Raindrops (Dee Clark song)

"Raindrops"
Single by Dee Clark
B-side "I Want to Love You"
Released April 1961
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded 1961
Genre R&B
Length 2:51
Label Vee-Jay 383
Writer(s) Dee Clark
Dee Clark singles chronology
"Your Friends"
(1961)
"Raindrops"
(1961)
"I'm Going Back to School"
(1962)

"Raindrops" is a 1961 song by the American R&B singer Dee Clark. Released in April of that same year, this ballad is about a man who convinces himself that the tears he is crying since his lover's departure are raindrops since "a man ain't supposed to cry," peaked at position 2 on the Hot 100 and at position 3 on the R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the ninth most popular song of the year for 1961.

Clark was reportedly inspired to write the song after a late night drive through a heavy rainstorm. Accordingly, the opening and closing of the song both feature heavy rain and thunder sound effects, with the closing augmented by Clark's powerful, swooping falsetto. Musicians on the record included Al Duncan on drums, Quinn Wilson on bass, Earl Skarritt and Phil Upchurch on guitar (Skarritt on electric and Upchurch on acoustic), plus a string section. The song was recorded at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago in a 3-hour session.

In 1966, Jan & Dean covered the song on their album, Save For A Rainy Day. Other artists to record the song included Tony Orlando and Dawn, David Cassidy, and Narvel Felts (a Top 30 country hit in 1974).

Chart history

Chart (1961) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1] 2
U.S. R&B Singles Chart[2] 3

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2007). Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006. Record Research.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2005). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research.


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