A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry

A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry is a 1958 album by the American jazz singer Joe Williams arranged by Jimmy Mundy.^[2] It is an album of ballads and torch songs.^[2]

A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Studio album by Joe Williams
Released	1958
Recorded	October 11–21, 1957, in New York City
Genre	Jazz, traditional pop
Length	31:59
Label	Roulette R-52005[1]
Joe Williams chronology
One O'Clock Jump (1957) A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry (1958) Breakfast Dance and Barbecue (1958)

John Bush, reviewing the album for AllMusic, praises Williams as "an excellent balladeer with a rich vibrato and the confidence to let a straight reading speak for itself".^[2]

Gramophone critiqued the arrangements as using "strings quite excessively" and Williams's performances as "stress[ing] sentiment rather than swing".^[3]

The initial Billboard review from February 3, 1958, said that the album was a "convincing, well-performed ballad set" and that Williams's talent was "formidable". Mundy's orchestral arrangements were "mellifluous yet unobtrusive".^[4]

Track listing

1. "What's New?" (Johnny Burke, Bob Haggart) – 2:43
2. "It's the Talk of the Town" (Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes) – 3:10
3. "I'll Never Smile Again" (Ruth Lowe) – 2:59
4. "I'm Through with Love" (Gus Kahn, Fud Livingston, Matty Malneck) – 2:54
5. "Where Are You?" (Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh) – 2:50
6. "I've Only Myself to Blame" (Redd Evans, Dave Mann) – 2:50
7. "Say It Isn't So" (Irving Berlin) – 2:54
8. "What Will I Tell My Heart" (Irving Gordon, Jack Lawrence, Peter Tinturin) – 2:40
9. "You've Got Me Crying Again" (Isham Jones, Charles Newman) – 2:46
10. "Can't We Talk It Over?" (Ned Washington, Lester Young, Victor Young) – 2:36
11. "I Laugh to Keep From Cryin'" (Lew Brown) – 2:58
12. "A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry" (Norman Gimbel, Frankie Laine, Irving Reid) – 3:33