Three Versions Dixon’s “I Don’t Want to Cry”

Available for listening on the Singles Mixer Volume 3 podcast

I’m so psyched for today’s post.  I have no idea how I came across it but I fell in love with Ronnie Dyson’s track years ago with no knowledge of who he was or of the track’s history.  It would be on repeat in my room and I was always disappointed in didn’t work well on the dancefloors.  A few months ago while going through some records from a great digging trip I dropped the needle on the OTHER side of a record I had picked up (which is credited to Mona Lisa & The Pastels) because it’s a William Bell cover and Steady, a NYC based label, usually puts out reggae records (maybe these are ladies from JA?) so I was expecting a reggae cover, but nope.  To my surprise it’s pretty straight (and great) girl group action. I flipped the record to hear how Dawn measured up to Mona Lisa as a lead and nearly fell off my chair when the track hit.

I immediately chastised myself for not having previously read the writing credits of the Dyson track and starting doing my due diligence. As you can see from the photos above there are some discrepancies but I immediately got on the google-train and found out that not only did Mr. Jackson write but also performed (and charted!) the original version at the beginning of the decade.

The Dawn & The Pastels version doesn’t stray too far from the template that Chuck set down replacing some of the strings with backup singers but Ronnie Dyson’s version is a whole different type of animal.  Smooth, driving and with loads of timpani, how can you not like that?

I have little to no back ground on The Pastels and their rotating front woman but Ronnie Dyson, a New York native, and his remarkable voice were first made famous in the production of the musical Hair.  He continued to work on stage, a little in film (a totally hilarious segment in Putney Swope.  “You gave me a dry hump!”) and later recorded with the Philadelphia mastermind Thom Bell.  Ronnie tragically died of a heart attack at the insanely young age of 40.

Chuck Jackson recorded throughout the 60’s on the Scepter (and subsidiary Wand) labels including a TON of great, great duets with Maxine Brown and one of my favorites of his, with Doris Troy (of ‘Just One Look’ fame) “Tell Him I’m Not Home.”  Here’s a great TV performance of his biggest hit, 1962’s “Any Day Now.”  He also put out records on Motown, All Platinum and continues to perform to this day.

Hope you enjoy these three versions of this outstanding track.

All the best,

-George / Snack Attack