"I Can't Stand the Rain" is a song originally recorded by

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

in 1973, and written by Peebles, Don Bryant, and Bernard "Bernie" Miller. Other hit versions were later recorded by

Eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

and

Lowell George Lowell Thomas George (April 13, 1945 – June 29, 1979) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who was the primary guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founder/leader for the rock band Little Feat. Ear ...

. The original version is ranked at 197 on

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine '' Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 i ...

Ann Peebles version

The song was written by Peebles, her partner (and later husband) Don Bryant, and DJ Bernard "Bernie" Miller in 1973:

One evening in Memphis in 1973, soul singer Ann Peebles was meeting friends, including her partner,
Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partne ...
staff writer Don Bryant, to go to a concert. Just as they were about to set off, the heavens opened and Peebles snapped: "I can't stand the rain." As a professional songwriter in constant need of new material, Bryant was used to plucking resonant phrases out of the air and he liked the idea of reacting against recent R&B hits that celebrated bad weather, such as
the Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs " In the Rain" and " Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits, as well as their lat ...
' "In the Rain" and
Love Unlimited Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Career Formed in 1969, the group included Barry ...
's " Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love". So he sat down at the piano and started riffing on the theme, weaving in ideas from Peebles and local DJ Bernie Miller. The song was finished that night and presented the next morning to Hi's studio maestro, Willie Mitchell, who used a brand new gadget, the electric timbale, to create the song's distinctive raindrop riff. It really was that easy. "We didn't go to the concert," Bryant remembers. "We forgot about the concert."Dorian Lynskey, "Ann Peebles: the girl with the big voice", ''The Guardian'', 20 February 2014
Retrieved 30 June 2014

Ann Peebles said: "At first, we had the timbales all the way through the song but as we played the tape, Willie Mitchell said 'what about if the timbales were in front before anything else comes in?'. So we did that and when we listened back I said 'I love it, let's do that'." Miss FunkyFlyy, "Ann Peebles"
Retrieved 30 June 2014 The organ is played by

Charles Hodges Charles Edward Hodges (born June 29, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American organist and songwriter. He is known for his high tone on the Hammond B3 organ, that appeared on records by Al Green, and other musicians signed to Hi Records. Hodge ...

, who later said: "We wanted to catch a sound like water dripping. Willie pulled the timbales out and Howard rimesdid the low part and Teenie odgesdid the high part. It was an overdub."Graeme Thomson, "The Making of 'I Can't Stand the Rain'", ''Uncut'', No.290, July 2021, pp.82-84 Peebles said: "I have to give Teenie a lot of credit, because he added a lot of licks and details to make it right." Produced by Willie Mitchell, the song became Peebles' biggest hit when, in 1973, it reached No. 38 on the US Pop Chart and No. 6 on the R&B/Black Chart; it also reached No. 41 on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in April 1974. It was one of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's favorite songs; he called it "the best song ever".

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

made the song one of his choices when he was the guest for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'' in December 1996. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott samples Ann Peebles version of the song on her debut solo single "

The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is the debut solo single by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album ''Supa Dupa Fly'' (1997 ...

Personnel

- vocals *

Howard Grimes Howard Lee Grimes (August 22, 1941 – February 12, 2022) was an American drummer, best known as a member of the Hi Rhythm Section on records by Al Green, Ann Peebles and others in the 1970s. Life and career Born in Memphis, Tennessee on August 2 ...

- drums, percussion *

- organ *

Leroy Hodges Leroy Hodges (born July 13, 1943) is an American electric bass player. He was born in Germantown, Tennessee. Paired with either Booker T. & the MGs's drummer Al Jackson, Jr. or Stax staff drummer Howard Grimes, Leroy and The Hodges Brothers w ...

- bass * Mabon "Teenie" Hodges - guitar, percussion *

Archie Turner Arthur "Archie" Turner (June 1877 – 4 April 1925) was a professional footballer who played at outside-right in the 1900 and 1902 FA Cup Finals for Southampton, and made two appearances for England. Playing career Archie Turner was born in ...

- piano * James Mitchell - saxophone * Andrew Love - saxophone * Ed Logan - saxophone * Wayne Jackson - trumpet * Willie Mitchell - producer

Charts

Eruption version

In 1978,

released a disco-oriented remake which became the group's biggest hit. It reached the top 10 in many European charts, hitting the number 1 in Belgium for 2 weeks in March 1978. It was also a number 1 hit in Australia and reached the top 10 in New Zealand and South Africa. In the U.S., it peaked at number six on the disco chart and reached number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Track listings

;7" single # "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 3:12 # "Be Yourself" – 3:43 ;12" single # "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 6:24

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Tina Turner version

In 1984

recorded "I Can't Stand the Rain" for her fifth solo album, ''

Private Dancer ''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label. After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...

'', and released it as a single in early 1985 in Europe. Turner's version would find minor success in the UK, but would be a success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Track listings

;7" single # "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 3:40 # "

Let's Pretend We're Married "Let's Pretend We're Married" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1982 album ''1999''. It was the final US single from the album and peaked at number 52 in the US. Background The song consists mainly of keyboards and drum machines, ...

" (live version) – 4:22 ;12" single # "I Can't Stand the Rain" (extended version) – 5:43 # "Let's Pretend We're Married" (live version) – 4:22 # "Nutbush City Limits" (live version) – 2:56

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

– lead vocals *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– keyboards, synthesizers *

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Graham Broad Graham Broad (born 10 March 1957) is an English drummer who has been playing professionally since the age of fifteen, after attending the Royal College of Music in 1970. He is a former pupil of drumming educator Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Ph ...

– drums

References

External links

* - at GRAMMYFoundation * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Can't Stand The Rain (Song) 1973 songs 1973 singles 1978 singles 1985 singles 1996 singles Seal (musician) songs Diesel (musician) songs Eruption (band) songs Tina Turner songs Disco songs Guy Sebastian songs Song recordings produced by Frank Farian Song recordings produced by Willie Mitchell (musician) Hi Records singles Hansa Records singles Capitol Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Belgium