"When It Rains, It Really Pours" is a song originally written and recorded by

Billy "The Kid" Emerson William Robert Emerson (December 21, 1925 – April 25, 2023), known during his recording career as Billy "The Kid" Emerson and more recently as Rev. William R. Emerson,'' Juke Blues'' magazine, # 58, 2005, pp.11-21, Interviews with Emerson was ...

. His version, titled "When It Rains It Pours", was released by

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

in 1954. The song was later recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

in 1957, but not released until 1965 on the album ''

Elvis for Everyone ''Elvis for Everyone!'' is a compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3450, on August 10, 1965. Recording sessions took place over a ten-year span at Sun Studio in Memphis ...

''.

Emerson's version

Emerson’s version of the song was recorded on October 27, 1954, at Sun Recording Studio in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

with

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American disc jockey, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, R ...

as the producer. It was released on January 8, 1955, as Sun 214, as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the song "Move Baby Move" which did not chart. The session consisted of the following personnel—Emerson, piano: Elven Parr, guitar: Robert Prindell, drums: Charles Smith, alto sax: Bennie Moore, tenor sax and trumpet: Luther Taylor.

Elvis Presley's recordings

Presley had initially attempted to record the song while at Sun Records in November 1955, with Elvis and

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

on guitars,

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...

on bass and Johnny Bernero on drums, but it was never completed as his contract with Sun was sold to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

around the same time. All the tapes of Presley's Sun recordings were handed to RCA as part of the deal, with most of them being included on albums released shortly afterwards. Presley's 1955 recording of "When It Rains, It Really Pours", however, was not released. It was lost for several years until 1982 when it was found and finally released officially as part of the 1983 compilation album '' Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4''. Presley was recorded performing the song during the

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Studio, Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about th ...

session on December 4, 1956. On February 24, 1957, Presley again recorded the song, this time for RCA. This version also went unreleased until it appeared on the 1965 album ''Elvis for Everyone''. The musicians on this session were Moore and Presley on guitars, Black on bass, Fontana on drums,

Dudley Brooks Dudley Brooks (December 22, 1913 – July 17, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Biography Brooks was born on December 22, 1913, in Los Angeles, California.

on piano and

the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

singing backup.Jorgensen, p. 86 In 1968, during rehearsals for the television special ''

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

'', Presley was recorded singing it as a potential song for the show. Although the song was not chosen for the special, the rehearsal was released on ''The Complete '68 Comeback Special'' CD released in 2008.

References

Elvis Presley songs 1954 songs Songs written by Billy "The Kid" Emerson {{1950s-song-stub