SONG: Cry Baby
ARTIST: Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters
YEAR: 1963
Listen to it here:
THE SONG:
Cry Baby was originally recorded by Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters in 1963, but is definitely much better known for the 1970 recording by Janis Joplin. The song was written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy, and the Enchanters topped it at #4 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This song and Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters’ rise to the top is often quoted as having paved the wat for soul artists like Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding later on in the decade.
THE ARTIST:
Born in Ashland, West Virginia in 1933, Garnet Mimms grew up in Philadelphia where he sang in church choirs and in gospel groups. His first ever recording job was as a member of the Norfolk Four for Savoy Records in 1953. He then had a pause in his musical career when he served time in the military. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he spent time in a doo-wop, the Deltones, then formed his own group, the Gainors. The Gainors recorded several singles from 1958 on for several different labels, but they never received any chart success. In 1961, Mimms and two other members of the Gainors left the group and formed Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters.
The group moved to New York in 1963 and began working with songwriter Bert Berns, who signed them to the United Artists label. This combination of Berns and producer Ragovoy and their uptown soul with the Enchanters’ gospel roots was a bit of an experiment, which achieved immediate success with their hit Cry Baby. They continued recording songs that hit the billboard charts, but never with quite the level of success of Cry Baby.
Just one year later, in 1964, Mimms left the group for a solo career. The rest of the Enchanters went on to have one minor hit, and Mimms continued to record for United Artists, gaining a few minor hits as well. He continued recording songs that were minor hits, and picked up by Led Zeppelin, The Senate (a Scottish band featuring a few members of what would later be the Average White Band), and toured the UK with Jimi Hendrix.
In the late 1970s, Mimms released a few funk songs under the name Garnet Mimms and the Truckin’ Company. None of these songs did particularly well, and Mimms gave up his music career shortly after. He became a born-again Christian and in the 1980s found his calling ministering to lost souls as part of the New Jerusalem Prison Ministry. In 2007, Mimms recorded one more gospel album.
FACTOID CORNER:
On Cry Baby, the backup vocals go uncredited, but it was in fact, the Gospelaires featuring Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and Estelle Brown.
KELLY’S REVIEW:
Whaaaat I had no idea that there was a non-Janis Joplin version of this song! I think I may have seen the name Garnet Mimms in my frequent vinyl crate digs but I never investigated any further, but maybe I should! This song is a hit. There are so many things I like about it – great singing, a talking interlude, a doo wop shuffle, some hearty piano work, balls to the wall back up singers. We’ll start with the man himself, Garnet. He has a beautiful, smooth voice when he’s singing the verses, but then he can definitely wail during the chorus! He is also a great interpreter of lyrics, you can tell he’s really meaning what he’s singing. Those back up singers are flawless. Oos and aahs and chorus belting – beyond reproach. I actually also really enjoy the drumming in this song – steady handed, but with some nice fills here and there. The piano and guitar sound really good too, and a big kudos to whoever it is who did the mix, because there’s a lot going on there dynamically, but they managed to keep it all under control. The melody was great, and I love a verse that escalates to a big chorus! The lyrics I can’t super identify with – Garnet sings of ‘you can always come back to me’, whereas with me it’s ‘if you leave my petty ass we’re done FOREVER YOU DON’T EXIST’. But to each their own. The ONLY thing I’m not super crazy about here are the strings in the background. They’re very light and honestly I think they’re totally unnecessary. But I’m definitely adding some Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters to my want list!
HOLLY’S REVIEW:
I have never heard of Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, but boy do I ever know this song! It’s one of those songs that anyone would probably attribute to Janis Joplin because she made it unequivocally hers. It’s very very cool to hear the roots of the song, and to hear the original take on it. I love this song in any version, and this one is great! I love the sound of this band – it sounds like there’s just a ton of people in the room, and I love the Gospelaires belting out the chorus with total abandon, but completely in tune the whole time! Garnet Mimms has a really pleasing voice with a lot of power behind it, and this mix is great – it’s a great balance, and there’s some subtle flute playing that adds a lot to the song. The piano playing is really nice, and there’s some guitar chords chopping through in a semi-aggressive way that I really like. I love how quick the build to the chorus is and the release afterwards back down to the verse. I don’t love a spoken verse, but it’s so well done here, it’s totally forgivable. I read somewhere that this song and Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters are criminally underappreciated and I have to agree. This was a great listen!
Average mark out of 10:
Holly: 9.5/10
Kelly: 9/10
Other notable versions of this song:
Of course, we have to include the Janis Joplin version:
Listen with us!
Link to 1,001 Songs to Hear Before You Die spotify playlist:
Link to the Best of the Best 1,001 Songs to Hear Before You Die spotify playlist:
Holly & Kelly Music Review 