It's a Cry'n Shame

"It's a Cry'n Shame"
Single by The Gentlemen
A-side	"You Can't Be True"
Released	1966
Format	45 rpm 7" single
Recorded	1966
Genre	Garage rock
Length	2:32
Label	Vandan
Songwriter(s)	Seab Meador, Mike Kelley
Producer(s)	Tom Brown

"It's a Cry'n Shame" is a song written by Seab Meador and Mike Kelley and was recorded in 1966 by the Gentlemen, an American garage rock band from Dallas, Texas who were active between 1964-1968. It was originally released as the B-side to "You Can't Be True," but is the better-known song. "It's a Cry'n Shame" has been recognized as one of the greatest songs in garage rock.

'"It's a Cry'n Shame" was recorded in 1966 by the Gentlemen a garage rock band from Oak Cliff, a section of Dallas, Texas, who were active from 1964-1968. The song was written by Seab Meador and Mike Kelley, who were both guitarists and vocalists in the band. The song heavily drenched in fuzz-treated guitar effects reflects the band's direction which was guided by Seab Meador, whose tastes gravitated towards the harder-rocking and more blues-based English bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, and particularly the Yardbirds, who whose lead guitarist of the time, Jeff Beck, was a key influence on his own playing. The songs' lyrics deal with sadness and heartbreak and are sung with an impassioned vocal by Kelly backed by a frantic and intense performance from the band highlighted by Meador's guitar leads.

In 1965 the band went to Sumet Recording studio and recorded an unreleased acetate of two songs, "Beg, Borrow of Steal" and "Here I Cannot Stay." The Gentlemen also cut a demo acetate of "It's a Cry'n Shame," which would be re-recorded the following year for official release. This unit (with and without Jimmy Randall) played throughout 1965. Towards the end of the year fellow Oak Cliff musician Jimmy Vaughan, later of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, did a several month stint with the group. In early 1966, the nucleus that would comprise what most consider the definitive lineup of the band and which would record the officially released version of "It's a Cry'n Shame," included Seab Meador on lead guitar and vocals, Mike Kelley on guitar and vocals, Tim Justice on drums, as well as new members Bruce Bland on bass and Tommy Turner on keyboards. This incarnation solidified into a driving rock band that was a popular live act. They played venues such as Louann’s Club and The Studio Club in Dallas and Panther A’Go-Go and The Box in Ft. Worth. Later that year, The Gentlemen would open for James Brown at the Dallas Convention Center. The Gentlemen also opened for Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and The Beau Brummels at Louann’s in 1966.

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