Cryin' Heart Blues
Encyclopedia
Cryin' Heart Blues is the name of a 17-track 2005 compilation of studio sessions and live recordings by the late bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

, Rick Danko
Rick Danko
Richard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician and singer, best known as a member of The Band.-Early years :...

 (d. 1999).

The album taken from a wide variety of sources, dating from the sessions for Danko's eponymous first album through to other studio sessions recorded between about 1978 to 1988 and live recordings from 1979 and 1990, the result a mixed bag of brilliance of an under-recorded artist.

An alternate cut of "New Mexicoe", featuring three guitar heavyweights (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...

, Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...

 and Ronnie Wood) dates from the sessions for Danko's eponymous debut
Rick Danko (album)
Rick Danko was the 1977 eponymous debut by the bassist and singer for The Band. Featuring ten tracks written by Danko usually in conjunction with lyricists Bobby Charles and Emmett Grogan, it was the first solo album by any member of the group, and is perhaps the most accessible to date.Rick Danko...

. Lacking the subdued nature of the album version, it nonetheless is a fascinating portrait of a work-in-progress.

In 1978, Rick Danko headed back into the studio with one-time Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin
Blondie Chaplin
Terence William 'Blondie' Chaplin is a musician from Durban, South Africa who first became known to international audiences through his brief stint in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys...

, Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....

 drummer Richie Hayward
Richard Hayward
Richard Hayward was an Irish film actor, writer and musician. Born in Larne, he was an enthusiast for all Ulster regional popular culture. After a period working at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin he helped form the Belfast Repertory Theatre Company. He was a popular singer in the forties and fifties...

, one-time Clapton keyboardist Dick Simms and guitarist Johnny Lee Schell
Johnny Lee Schell
Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the 1970s, he premiered as a prominent member of a Texas-based southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he has played with dozens of well known recording artists...

 to record his follow-up for the label, producing five tracks, one by Danko, three by Chaplin and one a cover of an old Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...

 number. Further sessions with Simms, one-time Wings drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarists Jim Atkinson
Jim Atkinson
James "Jim" Archibald Atkinson was an Australian rules footballer and first class cricketer.Atkinson played his football with Fitzroy in the VFL. He was a defender and in 1922 was a member of Fitzroy's premiership winning side as well as winning their Club Champion award. Atkinson was club captain...

, Michael DeTemple
Michael DeTemple
Michael DeTemple is an American musician and luthier known for his handmade solid-body guitars.Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, DeTemple began repairing and maintaining a wide range of stringed instruments at the age of thirteen...

 and Keith Ellison came later in the year, producing three additional tracks, two by Danko (one co-authored by DeTemple) and a cover of the country standard "Cryin' Heart Blues". Before any of these recordings could be released, however, Danko was dropped from Arista.

Still, Danko persevered, and co-headlined concerts with Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...

 in 1979. Four tracks from a concert in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 are included on the album, two pulled from Rick Danko, one a cover of The Band's "Unfaithful Servant" (originally from The Band
The Band (album)
- Bonus Track listing from 2000 re-release :All songs by Robbie Robertson unless otherwise noted. The 2000 re-release has also been packaged as a double CD with The Band's debut album Music from Big Pink.- Personnel :...

), and the Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...

 classic "Mystery Train" (also covered by The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

 on Moondog Matinee
Moondog Matinee
Moondog Matinee is the sixth album by Canadian/American rock group The Band released in 1973. It consists entirely of cover material taken from the group's love of R&B and blues music with one exception in their interpretation of the theme from the film The Third Man.The idea had been to replicate...

). Also featured on these recordings are Chaplin and Hayward.

Three tracks featuring Tommy Spurlock are also featured, two dating from 1988 studio sessions ("Twilight" and "When I Get My Just Rewards") and the third a 1990 live recording (an acoustic version of "Mystery Train"). All featuring Spurlock on lap steel and backing vocal, the group on the studio cuts include, among others Danko's Band-mate Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...

.

Vocals on all tracks are by Danko, except on "Cheatin' Heart" (demo) and "Don't Make Promises" (both Chaplin, with the vocals recorded especially for the project in 2005) and "Mystery Train" (electric version) (Danko and Butterfield).

Track listing

  1. "Mystery Train
    Mystery Train
    "Mystery Train" is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was first recorded in Phillip's Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Raymond Hill plays tenor sax and Matt Murphy plays lead guitar with Bill Johnson on piano, Pat Hare on...

    " (acoustic version) (Junior Parker
    Junior Parker
    Junior Parker was an American Memphis blues singer and musician. He is best remembered for his unique voice which has been described as "honeyed," and "velvet-smooth"...

    , Sam Phillips
    Sam Phillips
    Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...

    ) – 4:02
  2. "Twilight"+ (Robbie Robertson
    Robbie Robertson
    Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...

    ) – 3:36
  3. "When I Get My Just Rewards" (Paul Kennerly) – 3:31
  4. "Lay Back" (Nicky Chinn
    Nicky Chinn
    Nicky Chinn born Nicholas Barry Chinn, 16 May 1945, London, UK) is a British songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several number-one records...

