Nona Hendryx & Billy Vera - You Have to Cry Sometime

More Nona Needed

Hard to believe but this 1992 release is the most recent music released by Nona Hendryx. It was done as a benefit for the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. It doesn't really qualify as a Nona Hendryx album in the vein of her amazing albums before this, but given so little of her lately, this is indeed her last album.

The songs were recorded live in the studio, so it has real musicians playing like in the old days. Nona gets 4 songs , Billy gets 4 songs, and there are 2 duets. Back in 1967, they were supposed to do STORYBOOK CHILDREN together, but Billy ended up doing it with Judy Clay & it was one of the first interracial hit records on Billboard. Here, Nona & Billy get to actualy do the song. I'm partial to Nona's version of the Gladys Knight & The Pips hit DIDN'T YOU KNOW YOU'D HAVE TO CRY SOME TIME, where Nona really sings from her soul. The Isley Brother's song IT'S YOUR THING is a perfect song for Nona - nasty, sexy & funky. And her only self-penned song on this album, ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN , is a good uptempo soul number too.

This is a nice album of r&b/soul, but it's certainly not in the same league as Nona Hendryx's albums of rock/soul/funk that she's known for.

June 29, 2007

Good Nona; rather weak production

As a big Nona fan I was a bit disappointed by the cheap production quality of this CD. Nona sings fine. Billy & Nona do quite nice covers of classic songs....but the production quality takes the fun away. December 27, 2003

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