460. Don McLean – Crying (1980)

The Intro

US singer-songwriter Don McLean’s commercial appeal in the UK had fallen after American Pie and his 1972 number one Vincent. So it’s surprising to discover he returned to the top of the pops eight years later with a cover of Roy Orbison’s classic ballad Crying.

Before

McLean had followed up the LP American Pie with his eponymous third, but there were no charting singles. In fact, only a live version of Buddy Holly’s Everyday, from fourth album Playin’ Favorites, made it to the charts for the rest of the 70s – and that only scraped in at 38 in 1973.

That same year, Killing Me Softly with His Song by Roberta Flack became a number six hit in the UK. It’s mentioned here because the song’s lyrics, credited to Norman Gimbel, were co-written by Lori Lieberman, who was inspired by witnessing a 1971 concert by McLean. 23 years later, the Fugees took Killing Me Softly to number 1 in the UK.

McLean’s fortunes weren’t helped by record label politics. After one more album for United Artists (1974’s Homeless Brother), he signed with Arista Records for four albums. However, he only recorded one – Prime Time – in 1977. 

In 1978 McLean set to work on the next. Chain Lightning saw McLean record in Nashville with noted session players and also featured Elvis Presley’s old backing group, The Jordanaires. However, he and Arista founder Clive Davis didn’t get on, and the deal broke down. McLean was left without a recording contact in the US, but the LP was released through EMI in Europe.

Considering the roll call of veteran Nashville musicians on Chain Lightning, a cover of Roy Orbison’s Crying fitted in nicely. This song had been written by the ‘Big O’ with his regular collaborator Joe Melson, and was the title track of Orbison’s third album. Amazingly, the original version only managed to reach 25 in the UK in 1961. 

Review

McLean’s version starts promising with just his acoustic strum and voice. And what a voice – it hits home here much more than on his previous UK hits what a great singer McLean is. It bodes well for a great cover of a classic break-up song. The trouble is, as impressive as McLean’s singing is, you can’t help compare it to one of the greatest singers of all time in Orbison. Few people can get that wounded heartbreak across quite like the Big O. And this version gets worse as it goes on. Had it stayed sparse, with those nice steel guitar sounds that creep in, I’d have liked Crying more.

The problem is Larry Butler’s production. Butler was a country music producer, responsible for huge hits including Kenny Rogers’ two number 1s – Lucille and Coward of the County. I’m not a fan of the dry, bland production of either of those, and this is worse. He overeggs the pudding way too much, smothering it in sickly strings and the Jordanaires wailing. It’s boring and totally ruins the sadness at the heart of Crying. Orbison’s original may sound old-fashioned in the 21st century, but it’s still more authentic than McLean’s.

The best version I’ve heard is Orbison’s duet with Canadian singer-songwriter kd lang. Originally recorded in 1987 for the film soundtrack to Hiding Out, it was released as a single four years after the Big O’s death, climbing to 13 in 1992.

I also feel I need to mention my bafflement at the sleeve for this single. Either a giant McLean is looking to the sky in terror as a plane appears to be heading for his mouth, or McLean is normal-sized and the plane is tiny. Either way… what’s that all about? I hope it’s not some kind of reference to ‘The Day the Music Died’.

Actually, no, the best version of Crying, as we all know, is from an episode of Only Fools and Horses in 1991. ‘Stage Fright‘ features Philip Pope as Tony Angelino, a club singer with a speech impairment.

After

Arriving hot on the heels of What’s Another Year and Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless), this was the third sad number 1 in a row during the spring/summer of 1980. McLean’s European success with Crying resulted in a US deal with Millennium Records, who released the single and its album to success in America – Crying peaked there at five in 1981. However, chart fame has mostly eluded him ever since. In 1981, a cover of Since I Don’t Have You reached 23 in the US, and a new version of his debut, Castles in the Air, scraped in at 36 later that year. You could argue that he didn’t help matters by making his releases few and far between. In the 80s he only released two LPs, and his next and to date final chart news took place thanks to a re-release of American Pie, which climbed to 12 in 1991. He continues to release albums, albeit sporadically. The last to date was Still Playin’ Favorites in 2020.

The Outro

McLean has received many plaudits over the years, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His music has influenced many, including, perhaps unexpectedly, rappers. Tupac Shakur’s favourite song was Vincent and it was played to him when he was in a coma after his shooting. He’s also received songwriting credits on two songs by Drake.

Stories have surfaced in recent years of abusive and controlling behaviour towards family members. In 2016 he was arrested for domestic violence towards his then-wife Patrisha Shnier McLean, which he pled guilty to. His daughter Jackie told Rolling Stone in 2021 that he was emotionally abusive to. McLean admitted aspects of her account were true, but denied emotional abuse.