    , Mike Chapman) – 2:52
  5. "I'll Turn To Stone" (R. Dean Taylor
    R. Dean Taylor
    R. Dean Taylor is a Canadian singer, most famous as a recording artist, songwriter and record producer for Motown Records company during the 1960s and 1970s...

    , Holland-Dozier-Holland
    Holland-Dozier-Holland
    Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...

    ) – 2:33
  6. "Cry Another Tear" (Blondie Chaplin
    Blondie Chaplin
    Terence William 'Blondie' Chaplin is a musician from Durban, South Africa who first became known to international audiences through his brief stint in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys...

    ) – 3:17
  7. "Cheatin' Heart" (demo) (Chaplin) – 3:50
  8. "Cheatin' Heart" (Chaplin) – 3:12
  9. "It's Alright, It's O.K." (Rick Danko
    Rick Danko
    Richard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician and singer, best known as a member of The Band.-Early years :...

    , Michael DeTemple
    Michael DeTemple
    Michael DeTemple is an American musician and luthier known for his handmade solid-body guitars.Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, DeTemple began repairing and maintaining a wide range of stringed instruments at the age of thirteen...

    ) – 3:34
  10. "Don't Make Promises" (Chaplin) – 4:41
  11. "Old Mexico"++ (Danko) – 4:03
  12. "Cryin' Heart Blues" (Big Joe Turner
    Big Joe Turner
    Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...

    ) – 1:39
  13. "New Mexicoe" (Danko, Bobby Charles
    Bobby Charles
    Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born as Robert Charles Guidry in Abbeville, Louisiana and grew up listening to Cajun music and the country and western music of Hank Williams...

    ) – 4:24
  14. "Brainwash" (Danko, Emmett Grogan
    Emmett Grogan
    Emmett Grogan was a founder of the Diggers, a radical community-action group of Improv actors in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, California...

    ) – 3:53
  15. "Java Blues" (Danko, Grogan) – 5:22
  16. "Unfaithful Servant" (Robertson) – 4:53
  17. "Mystery Train" (electric version) (Junior Parker, Sam Phillips) – 4:08


+= Despite the credit, Danko claimed co-authorship of "Twilight" at various times in his career.

++= Also credited with Bobby Charles as co-author.

Musicians

  • Rick Danko: bass, acoustic guitar and lead vocal (all tracks)
  • Jim Atkinson: guitar (9, 11)
  • Paul Butterfield
    Paul Butterfield
    Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...

    : harmonica and vocal (14-17)
  • Blondie Chaplin
    Blondie Chaplin
    Terence William 'Blondie' Chaplin is a musician from Durban, South Africa who first became known to international audiences through his brief stint in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys...

    : guitar, piano and vocal (4-8, 10, 14-17)
  • 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...

    : guitar (13)
  • Michael DeTemple
    Michael DeTemple
    Michael DeTemple is an American musician and luthier known for his handmade solid-body guitars.Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, DeTemple began repairing and maintaining a wide range of stringed instruments at the age of thirteen...

    : guitar (9, 11)
  • Keith Ellison: guitar (9, 11)
  • Jim Goodall: drums (3)
  • Marty Grebb: piano (9, 11)
  • Richie Hayward
    Richie Hayward
    Richie Hayward was a drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player...

    : drums (4-8, 10, 14-17)
  • Garth Hudson
    Garth Hudson
    Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...

    : keyboards (2-3)
  • Maud Hudson: backing vocals (3)
  • Sneaky Pete Kleinow
    Sneaky Pete Kleinow
    Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...

    : pedal steel (2)
  • Jerry Peterson: saxophone (9, 11)
  • Johnny Lee Schell
    Johnny Lee Schell
    Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the 1970s, he premiered as a prominent member of a Texas-based southern rock band, Baby. Since his professional debut, he has played with dozens of well known recording artists...

    : guitar (4-8, 10)
  • Denny Seiwell: drums (9, 11)
  • Dick Simms: organ (4-11)
  • Tommy Spurlock: lap steel and backing vocals (1-3)
  • Pete Townshend
    Pete Townshend
    Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...

    : guitar (13)
  • David Vaught: bass (2-3)
  • Sredni Vollmer: harmonica (2-3)
  • Ronnie Wood: guitar (13)
  • A. N. Other: piano and drums (13)

Sources

  • Track 1 is a live recording from 1990.
  • Tracks 2 and 3 are studio recordings from 1988.
  • Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are studio recordings from early 1978. The vocals for tracks 7 and 10 were recorded by Blondie Chaplin
    Blondie Chaplin
    Terence William 'Blondie' Chaplin is a musician from Durban, South Africa who first became known to international audiences through his brief stint in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys...

     in 2005.
  • Tracks 9, 11 and 12 are studio recordings from mid-1978.
  • Track 13 is a 1977 alternate take of a song from Rick Danko
    Rick Danko (album)
    Rick Danko was the 1977 eponymous debut by the bassist and singer for The Band. Featuring ten tracks written by Danko usually in conjunction with lyricists Bobby Charles and Emmett Grogan, it was the first solo album by any member of the group, and is perhaps the most accessible to date.Rick Danko...

    , and
  • Tracks 14, 15, 16 and 17 are live recordings from 1979.
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