Cry Cry Cry

Cry Cry Cry, Dar Williams | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 13, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Razor & Tie
• ASIN: B00000D9WD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,288 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When three of our finest singer/songwriters join together in a musical ménage à trois, the least they could do is sing their own material. Yet Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, and Lucy Kaplansky have pulled off a perfect, perverse triumph on Cry Cry Cry, a tribute to fellow tunesmiths from Robert Earl Keen to Greg Brown to Julie Miller. Though the disc begins with a bona fide chart buster, R.E.M.'s "Fall on Me" (with ringing guitars and astonishingly audible lyrics no less), most of the cuts come from such unsung artists as James Keelaghan (a dark, brilliant ballad inspired by Norman MacLean's Young Men and Fire) and Jim Armenti. All three members of this folk music dream team are in excellent voice, alternating ensemble pieces with honed call-and-response. Yet these polished, hush-inducing performances never lose their edge and urgency--this is really what they mean by harmonic convergence. --Kerry Fried

Entertainment Weekly

Cry Cry Cry's purity of heart and sound is spirit renewing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "You'll dance in freedom ever after.", January 7, 2003

By 

Kevin Carter (the suburban hell of Arvada, Colorado.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cry Cry Cry (Audio CD)

After falling in love with Dar Williams thanks to "The Honesty Room" and "The Mortal City," and being somewhat disappointed with her later efforts, I bought "Cry, Cry, Cry" mostly as an introduction to Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky, whose work I'd been meaning to get into.

Now it's true that I've experienced a rather turbulent point of time in my life over the past few years, being a high school student, but "By Way Of Sorrow" is the most life-affirming song I've ever heard. I'm an avid fan of music; unfortunately, some might even categorize me as a hipster. I love music. But I've never cried after hearing a song. Ever. Never before has a song brought me to a state of pure emotion before the stunning cover of Julie Miller's song.

I wept... sobbed... through the rest of the album. But I smiled the whole way through it. Emily Dickinson once wrote, "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?" By the time you have heard this CD, you *will* discover it.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best in Modern Folk, November 20, 1999

By 

Rob Stoddard ([e-mail]) (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cry Cry Cry (Audio CD)

Can you tell by all of the reviews posted here how passionate people are about this record? As a fan of all three artists, my eyes popped out when I spotted the CD in a music store bin in December 1998. It's one of those productions that gives "synergy" a good name, combining all of the best talents of Shindell, Williams, and Kaplansky. The result is lush harmonies, precise and striking instrumentation, and an admittedly electic collection of the artists' favorite songs. I caught one of the group's first performances -- Boulder, Colorado in December '98 -- and read consistently stellar reviews of its coast-to-coast concerts in the ensuing year. A November '99 announcement indicates these guys are to return to their solo careers early in 2000, which could make this CD a collector's item to be treasured for decades. My favorites: Kaplansky's velvet lead vocal and rousing accoustic accompaniment on "By Way of Sorrow;" the perfectly-meshed harmonies on Greg Brown's tongue-in-cheek "Lord I Have Made You a Place in My Heart;" and a better-than-the-original rendition of Shindell's marvelous composition "Ballad of Mary Magdalen," with vocal leads by each singer in turn. Buy this one while it's still in print. You won't regret it.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Sung by the Best, February 26, 2000

By 

Eric J. Smith (Southern Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cry Cry Cry (Audio CD)

The premise behind this collection, namely that Shindell, Kaplansky, and Williams cover their favorite songs, works to perfection. Cold Missouri Waters alone is worth the price of the CD. With Shindell's dramatic narrative and subtle phrasing backed up by the rich soprano and alto vocals of Williams and Kaplansky, this has got to be the most exciting song I've heard in over 20 years. The first time through I listened to it repeatedly before continuing with the rest of the CD. Shindell also shines on another "Western," Shades of Gray. If you like Kaplansky or Shindell, this CD is a must.