Greetings, Glancers! The thing I love about this series is that I get to listen, for the first time, to albums by revered artists that I’m mainly unfamiliar with. The thing I hate is that I often don’t like what I hear. I go in to today’s album knowing who Ray Charles is, knowing plenty of his songs, but having never heard a complete album by him. I can’t say I’ve loved anything of his, neither have I disliked anything, but he falls into that realm of crossover Jazz/Soul that does very little for me. Maybe Crying Time will change things, or maybe it’ll be CRYING TIME for me. No? I’ll stop.
‘Crying Time’ kicks us off, the title track, and a very slight update to what seems to be a Country standard. Crap backing vocals and dreary instrumentation drag down what is a very plain, weepy, dated song. Even for 1966 this sounds decades out of fashion – the only thing going for it is Ray’s lead vocal. About as far as it’s possible to get from my kind of music.
‘No Use Crying’ is a typical rain-drenched introspective Blues number. It feels like the sort of song you’d use at the start of the third act in an 80s comedy, just after the lead couple have their fight. It’s one hundred percent by the numbers, only spruced up by an organ solo. Perfectly ordinary, perfectly fine.
‘Lets Go Get Stoned’ is a song with a sentiment I can get behind, but unfortunately it’s the third very slow song in a row even if it does have a different vibe from the others. It’s closer to No Use Crying in its inward looking Blues, but it has a bit more life.
‘Going Down Slow’ is a song with a sentiment I can get behind, but once again it’s a slow Blues standard. Thankfully this one has more creativity, building from just Charles and piano to the warbling, then screeching organ, and a scratching guitar and incessant cymbal. There’s a nicely chaotic interplay between the different parts, as if they’re all fraying at the edges and pulling in different directions. Best song yet.
‘Peace Of Mind’ takes into a big band swaying direction but it never steers far from the strict confines of the Blues.
‘Tears’ is about as slow and cliched a weepy as I’ve ever heard.
‘Drifting Blues’ is over 6 minutes long, so hopefully it has a lot more to say than the drawn out 2 minute songs have said so far. It’s certainly slow and drifting, which are synonyms for dull and lifeless. It goes on for 6 minutes. It’s fine.
‘We Don’t See Eye To Eye’ has a tad more swagger. Not much to it.
‘You’re In For A Big Surprise’ has more of the dreary strings that I can’t stand. There’s nothing here for me.
‘You’re Just About To Lose Your Clown’ finally brings a bit of energy. It has a measure of fun and pace even if the lyrics are still pinpointed at Blues favourite topics.
‘Don’t You Think I Oughta Know’ is a standard Blues cover.
‘You’ve Got A Problem’ closes the album with a final, belated burst of energy. It rattles and swings and is decent on its own, but it’s too little too late in terms of the album. A few solid screams.
As I alluded to in the intro – I was fully expecting not very much from this, and that’s what I got. If you’re into Ray Charles, Soul, Blues, you’ll probably get a lot more out of this than I did. For me, it’s nothing special and given the other music coming out in 1966 this also sounds very dated. Not for me. Let us know what you think of Crying Time in the comments!
The Spac Hole 