The Comedy of Errors: Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters - Cry Baby (6 June 1992)

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A Number 4 hit on the US Billboard Top 100 in 1963, Cry Baby sits in that intersection between gospel and soul, with a smidgin of doo-wop thrown in for good measure.  This would be an intoxicating combination for John Peel who, despite a pronounced scepticism towards religion, adored religious music both in its classical and gospel forms. The influence of gospel music bled into rootsier forms of soul music such as that released by Stax Records and which, to judge by his playlists, Peel seemed to feel a greater affinity for than the empire building of Motown.  However, Cry Baby was released through United Artists Records.

Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters never troubled the UK charts, but with its passionate directness and conciliatory romanticism, Cry Baby was always going to reach a wider audience outside the USA in some form.  It’s best known version is probably the one that Janis Joplin recorded for her posthumous 1971 album, Pearl.  You can barely get a cigarette paper between the two versions if trying to compare quality.  I give Mimms the decision on the grounds that it doesn’t lapse into vocal self-indulgence, but Joplin’s version, recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band has a more satisfying completion and her updated take on the spoken section shows just how different the vibe within popular music had become in just seven short years.



Videos courtesy of catman916 (Mimms) and Janis JoplinVEVO