Rating: 
Summary: A VERSATILE SINGER ROOTED IN JAZZ AND R&B
Review: "Cry" is a brilliant book. I use it in my class, "Elvis as Anthology" which I teach at the University of Iowa each Spring, together with Todd Rheingold's "Dispelling the Myths," Doug Carter's "The Black Elvis-Jackie Wilson" and Michael Ventura's "Shadow Dancing in the USA." Clarifying the social and political situation of the time, "Cry" shows the important role LaVern Baker played in the development of Johnnie Ray's style, and the role Johnnie played in opening the door for Elvis. (Elvis thanked both: Johnnie in "Cry" and LaVern in Paul Simpson, "The Rough Guide to Elvis.") I have one session in class on LaVern and Elvis and I quote from the book. The information and analyses by Jonny of Johnnie's albums is fine and detailed; I tracked down many albums, starting with "High Drama: The Real Johnnie Ray", for which Jonny wrote the liner notes. I play in class Johnnie's "Such a Night," "Flip, Flop and Fly," "Up Above My Head" and "Cry". Thank you, Jonny Whiteside, for bringing back to our attention with such care and attention a singer I took for granted in the fifties and then forgot without understanding just what he had achieved.
Rating:
Summary: A VERSATILE SINGER ROOTED IN JAZZ AND R&B
Review: "Cry" is a brilliant book. I use it in my class, "Elvis as Anthology" which I teach at the University of Iowa each Spring, together with Todd Rheingold's "Dispelling the Myths," Doug Carter's "The Black Elvis-Jackie Wilson" and Michael Ventura's "Shadow Dancing in the USA." Clarifying the social and political situation of the time, "Cry" shows the important role LaVern Baker played in the development of Johnnie Ray's style, and the role Johnnie played in opening the door for Elvis. (Elvis thanked both: Johnnie in "Cry" and LaVern in Paul Simpson, "The Rough Guide to Elvis.") I have one session in class on LaVern and Elvis and I quote from the book. The information and analyses by Jonny of Johnnie's albums is fine and detailed; I tracked down many albums, starting with "High Drama: The Real Johnnie Ray", for which Jonny wrote the liner notes. I play in class Johnnie's "Such a Night," "Flip, Flop and Fly," "Up Above My Head" and "Cry". Thank you, Jonny Whiteside, for bringing back to our attention with such care and attention a singer I took for granted in the fifties and then forgot without understanding just what he had achieved.
Rating: 
Summary: Johnnie Ray Fantasy
Review: First of all this book was very tedious reading. Part of it might have been because Whiteside relied so heavily on quotes from magazines, newspapers etc. He would also go off on tangents that really had no relevance. Example: A full chapter was devoted to Dorthy Kilgallen's death and a crazy conspiracy theory. The book is filled with mistakes and contradictions. I'll list a few now. "Suddenly, 1956 - and the rise of rock and roll - was upon Johnnie. The eruption of this trade-swaggering sound came so swiftly the Cry Guy was unaware of it. pg 204 Now how in the world could Ray who some call the proto-type for or father of rock and roll unaware of this new sound? "I went in there," he recalled (Johnnie Ray), "and at first I couldn't tell which one was Elvis because they all had guitars. It was pretty obvious that he was doing it by rote, something that about 300 other Black guys had done before him." pg 206 Hmm, 300 Black guys had done it before, but our friend thinks Presley picked it up from a single white guy. "Nonetheless, Johnnie's undeniable role as such was being recognized by the trade as the rock and roll's dominance in the field mounted." pg 235 "What I'm trying to say is that I consider Johnnie Ray to be the
father of rock and roll, especially in Britain: the Beatles, Elton John all those people followed him"...Tony Bennett pg 236 "If I could only find a White man that could sing like a Negro, I'd make a million dollars" ...Sam Phillips. pg 236 Whiteside interrupts this as Phillips really meaning "another Johnnie Ray." That's a real stretch. Just as Johnnie was too wild, extreme and free to presume that such a derivative and limited art form as rock and roll was his child. pg 236 I'll have to look around for the quote, but like our friend,
Whiteside believes in the great rock 'n' roll myth too. The main
difference is that Whiteside claims it began in 1957. The fact is that Whiteside tries to make us believe that was the proto-type rock and roll singer and/or even the father. To to those that know the truth Ray was nothing, but a pop novelty act.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me A Color TV ?
