I’LL CRY IF I WANT TO
I’ll Cry If I Want To was the debut album of Lesley Gore. The album included her hit singles “It’s My Party” and its follow-up, “Judy’s Turn to Cry”. The album was rushed out after “It’s My Party” became a big hit, and the songs are mostly about crying, linking to the hit single’s first line “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”, incorporating songs with titles such as “Cry”, “Just Let Me Cry” and “Cry and You Cry Alone”. The album reached #24 on the Billboard 200. Edsel Records released the album on Compact Disc in 2000 in combination with Gore’s second album, Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts. (More from Wikipedia)
Lesley Gore’s first album, I’ll Cry If I Want To – the second line in her #1 hit song “It’s My Party” – collects numerous songs about crying, including her own answer song, “Judy’s Turn to Cry”, plus competent covers of pop songs of the day like “Misty” and “Cry Me a River” that most early-1960’s albums are saddled with.
Lesley Gore’s first two albums, I’ll Cry If I Want To and Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts were produced by Quincy Jones, one of the best in the business – Michael Jackson’s Thriller is only the best-known of his production efforts – and a talented jazz artist and bandleader in his own right with a Renaissance-man career that dates back to the early 1950’s.
(January 2014)
