| Cry! Cry! Cry! | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Johnny Cash |
| B-Side: | Hey, Porter |
| Released: | June 21, 1955 |
| Recorded: | 1955 |
| Genre: | Rockabilly[1] |
| Length: | 2:29 |
| Label: | Sun |
| Producer: | Sam Phillips |
| Next Title: | Hey Porter |
| Next Year: | 1955 |
"Cry! Cry! Cry!" is the debut single by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song was originally released in 1955 and reached number 14 on the Best Sellers charts.[2]
In 1954, before the release of the song "Cry! Cry! Cry!", Cash signed with Sun Records after he came home from serving with the United States Air Force.[3] During that time, he wrote the song "Hey, Porter" which was met with little excitement from the executives at his record label. He was then told to come back with a song that Sun Records owner, Sam Phillips, would be able to sell.[4] Cash went home and wrote the song "Cry! Cry! Cry!" overnight and came back and performed it to Phillips the following day. The song was then coupled with "Hey Porter" and released as the B-side of the record. For the recording of the song, Johnny Cash was backed by "The Tennessee Two", Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass. The early success of the song led to a featured spot on the Louisiana Hayride Tour and kicked off the career of Johnny Cash in the process.[5] The song sold over 100,000 copies in the southern states alone. Cash then began to tour with Elvis Presley (among other artists from the record business) soon after its release.[6] The song was later included on Cash's first album, 1957's With His Hot and Blue Guitar, one of the first albums released by Sun Records.
The fact that it was Cash's first successful tune was mentioned several times in the dialogue of the 2005 film, Walk the Line. While it appeared on the film's soundtrack album, it was not performed in the film (two deleted scenes show the Johnny Cash character, as played by Joaquin Phoenix, composing the song in the basement of his house and later listening to it on the radio).