Review: I agree with the previous two posters that Jonny Whiteside is a sleaze masquerading as a serious historian. I'm giving him one star for his vivid descriptions of the American nightclubs where Johnnie Ray performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. Even the place in Greensboro, North Carolina where the Cry Guy performed while his American career was on the rocks sounds fun. Readers who have paid the "22.99" U.S. dollars listed on the book jacket know one thing for sure. Oh, Jonny, oh, Jonny was havin' a ball writing the book. He rambles on about the "mad" state of mind of Howard Hughes in 1967, Italian and Jewish crime families of the 1950s (What did they know about Johnnie Ray's sexual preference and when did they know it ?) and the role of conspiracy theorist Mark Lane in the 1978 Jonestown, Guyana massacre. Jonny says Lee Oswald was a lot like Charles Guiteau, assassin of the 19th Century American president James Garfield. What do those subjects tell the reader about why Johnnie Ray became so popular in 1952, why he became a statistic in Greensboro, North Carolina ten years later and why the nostalgia market of the 1970s kept him at arm's length ? Those unanswered questions surround this deceased singer who is lucky to be remembered at all. ...P>Also, the TV Land channel occasionally repeats a segment from a 1983 Entertainment Tonight episode in which Johnnie Ray discusses the mysterious death of his girlfriend Dorothy Kilgallen. He seems very sane and, moreover, eloquent. But biographer Whiteside portrays him as a confused, aging alcoholic who latched on to conspiracy theories including the one about Kilgallen and JFK. The truth is that Johnnie Ray was a very loving person, and he agreed to do the Entertainment Tonight segment so he could discuss someone he loved. The program didn't plug the low - priced nostalgia concerts he was scheduled to do at the time, and Mary Hart might have been too young in 1983 to understand the Johnnie Ray phenomenon, but the videocassette lives on. The TV Land channel stores it, and it will reappear on your TV set occasionally. Basic cable TV is a better bargain than this book. It is out - of - print, and it no longer costs 22.99. The people who dig up remainder copies need compensation. Mr. Whiteside's powerful description of New York City's Copacabana nightclub, where Johnnie Ray gave concerts that were so amazing that he probably couldn't top them, might make the reader feel sad that the place expired in 1973. Grieve not, dear reader. Now it's the hotspot called Scores. You can find it on East 60th Street. Some of the architecture of the Copa remains, both indoor and out. Mr. Whiteside could write a great book about one of the regular performers there. I hope he endows the woman with more dignity than Howard Stern does.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Pay 23 Dollars For Garbage
Review: I don't mean to give a hard time to a poor writer who has to his credit this book and a biography of Rose Maddox, both released by small publishers, no other books, and some concert reviews in Los Angeles Weekly.
But I'm afraid the previous reviewers who castigated Burbank - based author Jonny Whiteside have done their homework. I can add that he made the following glaring error on page 210 about Johnnie Ray's girlfriend Dorothy Kilgallen:
"And she, daughter of a veteran Hearst reporter reared in a gracious social milieu, polished at exclusive boarding schools and universities, seasoned by almost six years of hard crime reporting (inured to the sight of corpses, grief and disaster) was literally and figuratively, the First Lady of Broadway columnists ... "
The Kilgallen collection of photographs and documents at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts in New York City begs to differ with these claims.
Dorothy spent her childhood in the South Side of Chicago (a ghetto of Irish who were despised), Laramie, Wyoming, Indianapolis and then Brooklyn in her teen - aged years. She graduated from Erasmus Hall High School, the same "gracious social milieu" to which Barbra Streisand belonged thirty years later. Upon graduating from this public school, Dorothy spent a year at the hardly "exclusive" College of New Rochelle before dropping out to become a hard crime reporter.
That career lasted much more than "almost six years." Shortly before she broke Johnnie Ray's heart by dying mysteriously, she helped F. Lee Bailey get the incarcerated Dr. Sam Sheppard out of prison.
I don't see any reason to point out more of Mr. Whiteside's errors about Johnnie Ray, "the wholesome public heterosexual, with all that gee - whiz piety." (page 176) I will close by saying that this book is a product of the age of the National Enquirer and television's "A Current Affair." Libel the dead and make them do what you want them to do. The Internet can help some of the dead get their own back.
