Pearl Jam “Crazy Mary” charted

Crazy Mary Pearl Jam with Victoria Williams

Writer(s): Victoria Williams (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 7, 1993 Peak: 26 AR, 8 MR, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.6 video, 0.21 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Folk-rock singer/songwriter Victoria Williams was born in 1958 in Shreveport, Louisiana. She released her first album, Happy Come Home in 1987 and its follow-up, Swing the Statue! three years later. In 1992, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Because she didn’t have health insurance, a collection of artists recorded her songs for a benefit album called Sweet Relief. While Victoria Williams wasn’t a household name, many of the artists on the album were. Amongst them were Evan Dando, the Jayhawks, Maria McKee, Pearl Jam, Michael Penn, Lou Reed, Soul Asylum, Matthew Sweet, and Lucinda Williams. All of the songs except two had been recorded by Victoria on her first two albums. One of them was “Crazy Mary.” Victoria Williams wrote the song about an old black woman – referred to in the song as “a wild-eyed woman who lives in a tar paper shack” – who walked around Shreveport, refusing to get inside a moving car. She was killed when an out-of-control car crashed into her shack. SF It was one of two songs featured on Sweet Relief that had not been previously released on one of Williams’ first two albums. She put the song out in 1994 on her third album, Loose, but it was recorded first by Pearl Jam (with Victoria on backing vocals) for the Sweet Relief project. Their version was a top-10 modern rock track and reached the album rock chart as well. Pearl Jam had only released one album, 1991’s Ten, but it had established them as one of the biggest acts in the world. It became a cornerstone of grunge and would be certified for 13 million in sales. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pearl Jam DMDB encyclopedia entry for Victoria Williams SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia page on Victoria Williams Related Links: First posted 3/15/2023.

The Williams Brothers charted with “Can’t Cry Hard Enough”

Can’t Cry Hard Enough The Williams Brothers

Writer(s): David Williams, Marvin Etzioni (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 3, 1991 Peak: 42 US, 29 CB, 24 RR, 11 AC, 43 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.68 video, 5.29 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In the early ‘90s, I had a go-to, independently-run CD store which I hit on a weekly basis. They not only knew me by name, but had my tastes down. I’d walk in the store and they’d load up a recommended CD. They made a lot of money off me. Of the many purchases I made, however, the one that stood out was the The Williams Brothers. I knew nothing of these twin brothers who were nephews of singer Andy Williams. I found out they recorded a pair of albums as teen idols in the early ‘70s as Andy and David Williams and appeared on The Partridge Family. They re-emerged in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s recording more adult-alternative, folk-oriented fare. This was one of those rare albums where every cut grew on me. Even so, one song towered above the rest – “Can’t Cry Hard Enough.” While the song is about “missing someone who has passed away and the helplessness that comes from never being able to see that person again,” SF I connected with it differently. I’ll always think of it in the context of driving home one night from my former college town. I’d visited the great unrequited love of my life and left with the dejected realization that it was never going to happen. David Williams wrote the song with Marvin Etzioni of Lone Justice. He told Songfacts.com that “writing the song was like a magical moment.” SF He’d been writing with David and Andrew. David had an idea and played some piano chords and Marvin added lyrics inspired by the recent loss of his grandmother. As Marvin said, “it just kind of fell into the room.” SF David and Andrew recorded the song for their self-titled 1991 release and Marvin recorded it in 1992 for his album The Mandolin Man. However, the first recording was by David and Andrew’s sister Victoria for her 1990 album Swing the Statue! It was also recorded later by Susan Ashton, Beelfire, Tom Freund, Rachelle Ann Go, Jed Madela, Sam Milby, Julie Miller, the Robertson Brothers, and Smokie. It has been featured in the TV shows One Tree Hill and Beverly Hills, 90210. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for the Williams Brothers SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/13/2021; last updated 10/31/2022.