Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying

"Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" is a song written and originally performed by British beat group Gerry and the Pacemakers. The songwriting is credited to Gerry Marsden and the other band members, Freddie Marsden, Les Chadwick and Les Maguire. It was first recorded by Louise Cordet, and then recorded by the group themselves in early 1964.

1964 song

The song was given first to Louise Cordet, a singer who had previously toured with the group as well as with The Beatles. Her version was produced by Tony Meehan and released on Decca Records in February 1964.^[1] The group then decided to issue their own version.^[2] It was released in April 1964 as Gerry and the Pacemakers' fifth single in Britain, and reached no. 6 in the UK singles chart. In the US, it was the breakthrough single for the group, and rose to no. 4 in the Billboard Hot 100. The record, like the group's earlier releases, was produced by George Martin.^[1]

Gerry and the Pacemakers performed the song on their first US television show, The Ed Sullivan Show on 3 May 1964.^[3] The group's earlier UK hit singles - "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It", "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "I'm the One" - were then reissued in the US to follow up its success, but "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" remained their biggest chart hit.

The song has been recorded by many other singers, including Steve Lawrence (1964), José Feliciano (1968), Rickie Lee Jones (1989), Gloria Estefan (1994), and Paul Carrack (2010).^[1]

Earlier song

An earlier song with an almost identical title,"Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin" was written by Joe Greene and recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan, whose version reached no. 3 in the Billboard R&B chart. The song was recorded in 1960 by Ray Charles, whose version reached no. 17 on the R&B chart and no. 95 on the pop chart.^[4] It was also recorded by Jackie DeShannon on her 1965 album This is Jackie De Shannon and Paul McCartney on his 1990 live album Tripping the Live Fantastic.^[5]

The opening verse of the Joe Greene song is: "Don't let the sun catch you cryin'/ Cryin' at my front door/ You done daddy dirty/ He sure don't want you no more." In comparison, the Gerry and the Pacemakers song starts off: "Don't let the sun catch you crying/ The night's the time for all your tears/ Your heart may be broken tonight/ But tomorrow in the morning light/ Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying."

References

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics