Customer Reviews

Cry Cry Cry

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Cry, Cry, Cry was truly a folk supergroup, consisting of Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplansky. All of them have successful solo careers, and they hail from very different backgrounds. Named after a Johnny Cash song which oddly isn't on the CD (although it was sometimes performed in concert), this CD was recorded by three richly talented people who admired each other but had never sung together until shortly before they walked into the recording studio! Their common ground was songs that they loved, songs by less famous songwriters, perhaps, but songs which are as profound and beautiful as any ever written. Cry, Cry, Cry is as much about compassion and good storytelling as it is about music, but the music here is divine. Williams, Shindell, and Kaplansky compared notes about songs which they loved, decided which to record, and hoped that their experiment would work.

What an amazing feat. Their harmonies are interwoven beautifully in every song; there are no weak songs on this CD. The songs they picked are brutally honest, feel like windows into people's lives, and will have meaning for people across many stages of life. Even though Cry, Cry, Cry broke up eventually, they toured for about a year (maybe longer) and reinvented these songs (and others, equally wonderful) on stages across America. I keep wishing that a live CD will one day be released of some of these performances, for they were profoundly moving. It doesn't seem likely that Cry, Cry, Cry will record another CD in the studio, but that shouldn't deter anyone from picking up this one. It's one of the best acoustic folk CDs ever made.

I bought this album because I discovered Dar Williams only a year ago and enjoy her music tremendously. I was so used to great female vocalists that I remember skipping over track 2, Cold Missouri Waters, on my first play. Since then, this is the first song I have ever put on SONG-REPEAT on my iPod. The poetic story (thanks James Keelaghan!) and great arangement and vocals totally hooked me. Then reading about the 1949 Montana Mann Gulch Fire on the internet - it seemed unbelievable. What a powerful story! I was reading this story to my 12 year old daughter and I could not keep my voice from breaking down.

Like another reviewer, I heard "Cold Missouri Waters" and was stopped in my tracks. This couldn't be made up, I thought, this must be a real story. A little searching on Google and I had the answer. A powerful, gripping story of real lives lost and poetically told in a song. The rest of the songs on this album are equally powerful. The sound has a raw, almost under-produced quality, in keeping with this genre I suspect. The artists are brilliant in their craft, and the vocals and guitar work will draw you in inexorably. But again, as regards the songs in and of themselves, I cannot conceive of a better collection of more stunningly meaningful material.

Serious lyrics with layers upon layer of meaning. Utterly gorgeous voices in rich harmony. Creative arrangements that enhance the drama of the stories. A varied mix of styles. Even some great guitar licks here and there.

This CD has it all. No wonder that you can listen to it over and over without it getting tiresome.

What a loss if the three return to their individual tours -- as reported -- and this becomes the trio's only alblum. The individuals are all accomplished, but in this case the sum is far, far greater than the parts.

I have played this CD every day since I purchased it. The songs keep going through my head. I have never had a CD where every song was a treasure. I keep hoping there will be a sequel. I have recommended this to all my friends. It is a must for anyone's collelction

Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplansky team up on what I thought was the best folk album of 1998. There really isn't a weak track on this CD, which is full of fine harmonies and fantastic individual performances. Dar Williams is well known on the contemporary folk scene; Shindell and Kaplansky less so. But they've come up with group of covers that ought to please even fans who aren't familiar with all three. In doing so, they've spotlighted some wonderful American songwriters, including Greg Brown, Clff Eberhart, and The Nields, among several mentioned in other reviews. If you get the chance to see the Cry Cry Cry tour live, do it! The harmonies and solos are every bit as fine live as they are on this collection.

I bought this album awhile ago but was reading the reviews today and had to give it my thumbs up! I have enjoyed this album from Cold Missouri Waters to Shades of Gray. Each voice is a perfect blend.