Rating: 
Summary: Pink Neon Bubbles
Review: I enjoyed the imagery of the "pink neon bubbles" that the author conjures when he describes the Flame showbar in Detroit. Marquees were important in the 1950s. No color television then. I give Jonny Whiteside one star for that visualization technique (Doesn't the Three - In - One Concepts branch of personology use it?) and one star for his many descriptions of Johnnie Ray's soul - bearing concerts. But nothing else in the book warrants a star. Describing Johnnie Ray's bedroom activities is bad enough, but why try to expose his dead partners ? Like the other reviewer said, it is in poor taste to out that obscure dead actor from forgotten TV adventure shows. I've met his lovely widow Lynda, and I can't believe she would participate in a phony Hollywood marriage. She's a straight - shooting person. The author would know that by contacting her. He didn't. If you like visual imagery of forgotten night clubs of yesteryear, then this book is for you. If you like an original American singing style, you can either read this book or you can watch a DVD of Johnnie Ray in There's No Business Like Show Business.
Rating:
Summary: The fast and hard life
Review: I just finished reading this book - and then began looking at some of the book reviews listed here - some very negative. Well, I thought the book was very interesting and very sad. It exposed the truth of a wonderfully talented performer, who is too often forgotten today. Show business is a tough business and many fall victim to the addictions of pills and alcohol. Johnnie Ray was a great singer and stylist and became, sadly, another victim of heady success followed by a devastating fall to being almost forgotten by the masses. This book doesn't cover up that rise - or fall. It is a tough story. It was a tough life for Johnnie. His story is an eye opener.
Rating:
Summary: The fast and hard life
Review: I just finished reading this book - and then began looking at some of the book reviews listed here - some very negative. Well, I thought the book was very interesting and very sad. It exposed the truth of a wonderfully talented performer, who is too often forgotten today. Show business is a tough business and many fall victim to the addictions of pills and alcohol. Johnnie Ray was a great singer and stylist and became, sadly, another victim of heady success followed by a devastating fall to being almost forgotten by the masses. This book doesn't cover up that rise - or fall. It is a tough story. It was a tough life for Johnnie. His story is an eye opener.
Rating:
Summary: The raw, tell all style of Whitseside
Review: The terrible details Mr. Whiteside rubs in may be true, but they ruin his stated goal of turning on young people to Mr. Ray. Few young people are homophobic and narrow-minded compared to the young people of fifty years ago. They don't care if a performer is gay or if television ignores that performer. But they do have to experience the star's music before they pay attention to sordid details. Sure, the young people can deal with stories of celebrity sex and substance abuse. They're bombarded with it and don't believe in the myth of glittery fame as did their counterparts of the 1950s. There's still a major obstacle to them paying attention to a certain musician. That's the obstacle that they haven't heard the music. They need to buy a Johnnie Ray CD before they would care about the departed musician abusing alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs and having sex. The Whiteside book will do little to inspire them to buy that CD. No music, no sensationalism. You lose, Mr. Whiteside. Next time you try to save a musician from oblivion, keep in mind that most people in this world don't live in Southern California. That means they judge a musician on the music, not what the person did for fun on the Sunset Strip. Also, you were very cruel to Dorothy Kilgallen's memory. Your only source on her alleged "drunk, high, out-of-it" behavior is Bill Franklin, and he died conveniently before the book came out and someone could verify his quotes. Face it, Mr. Whiteside. You can't sing and you're not a newsman.
Rating:
Summary: Sensationalism stinks if the star's legacy is small.
Review: The terrible details Mr. Whiteside rubs in may be true, but they ruin his stated goal of turning on young people to Mr. Ray. Few young people are homophobic and narrow-minded compared to the young people of fifty years ago. They don't care if a performer is gay or if television ignores that performer. But they do have to experience the star's music before they pay attention to sordid details. Sure, the young people can deal with stories of celebrity sex and substance abuse. They're bombarded with it and don't believe in the myth of glittery fame as did their counterparts of the 1950s. There's still a major obstacle to them paying attention to a certain musician. That's the obstacle that they haven't heard the music. They need to buy a Johnnie Ray CD before they would care about the departed musician abusing alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs and having sex. The Whiteside book will do little to inspire them to buy that CD. No music, no sensationalism. You lose, Mr. Whiteside. Next time you try to save a musician from oblivion, keep in mind that most people in this world don't live in Southern California. That means they judge a musician on the music, not what the person did for fun on the Sunset Strip. Also, you were very cruel to Dorothy Kilgallen's memory. Your only source on her alleged "drunk, high, out-of-it" behavior is Bill Franklin, and he died conveniently before the book came out and someone could verify his quotes. Face it, Mr. Whiteside. You can't sing and you're not a newsman.
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