A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Perhaps a man ain't supposed to cry. But when that man boasts the soulful individualism of the incomparable singer Joe Williams, he ain't supposed to sound like other people, either. That fact alone explains the problem with this legendary, long unavailable ballads-and-strings album. Recorded in late 1957, Cry sought to present Williams in a different light from the one he occupied in front of the Count Basie band, transforming him from a sophisticatedly bluesy jazzman into a pop crooner. Surrounded by treacly strings on "I'm Through with Love," he sings the verse with the prim correctitude of Ella Fitzgerald's "songbook" albums; when he navigates the plunging melody of "What Will I Tell My Heart?," he begins to sound like Nat "King" Cole; holding the long notes on "Say It Isn't So," he channels a bit of Frank Sinatra; and when he swoops up to a melody's zenith, on "What's New?" or "I'll Never Smile Again," you catch a whiff of Sarah Vaughan.

Much of this has to do with repertoire. Williams could always sing the standard ballads better than most jazzmen, but a whole program of them--even one as short as this (under 36 minutes)--plays against such strengths as his gritty soul and enormous swing. But you also have to blame the big-orchestra treatment. Only when the arrangements feature the horns over the strings, imparting something bluesy to the mix, does Williams really sound at home. Label M touts A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry as "the best album Joe Williams ever made," but even though he sings splendidly, it's not the Joe Williams most of us want to know. And if it's a great standards set from Williams you're after, check out The Greatest ... Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards. --Neil Tesser

Tracks:

What's New
It's The Talk Of The Town
I'll Never Smile Again
I'm Through With Love
Where Are You
I've Only Myself To Blame
Say It Isn't So
What Will I Tell My Heart
You've Got Me Crazy Again
Can't We Talk It Over
I Laugh To Keep From Cryin'
A Man Aint Supposed To Cry

Customer Reviews:

Great Memories.......2007-04-04

No doubt the very best of the master Joe Williams. For all those who remember where they were at the time it is very special.

No surprises, no tears........2007-04-01

This all-torch ballad album culled from evergreens of the American Songbook fully supports Joe's decision to split from Basie and, much like Sinatra's separation from Tommy Dorsey, go it alone as the star attraction. Unfortunately, all-ballad albums and strings-plus-harp accompaniment seem to generate little interest among today's sentiment-deprived listeners. And albums organized around a thematic thread are being dismantled by the thoughtless parcelling out of individual songs into pay-per-tune downloadable audio files--another threat to all-ballad programs organized, moreover, around a theme.

Joe definitely has the voice for this material. These are not the "suicide songs" of the classic Sinatra ballad albums on Capital arranged by Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins. The tempos are considerably "brighter" than those favored by Sinatra, who makes of each number a vehicle for Hamlet-like introspection and poignant, sometimes heart-rending dramatization. The arrangements by Jimmy Mundy are professional and non-distracting though lacking the imaginative narrative touches and complex colors of Riddle's absorbing canvases and the profound melodramatic sentiment of Gordon Jenkins.

An interesting comparison can be made between this album and one done slightly earlier by a former Ellington big band baritone crooner, Herb Jeffries--"Say It Isn't So" on Bethlehem. In some respects Jeffries' approach, more focused on the richness of the baritone sound and on pure melody rather than the drama of the lyrics, is more suggestive of the style favored by Nat Cole, Billy Eckstein, and Johnny Hartman. It's a more detached relation to the song's story or drama but a match-up between singer and song that seems more conducive to repeated listenings. It also suggests that Sinatra's drama was pretty much sui generis and that, if anything, we've underestimated the interpretive and acting abilities that he brought as much to the dramatic possibilities of a song as to a movie role.

Average customer rating:

A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry
joe williams "a man ain't supposed to cry"

A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Joe Williams
Manufacturer: Label M.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music

Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000508Q4
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Tracks:

What's New?
It's The Talk Of The Town
I'll Never Smile Again
I'm Through With Love
Where Are You?
I've Only Myself To Blame
Say It Isn't So
What Will I Tell My Heart?
You've Got Me Crying Again
Can't We Talk It Over?
I Laugh To Keep From Cryin'
A Man Ain' Supposed To Cry

Amazon.com

Perhaps a man ain't supposed to cry. But when that man boasts the soulful individualism of the incomparable singer Joe Williams, he ain't supposed to sound like other people, either. That fact alone explains the problem with this legendary, long unavailable ballads-and-strings album. Recorded in late 1957, Cry sought to present Williams in a different light from the one he occupied in front of the Count Basie band, transforming him from a sophisticatedly bluesy jazzman into a pop crooner. Surrounded by treacly strings on "I'm Through with Love," he sings the verse with the prim correctitude of Ella Fitzgerald's "songbook" albums; when he navigates the plunging melody of "What Will I Tell My Heart?," he begins to sound like Nat "King" Cole; holding the long notes on "Say It Isn't So," he channels a bit of Frank Sinatra; and when he swoops up to a melody's zenith, on "What's New?" or "I'll Never Smile Again," you catch a whiff of Sarah Vaughan.

Much of this has to do with repertoire. Williams could always sing the standard ballads better than most jazzmen, but a whole program of them--even one as short as this (under 36 minutes)--plays against such strengths as his gritty soul and enormous swing. But you also have to blame the big-orchestra treatment. Only when the arrangements feature the horns over the strings, imparting something bluesy to the mix, does Williams really sound at home. Label M touts A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry as "the best album Joe Williams ever made," but even though he sings splendidly, it's not the Joe Williams most of us want to know. And if it's a great standards set from Williams you're after, check out The Greatest ... Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards. --Neil Tesser

Customer Reviews:

A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry.......2001-02-22

Joe Williams built his considerable reputation singing "big band blues", most notably with the great Count Basie group. And many people will only know and care about that side of the artist. But with this album, he made a strong claim to greatness as a mainstream singer of standards and ballads. Rendered with exquisite taste in his signature profundo baritone, this set is perhaps Williams's finest work. No melodrama, no Barbra Streisand histrionics, just gorgeous readings of lovely songs that echo with the emotion and sadness of lost love. Bravo Joe.

joe williams "a man ain't supposed to cry".......2001-02-16

i have owned this album x2 and it has disappeared both times. it is a fabulous album. the editorial reviewer who rated this album is full of crap. i don't pay any attention to professional reviewers, they are too full of themselves.