"The Sky Is Crying"
Single by Elmore James
B-side"Held My Baby Last Night"
ReleasedMarch 1960 (1960-03)
RecordedChicago, November 3 or 4, 1959
GenreBlues
Length2:47
LabelFire
Songwriter(s)Elmore James[1]
Producer(s)Bobby Robinson

"The Sky Is Crying" is a blues standard written and initially recorded by Elmore James in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions",[2] "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.

Composition and recording

"The Sky Is Crying" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C.[3] It is an impromptu song inspired by a Chicago downpour during the recording session:[2]

The sky is crying, look at the tears roll down the street (2×)
I'm waiting in tears looking for my baby, and I wonder where can she be?

The songs features prominent slide guitar by James with his vocals, accompanied by his longtime backing band, the Broomdusters: J. T. Brown on saxophone, Johnny Jones on piano, Odie Payne on drums, and Homesick James on bass. James' unique slide guitar sound on the recording has generated some debate; Homesick James attributed it to a recording studio technique, others have suggested a different amplifier or guitar setup, and Ry Cooder felt that it was an altogether different guitar than James' usual Kay acoustic with an attached pickup.[4]

Release and recognition

The single, with the artist credit "Elmo James and His Broomdusters", reached number 15 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart in 1960,[5] making it James' last chart showing before his death in 1963. James recorded a variation of the song, "The Sun Is Shining", in April 1960,[6] five months after the recording date of "The Sky Is Crying" (although some places "Sun" as a precursor to "Sky",[7] possibly because the bulk of James' recordings for Fire/Fury/Enjoy took place after the Chess recordings).

"The Sky Is Crying" is identified as a blues standard[8] and in 1991, James' original was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.[9] Record producer Bobby Robinson noted that the song is "a magnificent vehicle both for Elmore's emotion-packed blues vocal and his ringing slide guitar".[9]

Renditions

In 1969, Albert King recorded "The Sky Is Crying" for the album Years Gone By.[10] Unlike James' who played it with a slide, King used a fretted approach on guitar. Stevie Ray Vaughan later performed the song regularly as an apparent tribute to King.[11] He and his backing band, Double Trouble, recorded versions during the sessions for their 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather and 1985's Soul to Soul.[12] Neither was released until the posthumous compilations Blues at Sunrise (2000) and The Sky Is Crying (1991), respectively.[12][11] Critic Dan Forte noted, "Stevie tips his Clint Eastwood hat to two of his idols: Elmore James, who wrote the tune, and Albert King, who also recorded it, and whose influence is evident in every lick and bend here [on the 1991 release]."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Elmore James was given one hundred percent writer credit for [the] song" on his original filing with BMI, however, over the years, several names have appeared alongside his on various reissues and covers of the song. Franz, Steve (2003). The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-9718038-1-7.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Chris; Haig, Diana (1992). Elmore James: King of the Slide Guitar (Box set booklet). Elmore James. Nashville, Tennessee: Capricorn Records. pp. 12–13. 9 42006-2.
  3. ↑ Hal Leonard (1995). "The Sky Is Crying". The Blues. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard. p. 187. ISBN 0-79355-259-1.
  4. ↑ Franz (2003), pp. 100–101.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 216. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
  6. ↑ Chess Records 1756
  7. ↑ Koda, Cub (1996). "Elmore James". In Erlewine, Michael (ed.). All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings. All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. pp. 132–33. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
  8. ↑ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Sky Is Crying (The)". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 471. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
  9. 1 2 O'Neal, Jim (November 10, 2016). "1991 Hall of Fame Inductees: The Sky is Crying – Elmore (Elmo) James (Fire, 1959)". Blues.org. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  10. ↑ Koda, Cub. "Albert King: Years Gone By – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 Forte, Dan (1991). The Sky Is Crying (Album notes). Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. New York City: Epic Records. pp. 4–5. EK 47390.
  12. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: Blues at Sunrise – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
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