• Track Listing

John Alvin Ray was arguably the biggest male American star of the pre-rock 'n' roll 1950s, his full on emotional style (evolved in part thanks to his hearing difficulties) landing him a series of nicknames ranging from 'The Prince Of Wails' to 'The Nabob Of Sob' to the one that gives this new Jasmine collection it's title "The Cry Guy" - in honour of his first US and UK chart topper 'Cry'. Before Elvis came along, Johnnie Ray was the idol of millions of teenage girls and his records routinely charted big all over the world. He was one of the few singers from the early 50s to successfully transition to the rock 'n' roll era - initially at least - and he was still scoring hits as late as 1957. Those early 50s hits have been anthologised time and time again - however in this collection you can hear all the singles that Johnnie released between 1958 and 1962 that, for the most part, did not chart despite being largely as good as those that had made him a star. The records were still great, but the fickle finger of fandom was now pointed in other directions, as it was for so many of Johnnie's contemporaries. The songs here were written by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Brook Benton, Otis Blackwell and Johnnie himself, while he was produced on some of them by noted 50s names of the calibre of Archie Bleyer, Clyde Otis and the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. He's also joined for a couple of duets by another singer who, like Johnnie, started her career in rhythm & blues before joining the mainstream, Miss Timi Yuro. This is the first compilation to tell this side of the Johnnie Ray story in such extensive detail - and as always, the finest available audio has been sourced for the preparation of the audio in this collection. Handkerchiefs at the ready, it's time for a good old sob session with 'The Cry Guy'