Cry! Cry! Cry!

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"Cry! Cry! Cry!"
Single by Johnny Cash
B-side "Hey, Porter"
ReleasedJune 21, 1955
Recorded1955
Genre Rockabilly [1]
Length2:29
Label Sun
Songwriter(s) Johnny Cash
Producer(s) Sam Phillips
Johnny Cash singles chronology
"Cry! Cry! Cry!"
(1955)
"Hey Porter"
(1955)

"Cry! Cry! Cry!" is the debut single by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song was originally released in 1955 and reached number 14 on the Best Sellers charts. [2]

Contents

Background

In 1954, before the release of the song "Cry! Cry! Cry!", Cash signed with Sun Records after he came home from serving with the United States Air Force. [3] During that time, he wrote the song "Hey, Porter" which was met with little excitement from the executives at his record label. He was then told to come back with a song that Sun Records owner, Sam Phillips, would be able to sell. [4] Cash went home and wrote the song "Cry! Cry! Cry!" overnight and came back and performed it to Phillips the following day. The song was then coupled with "Hey Porter" and released as the B-side of the record. For the recording of the song, Johnny Cash was backed by "The Tennessee Two", Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass. [2] The early success of the song led to a featured spot on the Louisiana Hayride Tour and kicked off the career of Johnny Cash in the process. [5] The song sold over 100,000 copies in the southern states alone. Cash then began to tour with Elvis Presley (among other artists from the record business) soon after its release. [6] The song was later included on Cash's first album, 1957's With His Hot and Blue Guitar , one of the first albums released by Sun Records.

Appearance in Walk the Line

The fact that it was Cash's first successful tune was mentioned several times in the dialogue of the 2005 film, Walk the Line . While it appeared on the film's soundtrack album, it was not performed in the film (two deleted scenes show the Johnny Cash character, as played by Joaquin Phoenix, composing the song in the basement of his house and later listening to it on the radio).

Covers

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References

  1. LIFE Unseen: Johnny Cash - An Illustrated Biography With Rare and Never-Before-Seen Photographs from the Archives of Sony Music Entertainment. TI Incorporated Books. 2013. rockabilly material, including "Hey Porter" and later "Cry, Cry, Cry"
  2. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (11 April 2011). ""Cash, Johnny."" (4th ed.). Encyclopedia of Popular Music.(subscription required)
  3. [ dead link ]
  4. "Biography." Last.fm. Web. 30 March 2011.
  5. "Johnny Cash Biography." AOL Music. Web. 23 March 2011.
  6. "Johnny Cash." Academy of Achievement. Web. 23 March 2011.
  7. ""Texas" Bill Strength - The Yellow Rose Of Texas". 45cat.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 338.
  9. "Ian Hunter, 5 March 2013, Teatro Miela, Trieste, Italy". Blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2021.