This double sided single sold over two million copies and made Johnnie Ray a teen idol. The 'Nabob of Sob' became an overnight sensation with 'Cry', a song written by Churchill Kohlman while he was the night watchman at a dry cleaning factory as in Pittsburgh. Kohlman would have to sue his publisher Mellow Music to get compensation for the song. Johnny Ray and The Four Lads took it to number one on the Cashbox chart for six weeks and on top of the Billboard Best Sellers chart from the last week in December of 1951 through the first week of March in 1952. His theatrical live performances and weepy themes led to numerous nicknames like 'The Prince of Wails' and 'Mr. Emotion'.
If your sweetheart sends a letter of goodbye
It's no secret you'll feel better if you cry
When waking from a bad dream
Don't you sometimes think it's real?
But it's only false emotions that you feel
If your heartaches seem to hang around too long
And your blues keep getting bluer with each song
Remember sunshine can be found behind a cloudy sky
So let your hair down and go on and cry
'The Little White Cloud that Cried' was written by 'Cry Guy' Mr. Johnnie Ray himself and released by Ray and The Four Lads in 1951 on Okeh Records, going all the way to number two.
I went walkin' down by the river
Feeling very sad inside
When all at once I saw in the sky
The little white cloud that cried
He told me he was very lonesome
And no one cared if he lived or died
And said sometimes the thunder and lightning
Make all little clouds hide
He said "Have faith in all kinds of weather"
"For the sun will always shine"
"Do your best and always remember"
"The dark clouds pass with time"
He asked me if I'd tell all my world
Just how hard those little clouds try
That's how I know I'll always remember
The little white cloud that sat right down and cried
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