"Cry Baby" is a song originally recorded by

Garnet Mimms Garnet Mimms (born Garrett Mimms, November 16, 1933) is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues. He first achieved success as the lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters, and is best known for the 1963 hit " Cry B ...

and the Enchanters, in 1963, and later recorded by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

in 1970.

Bert Berns Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece ...

wrote the song with

Jerry Ragovoy Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer. His best-known composition " Time Is on My Side" (written under the pseudonym of Norman Meade) was made famous by the Rolling Stones, alt ...

. Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters recorded it for the

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. It topped the R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and went to #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1963, paving the way for soul hits by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

and

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

later in the decade. The third verse was spoken by Mimms until the repeated refrain of the repeated song title.

Janis Joplin version

In September and October 1970,

recorded it for her album ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

'', posthumously released in 1971. The song was in more of a blues-rock style and produced by

Paul A. Rothchild Paul Allen Rothchild (April 18, 1935 – March 30, 1995) was a prominent American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s, widely known for his historic work with the Doors, producing Janis Joplin's final album ''Pearl'' and mid-60s production of ...

. Her rendition reached #42 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and #20 on ''Cash Box''. On the single, the B-side was the track, "

Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

". The song became usual in Joplin's repertoire and today is often performed by many artists such as

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: Mam� ...

Magdolna Rúzsa Magdolna is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Magdolna Komka, née Csábi, retired Hungarian high jumper * Magdolna Kovács, Hungarian orienteering competitor * Magdolna Nyári-Kovács (1921–2005), Hungarian fencer * Magdolna ...

References

External links

Yo 'American Idol' judges: 'Cry Baby' props belong to Garnet Mimms, not Janis Joplin
from Daily News, 6 May 2009 * {{authority control 1963 singles 1971 singles Janis Joplin songs Songs written by Bert Berns Songs written by Jerry Ragovoy 1963 songs United Artists Records singles Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Bert Berns Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild