Songfacts®:

• The title pretty much says it all about "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night," as far as lyrics and story go. The words are sung from the perspective of a guy remarking that his girlfriend's mother told him that her daughter had been crying the night before. He then admits to having been unfaithful to his girl, but he assures her he's going to make things right.
  
  Even though Robert Plant's version of the song is the best known, it was first recorded in 1961 by Kenny Dino. This was the pre-Bob-Dylan era before rock and roll or pop music in general were widely viewed as having any potential as serious art. Lyrics were generally straightforward and without poetic nuance or philosophical depth.
  
  Interestingly, "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night" was recorded at Musicor Records but mastered at Columbia Recording Studios, which is precisely where Bob Dylan recorded his eponymous debut album in November 1961, the same month that Dino's song debuted on the charts.
  
  So, this song, which represented the sensibilities of one era of pop music, came out of the same institution on the same year as the debut album of the artist who soon ushered in the new era of pop music.
• Robert Plant covered this song in 1990 on Manic Nirvana, his fifth solo studio album. His version has a thumping rockabilly undercurrent with heavy metal over top.
  
  Throughout the solo career that followed his time as frontman of the legendary Led Zeppelin, Plant explored the softer, romantic side that had been frowned upon as member of that band. As with most of Manic Nirvana, however, there's little residue of those softer yearnings in "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night."
  
  While the song displays a clear, nostalgic nod to the old-time rock and roll sound Plant grew up on, it's a straight adrenaline-jacker steered by Plant's snarling vocals at their libidinous best. As Wayne and Garth would have said it in Wayne's World two years later, Manic Nirvana wails, and "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night" is no different.
  
  Near the end of his cover of the song, Plant sings the line, "Said hey hey mama said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove," which comes from Zeppelin's "Black Dog."
  
  Plant released the song as a single that hit #8 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US and #90 on the singles chart in his native UK. Many lists of Plant's best solo songs have included this one.
• Kenny Dino released the original version of the song in early November, 1961. It debuted at #77 and peaked at #24 on the week of December 25, 1961. It was Dino's one hit.
  
  In the song, Dino sounds almost identical to Elvis Presley, who was the biggest name in rock at that time (and possibly America's biggest celebrity of any kind). It wasn't uncommon for singers to deliberately emulate Presley's sound, but in this case it made particular sense because Dino's talent first got noticed after he sang a Presley song in Iceland while stationed there in the Navy in 1957.
  
  Dino was born in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York, and moved to Long Island in high school. His grandfather had a farm in nearby Center Moriches, and Dino spent much of his youth working there. In the May 15, 1992, issue of Goldmine magazine (volume 18, no. 10, issue 308), Dino said that though he was from New York he always hated the city and felt like a country boy.
  
  He also grew up tough trying to avoid sometimes-fatal gang fights that were common at the time. He carried these sensibilities into his music career and credits them largely for the problems he frequently had with music-industry executives and suits of various kind, including radio legend Dick Clark. Dino also claims they were looking for a "new Pat Boone," but that he simply didn't fit it.
  
  In the same interview he says he sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the post office of his adopted home of Great River, New York, backed by Johnny Farina of "Sleepwalk" fame.
  
  Dino's fame didn't evaporate immediately. He did some demos for Elvis, had contracts with Dot and Columbia, and various other near-miss opportunities that never quite panned out. Going by his own Goldmine account, he wasn't willing to sacrifice his identity or integrity for fame.
  
  Dino passed away from a heart attack on December 10, 2009, while driving home from a show.
  
  The B-side for his single was "Dream Girl."
• UK actor, singer, and writer Doug Sheldon also did this song in 1961, with his version reaching #29 in the UK.
• Mel Glazer and Stephen Schlaks wrote the song. They also wrote "Speedway," which was the title track for the soundtrack to Elvis Presley's 1968 motion picture of the same name.
  
  Schlaks made multiple albums in Italy, with his heyday being the '70s, while Glazer co-wrote many more songs, including "Guess Again" by Etta James.