Cry [Bear Family Box Set] in Bloomington, MN

Johnnie Ray
was an immediately recognizable vocal stylist whose histrionic sobbing and exaggerated "blue" notes won as many detractors as fans. But the sheer outrageousness of his performance style, which exhibited a dynamic physicality not seen again in a white singer until
Elvis Presley
came along, makes
Ray
a clear forerunner of
rock & roll
and an exciting entertainer who always seemed to be on the verge of losing control.
Cry
is a five-disc box set that compiles
's complete
Columbia
recordings from 1951-1956, including the major hits
"Cry,"
"The Little White Cloud That Cried,"
and
"Just Walking in the Rain."
Those familiar with
's biography may be surprised at the number of
gospel
songs in his catalog, which display an outpouring of spiritual fervor as desperate in tenor as the dangerously unfettered sexuality of secular songs like
"Such a Night."
The fifth disc contains two complete live albums, the remarkable
Live at the London Palladium
(also available separately from
Bear Family Records
) and a later Las Vegas show. At
the Palladium
,
's lascivious oohs and ahhs on
"Such a Night"
drive the female audience members into a frenzy, and then, minutes later, he's singing
"I'm Gonna Walk and Talk with My Lord."
This tension between the sinful and the sacred is ever-present in
's music when heard in its entirety as presented on this box set, which makes for a fascinating listening experience comparable to the tortured oeuvre of
Hank Williams
. Unlike
Williams
, though,
also displays a strain of childlike innocence, as on
that only adds to his inscrutably complex persona. The accompanying hardback book contains a lengthy essay by
biographer
Johnny Whiteside
and a generous selection of photos and memorabilia almost as riveting as the music itself.
Bear Family
subsequently released a second box set,
Yes Tonight Josephine
, which picks up where
leaves off. ~ Greg Adams