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The Sky Is Crying (song)

Blues standard written by Elmore James

"The Sky Is Crying"
SinglebyElmore James
B-side	"Held My Baby Last Night"
Released	March 1960 (1960-03)
Recorded	Chicago, November 3 or 4, 1959
Genre	Blues
Length	2:47
Label	Fire
Songwriter(s)	Elmore James[1]
Producer(s)	Bobby Robinson

"The Sky Is Crying" is a blues standard written and initially recorded by Elmore James in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions",^[2] "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.

"The Sky Is Crying" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C.^[3] It is an impromptu song inspired by a Chicago downpour during the recording session:^[2]

The sky is crying, look at the tears roll down the street (2×)
I'm waiting in tears looking for my baby, and I wonder where can she be?

The songs features prominent slide guitar by James with his vocals, accompanied by his longtime backing band, the Broomdusters: J. T. Brown on saxophone, Johnny Jones on piano, Odie Payne on drums, and Homesick James on bass. James' unique slide guitar sound on the recording has generated some debate; Homesick James attributed it to a recording studio technique, others have suggested a different amplifier or guitar setup, and Ry Cooder felt that it was an altogether different guitar than James' usual Kay acoustic with an attached pickup.^[4]

The single, with the artist credit "Elmo James and His Broomdusters", reached number 15 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart in 1960,^[5] making it James' last chart showing before his death in 1963. James recorded a variation of the song, "The Sun Is Shining", in April 1960,^[6] five months after the recording date of "The Sky Is Crying" (although some places "Sun" as a precursor to "Sky",^[7] possibly because the bulk of James' recordings for Fire/Fury/Enjoy took place after the Chess recordings).

"The Sky Is Crying" is identified as a blues standard^[8] and in 1991, James' original was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category.^[9] Record producer Bobby Robinson noted that the song is "a magnificent vehicle both for Elmore's emotion-packed blues vocal and his ringing slide guitar".^[9]

In 1969, Albert King recorded "The Sky Is Crying" for the album Years Gone By.^[10] Unlike James' who played it with a slide, King used a fretted approach on guitar. Stevie Ray Vaughan later performed the song regularly as an apparent tribute to King.^[11] He and his backing band, Double Trouble, recorded versions during the sessions for their 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather and 1985's Soul to Soul.^[12] Neither was released until the posthumous compilations Blues at Sunrise (2000) and The Sky Is Crying (1991), respectively.^[12][11] Critic Dan Forte noted, "Stevie tips his Clint Eastwood hat to two of his idols: Elmore James, who wrote the tune, and Albert King, who also recorded it, and whose influence is evident in every lick and bend here [on the 1991 release]."^[11]

In 1992 the song was covered by soul blues singer Gary B.B. Coleman in his album Too Much Weekend.^[13]

Eric Clapton played a version of the song at a small live show at RD Studios in Park Royal, London, on December 8, 2023. The album, To Save A Child: An Intimate Live Concert,^[14] was released digitally on April 26, 2024. The proceeds benefit children in Gaza.