BARRY LEVINE: Charts topped with emotion — crying and loneliness

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on the differences between music of the 1950s and early 1960s and today’s music. The second part will appear Sunday.

If you want to analyze differences between rock ’n’ roll in the early days of the modern era and the newer material, they are emotions, attitudes, romance and relationships. Many of the “oldies, but goodies” focused on human emotions, such as crying and loneliness. Too much of the current material is centered on killing and hate, especially hate for the “men in blue.”

Part of the reason for the differences could be because of societal changes. The 1950s were basically carefree and a happy time as the country was recovering from World War II and the Korean War. The current times are far from carefree.

Many of the early hits, even those before the start of the modern rock era in 1955, had the word cry or a derivative of the word in the title.

Here are just some of the “cry” hits.

One of the early hits with the word cry in the title was Johnny Ray’s 1951 two-sided smash “Cry” and “The Little White Cloud That Cried.” Both were backed by the Four Lads, a Canadian group that later generated a slew of hits.

“Cry” was No. 1 for 11 weeks and was Ray’s only No. 1 hit. “The Little White Cloud that Cried,” the flip side, was the first of his two No. 2 hits. The other was “Just Walking in the Rain” in 1956. Ranked as the No. 1 record for 1952, “Cry” helped make Ray a teen idol and made him to one of the era’s top singers.

Here are some of the other cry hits:

Sonny Til & Orioles, one of the premier R&B groups of the 1950s, had their biggest hit when the group covered “Crying in the Chapel” in 1953. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the pop chart. It was included on the soundtrack album for the iconic film “American Graffiti.”

Country singer Darrell Glenn had the original recording in 1953 and it reached No. 6 on the pop chart.

Johnny Cash first charted in 1955 with “Cry, Cry, Cry,” which climbed to No. 14 on the country chart. “Cry, Cry, Cry” became the springboard for Cash’s incredible career. The following year, “I Walk the Line” and “There You Go,” became his first No. 1 hits on the country chart. Cash topped the country chart 14 times.

One of the premier female R&B solo performers during the 1950s, LaVern Baker had her biggest hit in 1959 when “I Cried a Tear” reached No. 6 on the pop chart. This was her only Top 10 hit, although she had earlier successes with “Tweedle Dee” in 1955 and “Jim Dandy” in 1956, both of which climbed into the Top 20.

At the apex of his popularity during the early 1960s, Roy Orbison placed 22 songs in the Top 40, six of which reached the Top 5. He also had two No. 1 hits — “Running Scared” in 1961 and “Oh, Pretty Woman” in 1964. The master of the dramatic ballad, Orbison followed “Running Scared” with “Crying” in 1961. The tune peaked at No. 2.

The country-singing duo of Don & Phil Everly first enjoyed nationwide success in 1957 on the Cadence label with “Bye, Bye Love” and “Wake up Little Susie.” Switching to Warner Brothers Records in 1960 and transitioning to more pop and less country, the Everly Brothers had their biggest hit that year when “Cathy’s Clown” reached No. 1 and sold more than 8 million copies. Among their hits that followed on Warner Brothers was “Crying in the Rain” which peaked at No. 6. This was one of their 12 Top 10 hits.

With Jay Traynor serving as the group’s lead singer, Jay & The Americans had their initial smash in 1962 when “She Cried” rose to No. 5. It was the first of their four Top 10 hits. After their next two releases failed to generate much interest, Traynor left the group and was replaced as lead singer by Jay Black. He remained in that role on the group’s three other Top 10 hits — “Come a Little Bit Closer” in 1964, “Cara Mia” in 1965 and “This Magic Moment” in 1968. But it was “She Cried” that earned the group national recognition.

The Four Seasons used “cry” to notch the second of their five No. 1 hits. After “Sherry” reached the top of the charts in the summer of 1962, the group followed with “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” which remained at the top for five weeks. As with “Sherry,” Frankie Valli’s lead on “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was done primarily in his signature falsetto voice. With this song, the Four Seasons became the first modern rock group to hit the top spot on the Hot 100 with their first two chart entries. Their first single, “Bermuda”/“Spanish Lace,” failed to chart in 1961.

Lesley Gore, a 16-year-old New Jerseyan, climbed to the top of the charts in the summer of 1963 with “It’s My Party” and followed later in the year with the answer song, “Judy’s Turn to Cry.” Although not achieving the same chart success as “It’s My Party,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry” peaked at No. 5, making it the second of her four Top 5 hits.

Even rock’s superstars recorded tunes with cry in the title.

The Beatles recorded “Cry for a Shadow” in 1964, Elvis Presley did “Don’t Cry Daddy” in 1969 and the Rolling Stones did “Fool to Cry” in 1976.

Barry “The Old Rocker” Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].