New England Music Scrapbook
Cry Cry Cry

Cry Cry Cry was a musical partnership of the respected singer-songwriters, Lucy Kaplansky, Richard Shindell, and Dar Williams. Somehow the idea evolved for these three friends to make an album, covering the songs of other writers. The record, Cry Cry Cry (CD, Razor and Tie, 1998), and the tour that followed were stunning successes.

Kaplansky, Shindell, and Williams sounds a bit like the senior partners of a law firm, and it doesn's exactly roll easily off the tongue. So the group needed some other name. Cry Cry Cry has a ring of familiarity to it, and it is consistent with the material. "In Cry Cry Cry," said Williams, "we indulged our sentimentality. We weren't afraid to go there." Wayne Robins, in the Boston Phoenix, wrote that these singers "are capable of harmonies and melodies so gorgeously sad they could make a statue weep."*

The Cry Cry Cry tour took on a life of its own. Through 1999, the trio's concerts were reported by daily newspapers in the cities and towns where the group sang, by alternative publications such as the Western Massachusetts Valley Advocate, by the Boston Rock and Roll Museum Newsletter, and by the Boston Globe, New England's newspaper of record. Alanna Nash, in Stereo Review, wrote that the trio turned "a fun side project into an event." The end of the tour, around the start of the year 2000, was noted with real regret.

Cry Cry Cry is a beautiful recording with many fine qualities. The material is strong, the guitarists play with a thoughtful touch, and the harmonies are often gorgeous. "Adapted for the trio format," wrote Rob Weir of the Valley Advocate, "each selection nonetheless spotlights the style of the lead vocalist." This gives the album good variety

Cry Cry Cry--according to Shindell's publicity packet--sold 50,000 copies, on an independent label, in the first year alone.

The Stereo Review notice said the "blending of voices is miraculous." Generally when voices move well together, both in tune and time, it results from a great deal of practice. It's a wonder, then, how these three, with their own individual performing careers, found the opportunity. Rob Weir credited much of the success of the group's vocal sound to Kaplansky who, he wrote, "is one of the most gifted harmony singers around, and she is rock solid in cementing three individuals into a genuine trio."

"[T]he choice of material is magnificent," said Stereo Review. Christina V. Tormey of the Valley Advocate wrote that these are "some of the best songs ever written." You've gotta love their enthusiasm. My own personal favorite tracks include those where Williams solos or shares the lead with Kaplansky, especially "Northern Cross" and "I Know What Kind of Love This Is." Williams' cover of Shindell's remarkable "Ballad of Mary Magdalen" is deeply moving. -- Alan Lewis, 1/8/2001

* "[T]hese sweet, sad songs, for which they seem to be peculiarly adapted, move us as no others can." Those words could easily have been written about the repertoire of Cry Cry Cry. Instead, they first appeared in a notice of a concert given by the famous close-harmony group, the Hutchinson Family singers, at Rhinebeck, New York, in January 1872. Kaplansky, Shindell, and Williams, it should be noted, sing in a very old American tradition. -- Alan Lewis

Musicians on the Cry Cry Cry album: Jay Bellerose, Larry Campbell, Cliff Eberhardt, Richard Gates, Jon Herington, Jeff Hill, Lucy Kaplansky, Billy Masters, Chuck Parrish, Doug Plavin, Mike Rivard, Richard Shindell, Alan Williams, Dar Williams, Stephanie Winters.

Songwriters represented on the Cry Cry Cry album: Jim Armenti ("Down by the Water"), Greg Brown ("Lord I Have Made You a Place"), Cliff Eberhardt ("Memphis"), James Keelaghan ("Cold Missouri Waters"), Robert Earl Keen ("Shades of Gray"), Julie Miller ("By Way of Sorrow"), Buddy Mondlock ("The Kid"), Nerissa Nields ("I Know What Kind of Love This Is"), Ron Sexmith ("Speaking with the Angel"), Richard Shindell ("The Ballad of Mary Magdalen," sung beautifully by Dar Williams), Leslie Smith ("Northern Cross"), Michael Stipe ("Fall on Me").

Razor & Tie Records: www.razorandtie.com

Richard Shindell
Courier: Richard Shindell Live (CD, Signature Sounds, 2002)

Coincidentally, the day before yesterday we received a copy of the new Richard Shindell album. It can be difficult to write a quick, concise review of a new disc ... but not in this case. I haven't heard all of Richard Shindell's recordings, as far as I know; but of those I have heard, Courier is easily his best. It features a strong collection of original songs, along with covers of Lowell George's classic "Willin'" (a really good cover, too) and Bruce Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." Shindell's slightly nasal voice sounds just about exactly the way it does on his studio recordings. The band doesn't show off, but the singer would have trouble finding a more sympathetic backing unit. Lucy Kaplansky is one of the finest harmony vocalists around; and she adds wonderful color, here and there, to the performances. If I could have only one Richard Shindell album, it would be Courier--an easy choice.

-- Alan Lewis, December 7, 2001

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