The Info

Written by

Roy Orbison & Joe Melson

Producer

Larry Butler

Weeks at number 1

3 (21 June-11 July)

Trivia

Births

22 June: TV presenter Charlene White
23 June: Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor
29 June: Mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins
1 July: Actor Ricky Champ
7 July: Labour and Co-operative Party MP Jim McMahon
8 July: Author Nikesh Shukla

Deaths

21 June: Physiologist WAH Rushton
22 June: Solicitor Joseph Cohen
23 June: Scottish actor John Laurie
27 June: Scottish physicist Sir Gordon Sutherland
1 July: Novelist CP Snow
3 July: Cricketer Charles Benstead
4 July: Anthropologist Gregory Bateson
6 July: Composer Frank Cordell/Engineer Jeanie Dicks/Lawyer Sir Ralph Windham
7 July: Actor Reginald Gardiner

Meanwhile…

23 June: New company law makes insider trading in shares illegal. 

24 June: Unemployment reaches 1,600,000 and becomes the post-war record.

26 June: The Glasgow Central by-election results in a Labour hold despite a swing of 14% to the Scottish National Party.

30 June: Circulation of the pre-decimal sixpence coin is withdrawn.

1 July: Aston Martin fails to raise the funds necessary to buy MG’s Abingdon car factory – putting it under risk of closure.

8 July: Despite Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher’s pleas, miners who are threatening to strike demand a 37% payrise.

10 July: An accidental fire during maintenance destroys Alexandra Palace’s Great Hall, Banqueting Suite, Dressing Rooms and Ice Rink.

406. Kenny Rogers – Lucille (1977)

The Intro

US singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers was one of the most popular country-pop crossover artists of all time. This first of two UK number 1s was the song that made him a solo star.

Before

Kenneth Ray Rogers was born the fourth of eight children in Houston, Texas on 21 August 1938. His mother’s name was Lucille – now there’s a coincidence. He was said to be of Irish and Native American ancestry. Rogers grew up in the San Felipe Courts housing project, forming his first band while at Jefferson Davis high school. The Scholars were a doo-wop group, and Rogers sang and played guitar.

Graduating in 1956, he released his debut single That Crazy Feeling a year later and it was a minor hit. He made an appearance on American Bandstand, but a few poor-selling singles later he took to playing bass in jazz group the Bobby Doyle Three instead. They recorded for Columbia but got nowhere, disbanding in 1965. He tried to capture a jazz sound on his next solo single Here’s That Rainy Day in 1966, but again, no luck. So Rogers took to working as a writer, producer and session musician instead.

He moved to Los Angeles later that year and joined folk group the New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player. However, Rogers and other members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Camacho decided to seek their fortune elsewhere. They formed The First Edition in 1967. Fusing rock, psychedelia, folk and country, they featured Rogers on lead vocals and bass, Settle on guitar and backing vocals and Camacho on lead vocals. Drummer Mickey Jones and guitarist and vocalist Terry Williams also joined the line-up.

The First Edition notched up seven top 40 hits in the US, including their excellent cover of Mickey Newbury’s Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), used to great effect in The Big Lebowski (1998). In 1969, then known as Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, they scored a number two hit in the UK with a version of Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town. Something’s Burning reached eight on these shores in 1970. But as the 70s went on their sales dwindled. Rogers saw the writing on the wall and decided to go it alone once more, splitting up the band in 1976.

He signed with United Artists and released his debut LP Love Lifted Me that May. It was only a modest success but five months later he followed it up with Kenny Rogers. Its second single, Lucille, was a smash hit.

Review

Lucille was a slow, unassuming country tale by Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum. I’m no country fan (I may have said this once or 20 times on this blog) and musically, this leaves little impact with me. Compared to what could have been the 406th number 1 (see First Cut Is the Deepest/I Don’t Want to Talk About It), this is rather boring. However, what it does have going for it is the riveting lyrics. Rogers tells the story of a man in a bar in Toledo, Ohio. He gets to talking a disillusioned married woman named Lucille. She’s drunkenly longing for ‘whatever the other life brings’, when her giant of a husband enters the bar. Rogers thinks he’s in big trouble, but rather than attack the narrator, the husband is close to breaking down and says:

‘You’ve picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille
With four hungry children
And a crop in the field’

He says his piece and leaves but the words have a profound effect on the narrator. When it comes to getting it on with Lucille, he can’t forget what her husband said and he decides not to go any further.

Not your average pop lyrics it has to be said. And they are gripping, but the tune is so one-note it does its best to stop me enjoying it and Rogers sounds so weary he’s barely awake. A decent song but not a memorable number 1.

The Outro

Nonetheless, it set Rogers on the way to the fame he craved and he went on to be a true country icon.

The Info

Written by

Roger Bowling & Hal Bynum

Producer

Larry Butler

Weeks at number 1

1 (18-24 June)

Trivia

Births

24 June: TV presenter Kristian Digby

Deaths

19 June: Chief Girl Guide Lady Olave Baden-Powell