The Sky Is Crying (song)
Encyclopedia
"The Sky Is Crying" is a song that has become a blues standard
. The song was written and recorded by Elmore James
in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions", "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.
(saxophone), Johnny Jones
(piano), Odie Payne
(drums), and Homesick James
(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.
The song, listed as "Elmo James and His Broomdusters", reached #15 in the Billboard R&B chart in 1960, 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 (Chess
1756), five months after the recording date of "The Sky Is Crying" (although some place 'Sun' as a precursor to 'Sky', possibly because the bulk of James' recordings for Fire
/Fury
/Enjoy
took place after the Chess recordings).
with The Yardbirds
recorded a live slow blues which included a couple of lines from "The Sky Is Crying" (Blueswailing July '64 (Live)
). In 1966, with Jeff Beck
on slide guitar, the Yardbirds made a live recording of "The Sun Is Shining" for the BBC (BBC Sessions
). Hound Dog Taylor
recorded a live version with Little Walter
on harmonica at the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival
(Fontana). He later recorded another live version with the HouseRockers in Boston in 1977 (New Rose).
In 1969, Albert King
recorded the version that became one of his signature songs on the album Years Gone By
, later adopted by Stevie Ray Vaughan
. Albert King recorded several live versions of the song during his career. Luther Allison
also recorded the song in 1969 on his first LP, Love me Moma, and frequently included the song in his live performances. The Allman Brothers Band
played the song at Duane Allman
's funeral in 1971. Eric Clapton
released a studio version on his 1975 There's One in Every Crowd
album. In 1977, George Thorogood
recorded it for his second album Move It on Over. A live version was included on his 1986 album Live Thorogood.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
recorded the song during the 1985 Soul to Soul
sessions, but it was not released until the 1991 posthumous compilation The Sky Is Crying
. Gary Moore
recorded it for his 1992 album Blues Alive
. A live version appears on Johnny Winter
's Live in NYC '97
album. In 1998, John Martyn
recorded it on his album of covers The Church with One Bell
. Etta James
recorded the song for her 2004 Grammy Award
-winning Blues to the Bone
album.
Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.
Blues standard
A blues standard is a blues song that is widely known, performed, and recorded by blues artists. The following list identifies blues standards and some of the blues artists that have recorded them...
. The song was written and recorded by Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions", "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.
Original song
"The Sky Is Crying" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C. An impromptu song inspired by a Chicago downpour during the recording session, it features James' slide guitar work and vocals. Accompanying James is his longtime backing band, the Broomdusters: J. T. BrownJ. T. Brown
J. T. Brown was an American tenor saxophonist of the Chicago blues era. He was variously billed as Saxman Brown, J.T. Brown and Bep Brown.-Biography:...
(saxophone), Johnny Jones
Little Johnny Jones (pianist)
Little Johnny Jones was an American Chicago blues pianist and singer, best known for his work with Tampa Red, Muddy Waters and Elmore James.-Life and career:Jones was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1924...
(piano), Odie Payne
Odie Payne
Odie Payne was an American Chicago blues drummer. Over his long career Payne worked with a range of musicians including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis...
(drums), and Homesick James
Homesick James
Homesick James was an American blues musician. He most notably played slide guitar, and recorded covers of "Stones In My Passway" and "Homesick"...
(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
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
felt that it was an altogether different guitar than James' usual Kay
Kay Musical Instrument Company
Kay Musical Instrument Company was a prolific American manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. Although Kay's first electric guitar was offered in 1936 , Kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer because their past company Stromberg-Voisinet...
acoustic with an attached pickup.
The song, listed as "Elmo James and His Broomdusters", reached #15 in the Billboard R&B chart in 1960, 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 (Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
1756), five months after the recording date of "The Sky Is Crying" (although some place 'Sun' as a precursor to 'Sky', possibly because the bulk of James' recordings for Fire
Fire Records
Fire Records was an independent record label set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson . Among others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup.-Selected discography:...
/Fury
Fury Records
Fury Records was set up by Bobby Robinson in 1957. In 1959 it had a Billboard No.1 hit with Kansas City, sung by Wilbert Harrison. In the early seventies the label launched early rap groups like Grandmaster Flash....
/Enjoy
Enjoy Records
Enjoy Records was a record label owned and operated by Bobby Robinson from 1962 through the mid-1980s, and was run out of his record shop at 125th Street and 8th Ave. in Harlem...
took place after the Chess recordings).
