", which became the more popular side and rose to no.4 on the chart. The
101 Strings is characterized by large-scale expansion of product, attempts to branch out to younger markets and beginning in 1969, eventual stagnation (although late efforts by Les Baxter and Nelson Riddle were released under the 101 name in 1970). Output decreased from 1974 on. A tribute to John Lennon (composed of earlier Beatle tribute material – "101 Strings play Hits written by The Beatles") in January 1981 marked the final 101 Strings effort. Many 101 Strings albums are simply orchestrated versions of pop hits and show tunes, although the early Somerset material contains many examples of the exotica and lounge genres. "Songs