“Cry! Cry! Cry!” is a song that was written and performed by singer/songwriter, Johnny Cash. The song was originally released in 1955 and reached #14 on the Best Sellers charts.
Song 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. 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. 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.. 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. The song sold over 100,000 copies in the southern states alone. Cash then began to tour with Elvis Presley soon after its release.. 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.
Covers
Marty Stuart released a cover of the song in 1989, his version peaked at #32 on the Hot Country Singles chart.
Third Eye Blind covered the song with Merle Haggard.
Elvis Costello released a cover of this song in 1982 as the B side to "I'm Your Toy".
Norah Jones covered the song; her version was included on the bonus CD Live at The Living Room, available with the albumThe Fall in Japan and in the U.S.A. through iTunes and Target.
