View source for The Cryin' Shames

{{Short description|English pop/beat group}}
{{distinguish|The Cryan' Shames}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = The Cryin' Shames
| image               =
| caption             =
| image_size          =
| background          = group_or_band
| alias               =
| origin              = [[Liverpool]], England
| instrument          =
| genre               =
| occupation          =
| years_active        = December 1965 – June 1966 as The Cryin' Shames
| label               = [[Decca Records|Decca]]
| website             =
| past_members        =
}}
'''The Cryin' Shames''' were a mid-1960s English [[pop music|pop]]/[[beat group]], [[record producer|produced]] by [[Joe Meek]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/cryins.htm|title=Cryin' Shames (Paul And Ritchie The Crying Shames)|website=45-rpm.org.uk|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref> They had one [[United Kingdom|UK]] [[hit record|hit]] [[single (music)|single]] in 1966 with a [[cover version|cover]] of [[The Drifters]]' 1961 "[[Please Stay (Burt Bacharach song)|Please Stay]]", [[songwriter|written]] by [[Burt Bacharach]] and [[Bob Hilliard]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/a-z/bumblies-cryin%27shames5.shtml|title=From Bumblies To Cryin'Shames - Mersey Beat|website=Triumphpc.com|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>
==Career==
The sextet was initially renamed from The Bumblies who were founded by George Robinson in 1963 in [[Liverpool]], and was [[management|managed]] by Norman Eastwood. The Bumblies name came from a [[television program]]me starring [[Michael Bentine]]. The Bumblies comprised Charlie Crane ([[singing|vocals]]), Joey Kneen (vocals), John Bennett ([[guitar]]), Phil Roberts ([[keyboard instrument|keyboards]]), George Robinson ([[bass guitar]]) and Charlie Gallagher ([[drum]]s).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.last.fm/music/The+Cryin%27+Shames/+wiki|title=The Cryin' Shames biography|website=Last.fm|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseycats.com/From-Bumblies-to-Cryin-Shames.html|title=MerseyCats - The Liverpool R 'N' R Childrens Charity-From Bumblies to Cryin Shames|website=Merseycats.com|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>
Roberts and Kneen came from The Calderstones that also featured [[Tom Evans (musician)|Tom Evans]] ([[Badfinger]]). After [[sound recording and reproduction|recording]] their first single, The Bumblies' Bennett was replaced in early December 1965 by the then 16-year-old Ritchie Routledge from The Aztecs, who was a semi-professional musician working as a junior reporter for ''Music Echo'', a music paper owned by [[Brian Epstein]]. The band changed their name to The Cryin' Shames and started working under the new name just before Christmas 1965. The Cryin' Shames' first single, "Please Stay" was released on the [[Decca Records|Decca]] [[record label|label]] on 18 February 1966. It was destined to be Joe Meek's final chart hit before he committed [[suicide]] in 1967 .<ref name="45-rpm">{{cite web|url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/cryins.htm |title=Cryin' Shames (Paul And Ritchie The Crying Shames) |website=45-rpm.org.uk |date= |access-date=2015-10-11}}</ref><ref name="Shames"/>
"[[Please Stay (Burt Bacharach song)|Please Stay]]" was a minor hit, peaking at #26 in the [[UK Singles Chart]],<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 129}}</ref> and the [[musical ensemble|band]] was approached by Epstein, who wanted to [[management|manage]] them, but they refused. The band had met Epstein in the [[Britannia Adelphi Hotel|Adelphi Hotel]] in Liverpool and turned down his offer.<ref name="Shames">{{cite web|url=http://www.myspace.com/thecryinshames1966 |title=THE CRYIN' SHAMES 1966 (thecryinshames1966) on Myspace |website=Myspace.com |date= |access-date=2015-10-11}}</ref>
The line-up changed in May 1966, when Robinson quit the band and was replaced by Derek Cleary on bass, who played on their second single release, "Nobody Waved Goodbye," which was released the following month. Robinson continued in the music business with Katie Peacock a multi instrumentalist. Playing the cabaret circuit as Class Of 59.
Crane and Routledge left The Cryin' Shames and formed a new band with a new name. With a line-up of Charlie [Paul] Crane, Ritchie Routledge (both vocals), Brian Norris (bass), Mike Espie (guitar), Pete Byrne (organ) and Paul Commerford (drums), they recorded one more single with Meek, "[[September in the Rain]]" / "Come On Back," which was released on 1 September 1966. It was issued under their new name of Paul and Ritchie and The Crying Shames.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-cryan-shames-mn0000135306/biography|title=The Cryan' Shames {{!}} Biography & History|website=AllMusic|language=en-us|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>
Routledge later led [[Blackwater Park (band)|Blackwater Park]], an English-German band in the early 1970s, and was part of [[Grimms]]. He also worked as a [[session musician|session]] singer for [[The Scaffold]] and appeared on the recording of the 1974 song "Liverpool Lou" ([[UK Singles Chart|UK]] Number 7, produced by [[Paul McCartney]]). Crane went on to be the lead singer of [[Gary Walker (musician)|Gary Walker]] and The Rain. Routledge died in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], on 8 October 2023, at the age of 73.<ref>{{cite news |title=Richard (Ritchie) Routledge |url=https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/routledge/5149835 |access-date=11 October 2023 |publisher=Funeral Notices |date=11 October 2023}}</ref>
==Discography==
===Singles===
;as The Cryin' Shames
*"[[Please Stay (Burt Bacharach song)|Please Stay]]" ([[Burt Bacharach|Bacharach]], [[Bob Hilliard|Hilliard]]) / "What's New Pussycat" (Kneen/Robinson) (Decca F 12340 - February 1966) (UK No. 26 ''[[NME]]'') (UK No. 22 ''[[Melody Maker]]'')
*"Nobody Waved Goodbye" (Schroeder, Gold, Brooks) / "You" (Cryin' Shames) (Decca F 12425 - June 1966)
;as Paul and Ritchie and The Crying Shames
*"[[September in the Rain]]" ([[Harry Warren|Warren]], [[Al Dubin|Dubin]]) / "Come on Back" (Crane/Routledge) (Decca F 12483 - September 1966) (UK No. 40 ''Melody Maker'')<ref name="45-rpm"/>
===Compilation albums===
*The [[English Freakbeat series]] included "What's News, Pussycat" by the Cryin' Shames on the ''[[English Freakbeat, Volume 5]]'' edition.
*''Friendly Persuasion: Please Stay'' (2024)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/friendly-persuasion-please-stay-mw0004214681|title=Friendly Persuasion: Please Stay - The Cryin' Shames |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of bands and artists from Merseyside]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/a-z/bumblies-cryin'shames.shtml From Bumblies To Cryin’ Shames by George Robinson]
*[http://www.myspace.com/thecryinshames1966 "The Cryin' Shames Story by Ritchie Routledge"]
* {{discogs artist|The Cryin' Shames}}
* {{imdb name|5770524}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryin Shames, The}}
[[Category:English pop music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Liverpool]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1963]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1966]]
[[Category:Beat groups]]
[[Category:1963 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1966 disestablishments in England]]