No Woman? So, Cry!

Songfacts: I heard was that V Ford was a good friend of Bob’s who died of a teminal illness and while he lay on his soon to be death bed with his wife weeping over him he said to her ‘no woman, no cry’. Because he was going to a better place and she should be happy for him. He credited the song to V Ford to help his familiy financially

BoogieWoogie Press : While in Kansas City, Jay McShann assembled one of the strongest bands ever to come out of Kansas City. The members of his band included Charlie Parker. In fact, Jay was Parker’s first employer. During this period, Jay also developed his boogie woogie style, which is the topic of the interview below.

The Hard Bop Homepage : Sonny Stitt’s early recorded solos show clearly that he was a disciple of Charlie Parker; he used Parker’s favorite melodic formulas and imitated his tone quality and vibrato. Only small details of phrasing and articulation–an occasional slight hesitation in connecting notes in a Parkeresque phrase, or a subtly different way of tonguing–betray the imitator.

Solomon Burke : While teaching him to clearly enunciate the words to such songs as Gene Autry’s “Back In The Saddle Again,” Burke’s grandmother Eleanor Moore was a powerful spiritual medium who kept him in a futurist world as a child with her spiritual vision and projections of what his life would become.

Robert Crumb on Wikipedia : Crumb has frequently drawn comics about his musical interests in blues, country, bluegrass, cajun, French Bal-musette, jazz, big band and swing music from the 1920s and 30’s, and they also heavily influenced the soundtrack choices for his band mate Zwigoff’s 1994 Crumb documentary. He was a member of the band R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders.

Hillbilly Music : Darrell Glenn was the son of singer / songwriter Artie Glenn. In fact, Artie wrote his son’s first hit record that was also a hit for several others over the years – “Cryting In The Chapel”. Artie’s group, the Rhythm Riders provided the instrumental backup to Darrell’s recording of this song, released on the VAlley Records label outof Knoxville.

S p a c e A g e P o p M u s i c : Gordon Jenkins’ taste for lush string orchestrations was a big factor in the development of the easy listening style, but today’s listeners may find it hard to understand the attraction. Taken straight, without the benefit of a great vocal by Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole or the dated dramatic narrative of Manhattan Tower, its saccharine shock is tough to digest.

Johnnie Ray International : Word has it that Churchill Kohlman, the writer of “Cry” (pictured below) and a night watchman in a Pittsburgh dry cleaning factory, was very unhappy with Johnnie Ray’s version, he had wanted it to be a country song. No word as to whether Mr. Kohlman sent the royalty checks back.

[/toggle]