Top 100 Soul/R&B Songs
#83: The O'Jays 'Cry Together'
In the 1970s The O'Jays were unstoppable. The trio, consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and William Powell who was later replaced by Sammy Strain after he was stricken with cancer, scored hits throughout the decade and had behinds bumping on many a dance floor to their funky grooves. But not only did they conquer the discos, they also sang some of the baddest love songs to ever hit the Quiet Storm. One such slow jam that had people waving their lighters in the air was "Cry Together," an album cut from their 1978 release So Full Of Love. Written by the songwriting team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who also ran Philadelphia International Records, the label home of The O'Jays, "Cry Together" was a quintessential '70s soul ballad. From Eddie's spoken intro to the lush orchestration to the meaningful lyrics about breaking up to get to the making up, this song oozes sensuality. It's mind boggling that it wasn't a chart hit, but it's still one of the group's most beloved songs that still brings audiences to their feet when they perform it live in concert to this day.The O'Jays: "Cry Together"
Tags: audio, gamble and huff, the o'jays
Comments
Love, love, love this song!
Danielle | April 24, 2008 1:38 PM | PermalinkThis countdown just gets better and better. Man, I love the O'Jays. We just don't get to hear music like this anymore.
sdg1844 | April 24, 2008 1:24 PM | PermalinkThis is when music was real. *sigh* The good ol' days.....
inga | April 24, 2008 1:16 PM | Permalinkthe bomb song, with a grand message.
don | April 24, 2008 8:59 AM | PermalinkSometimes seems as if this stuff never happened, thank you for taking me back.
Nonplussed... | April 24, 2008 8:38 AM | PermalinkGamble & Huff don't often get the credit they deserve.
It's so funny you wrote about this song, I was just listening to it on repeat the other day for a while. I love me some Eddie/O'Jays, and speaking of him crying... the other day, after listening to that song a few times, I started feeling really bad that in the last few years, he's buried two sons. So so sad.
Xquizzyt1 | April 24, 2008 1:07 AM | PermalinkI love this song. I'm glad the O'jays made the countdown.
jojodancer | April 23, 2008 10:34 PM | PermalinkOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Sharonda | April 23, 2008 8:59 PM | PermalinkNow this is music! The part that really does it for me is when Eddie exclaims, "And then we made love.........love like we never made love before!"
Nikki | April 23, 2008 8:01 PM | PermalinkLove this joint..... and the Prophet Jones remake.... but love this one!
J Renzo | April 23, 2008 7:31 PM | PermalinkSomebody dug way way back in the 8-track collection for this joint! Had to be Stylus.
I can dig it.
Vivrant Thang | April 23, 2008 5:15 PM | Permalink