that fine rain...soaks you right through...

Another grey cold wet day in Albion and what better to do than to find some pleasure in the soaking clothes and flu nosed grime that is today than to listen to some great songs all with one thing in common....the RAIN!....

So flick on your spotify and bring up your Tuesday Rainy play lists...


1) Rain - The Beatles ; The b-side to Paperback Writer and the first use of backwards singing, cuts straight to the point with this mid 60s classic.

2) Purple Rain - Prince ; The marmite song of his set list but with the bombastic guitar solo and slow build up shows a masterclass in light and shade (even if its all purple)

3) Rainy Night In Georgia - Brook Benton ; This Tony Joe White penned track is a staple of late night soul and r&b classic stations and with this low rumbling velvet vocal from Brook Benton and the expert cradled production by Arif Mardin you can understand why its a classic

4) Have you Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival ; CCR (because I'm not continuously writing their name out) made the fashion faux pas of making hit singles one after another in a time where it was ALL about the albums. Leader and chief songwriter John Fogerty made classic rock and roll records where all that mattered was "a great title, a great guitar riff" that harked back to pre-Beatles swampy boogie woogie when everyone else was "progressing"...a great song. Even see George Harrison and John Lennon jamming this during "Let It Be" documentary.

5) Rainy Days And Mondays - The Carpenters ; This would have been a double hitter if I'd updated this page yesterday but as its now Tuesday I guess I'll have to roll with the punch. The Carpenters came about in the early 70s that for America was a turbulent time with Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam, Kent State etc and adult contemporary music with subtle horn accompaniments weren't exactly what "the kids" were reaching out for. But sales don't lie and with this as another number 1 of their 12 top 10 hits (including 3 number ones) there wasn't a riot goin' on in Downey,California.