Other recordings
"The Sky Is Crying" has been interpreted and recorded by many blues and other artists. In 1964, Eric ClaptonEric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
with The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
recorded a live slow blues which included a couple of lines from "The Sky Is Crying" (Blueswailing July '64 (Live)
Blueswailing July '64 (Live)
Blueswailing July '64 is a live album recorded by English blues rock band The Yardbirds in July 1964. The recordings were found only in 2003, so the exact date of the concert is unknown.-Track listing:# "Someone to Love Me" - 2:17...
). In 1966, with Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
on slide guitar, the Yardbirds made a live recording of "The Sun Is Shining" for the BBC (BBC Sessions
BBC Sessions (The Yardbirds album)
The Yardbirds Live at the BBC compiles 26 recordings made for broadcast from eight different sessions between 1965 and 1968. All the songs feature either Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page on guitar...
). Hound Dog Taylor
Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 . He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20...
recorded a live version with Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
on harmonica at the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival
American Folk Blues Festival
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe beginning in 1962.German jazz publicist Joachim-Ernst Berendt first had the idea of bringing original African-American blues performers to Europe. Jazz had become very popular, and rock and roll was just gaining a foothold,...
(Fontana). He later recorded another live version with the HouseRockers in Boston in 1977 (New Rose).
In 1969, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
recorded the version that became one of his signature songs on the album Years Gone By
Years Gone By
Years Gone By is a Blues album by Albert King.-Track listing:#"Wrapped Up In Love Again" – 2:18#"You Don't Love Me" – 3:28#"Cockroach" – 3:18#"Killing Floor" – 3:05...
, later adopted by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
. Albert King recorded several live versions of the song during his career. Luther Allison
Luther Allison
Luther Allison was an American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being...
also recorded the song in 1969 on his first LP, Love me Moma, and frequently included the song in his live performances. The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
played the song at Duane Allman
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
's funeral in 1971. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
released a studio version on his 1975 There's One in Every Crowd
There's One in Every Crowd
There's One in Every Crowd is a 1975 album by blues rocker Eric Clapton. Recorded shortly after 461 Ocean Boulevard, the album features a style very similar to its predecessor, but did not enjoy similar commercial success....
album. In 1977, George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
recorded it for his second album Move It on Over. A live version was included on his 1986 album Live Thorogood.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
recorded the song during the 1985 Soul to Soul
Soul to Soul (album)
Soul to Soul is the third studio album by American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble released on September 30, 1985 by Epic Records. Recording sessions took place between March and May 1985 at the Dallas Sound Lab in Dallas, Texas. Vaughan wrote four of Soul to Souls ten tracks;...
sessions, but it was not released until the 1991 posthumous compilation The Sky Is Crying
The Sky Is Crying (album)
The Sky Is Crying is an electric blues album containing studio performances spanning most of the career of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble...
. Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
recorded it for his 1992 album Blues Alive
Blues Alive
Blues Alive is an album by the Northern Irish guitar player Gary Moore released in 1993. It is a collection of live recordings taken from a 1992 tour and draws most of its material from Moore's then-recent Still Got the Blues and After Hours albums....
. A live version appears on Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
's Live in NYC '97
Live In NYC '97
Live in NYC '97 is a live album by blues musician Johnny Winter, recorded at the Bottom Line in Manhattan. Additional recording took place at Studio 900, New York City.-Track listing:# "Hide Away" - 7:28# "Medley:"...
album. In 1998, John Martyn
John Martyn
John Martyn, OBE , born Iain David McGeachy, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums, working with artists such as Eric Clapton and David Gilmour...
recorded it on his album of covers The Church with One Bell
The Church with One Bell
The Church with One Bell is a 1998 covers album by John Martyn. It was recorded in one week at CaVa Sound Studios, Glasgow, Scotland. The CD has a hidden bonus track after a 50 seconds break attached to the last track...
. Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
recorded the song for her 2004 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning Blues to the Bone
Blues to the Bone
Blues to the Bone is a 2004 album by Etta James. The album contains a selection of twelve blues standards which are among her favourites. James and her sons Donto and Sametto James produced the album, which reached number four in the Billboard Top Blues chart.-Critical reception:Allmusic gave...
album.
Accolades
In 1991, Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying" was inducted into the Blues FoundationBlues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.