Dave Berry
Listen -Dave Berry – The Crying Game – MP3
Greetings all.
This post is coming to you a day early courtesy of the fact that I have to hit the road on Wednesday for a couple of DJ gigs down in Washington, DC.
The tune I bring you today is no less than the third version of ‘The Crying Game’ to be featured at Iron Leg. If you haven’t figured out yet that I love this song, then you might not be paying attention.
This time out, the interpretation is the OG, as recorded and released in 1964 by Mr. Dave Berry. Though he is all but unknown here in the US (outside of BritBeat fans) Berry had a long and respectable career in the UK and on the European mainland (his version of Ray Davies ‘This Strange Effect’ was a #1 hit in Holland and Belgium).
The ‘Crying Game’ was written by Geoff Stephens, who wrote (or co-wrote) such hits as ‘There’s a Kind of Hush’, ‘Winchester Cathedral’, ‘Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast’ and ‘My World Fell Down (originally recorded by the Ivy League, but best known here by Sagittarius).
The Berry version of ‘The Crying Game’ features rhythm guitar by Jimmy Page and the odd sounding lead by Big Jim Sullivan. Berry’s plaintive vocal may not match the epic power of Brenda Lee’s take on the song, but it suits the arrangement. It bears mentioning that Berry’s version was the only real hit (#5 in the UK in 1964) until Boy George remade the song for the soundtrack of the movie of the same name in 1992.
If you ever get the chance to pick up a copy of the original 45 grab it, since the flipside ‘Don’t Gimme No Lip Child’ is fantastic.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.
Peace
Larry
Iron Leg 