Crying ~

March 10, 2010

I may attempt this for a little live radio contest I am in this week. stream it live 3/13/10 @9pm CST http://www.wrlr.fm

http://www.dmarkette.com/crying

The song was released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in July 1961 and went to No. 2 on the Billboard pop music charts.

The song contains “a vivid combination of hurtful romantic longing combined with near operatic vocals” (Roy Orbison Biography, no date). It is remarkable in that Roy Orbison begins singing the climactic, final note slightly flat, sliding up by the end of the note to just under the correct pitch. That this was done for effect and this was confirmed in a live performance, Live at Austin City Limits , as well as on the 1987 re-recording from the album In Dreams: The Greatest Hits , on which he sang that note perfectly on key.

The song also appears on Orbison’s 1962 album with the title Crying and his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live from the 1988 HBO television special.

In 1987, Orbison rerecorded the song as a duet with k.d. lang as part of the soundtrack for the motion picture, Hiding Out . Their collaboration won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The duet version was a minor chart hit for the two, peaking at #42 on the Hot Country Singles chart. Rebekah Del Rio performed an a cappella Spanish language version of the song, entitled “Llorando” in the 2001 David Lynch film Mulholland Dr. ; critics have described this sequence as the most powerful in the movie.^[1] The song had also previously been used on the soundtrack for the 1997 cult film Gummo , directed by Harmony Korine, in which two of the central characters even discuss the song at length.

In 2002, “Crying” was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it #69 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

Carrie Underwood performed the song on the TV Talent show, American Idol (Season 4). She later went on to win the show, and is now a successful country music artist. Emily Vinette performed this song in the Top 10 episode of Canadian Idol’s third season. Vinette was voted off the next night. Ashley Coulter performed the song in the top 6 episode of season 4. She was also voted off the next night. The winner of Australian Idol Damien Leith also performed the song, in 2006.