I Can't Stand the Rain (song)

"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Song

"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Song
B-side	"Be Yourself"

"I Can't Stand the Rain" is a song originally recorded by Ann Peebles in 1973, and written by Peebles, Don Bryant, and Bernard "Bernie" Miller. Other hit versions were later recorded by Eruption and Tina Turner.

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 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' "In the Rain" and Love Unlimited's "Walking 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."

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'."

Produced by Willie Mitchell, the song became Peebles' biggest hit when, in 1973, it reached #38 on the US Pop Chart and #6 on the R&B/Black Chart; it also reached #41 on the UK singles chart in April 1974. The organ is played by Charles Hodges. It was one of John Lennon's favorite songs and in a Billboard magazine article he commented, "It's the best song ever." Ian Dury made this song one of his choices when he was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in December 1996.

Eruption version

In 1978 Eruption released a disco-oriented remake, which peaked at number six on the disco chart and became the group's biggest hit (number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100).

Track listings

7" single

1. "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 3:12
2. "Be Yourself" – 3:43

Charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	18
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	30
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	6
Canadian Singles Chart	21
UK Singles Chart	5
Irish Singles Chart	6
German Singles Chart	7
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	8
Dutch Top 40	4
Belgian Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	5
Italian Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	22
Finish Singles Chart	15
New Zealand Singles Chart	4
Australian Singles Chart	1
South African Singles Chart	5

Tina Turner version

"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Song
B-side	"Let's Pretend We're Married" (live)

In 1984 Tina Turner recorded "I Can't Stand the Rain" for her fifth solo album, Private Dancer, 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

1. "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 3:40
2. "Let's Pretend We're Married" – 4:22

12" single

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

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	6
Germany (Official German Charts)	9
Ireland (IRMA)	20
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	15
UK Singles (OCC)	57

Year-end charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	30

Other versions

• Humble Pie recorded the song on their 1974 album Thunderbox.
• Ronnie Wood covered the song in 1975 on his album Now Look.
• The song was covered by Patrice Banks of Graham Central Station on the 1975 release of Ain't No 'Bout A Doubt It album
• Albert King covered the song in 1977 on his album The Blues Don't Change.
• Graham Central Station covered the song on their 1975 album Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It.
• Lowell George covered the song on his 1979 album Thanks, I'll Eat it Here.
• Hortense Ellis covered the song on her 1979 album Irie Reggae Hits
• The song was included in the 1991 feature film, The Commitments, and its subsequent soundtrack.
• The song was covered by Bad Manners on their 1993 album Fat Sound.
• In 1996, Australians Diesel and Chris Wilson covered the song as the lead single from their album Short Cool Ones.
• Cassandra Wilson's 1993 album Blue Light 'til Dawn contained a version of the track which received mixed reviews. John Milward of Rolling Stone called it "skeletal" and not as strong as the original. In contrast, Ron Wynn of AllMusic liked Wilson's version, saying that it holds up to comparisons of Peebles' version.
• Missy Elliott's 1997 debut single, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", contains a sample from Ann Peebles' original recording of the song in its chorus.
• Michael Bolton covered the song on his 1999 album Timeless: The Classics Vol. 2.
• Alannah Myles covered the song, with Jeff Healey on guitar, for a 2004 Tina Turner tribute compilation. Myles released a new version of the song on her 2014 album "85 BPM" and issued it as a single.
• Terry Manning added a live version of the song to the 2006 CD re-release of his album Home Sweet Home.
• In 2006 R&B singer, Miki Howard recorded a cover version which appears on her album Pillow Talk.
• A version of the song appears on Sam Moore's 2006 album, Overnight Sensational with Wynonna, Bekka Bramlett, BeBe Winans and Billy Preston.
• Dale Ann Bradley recorded a Bluegrass version of the song on her 2006 album Catch Tomorrow.
• In August 2007, Guy Sebastian recorded a tribute version of "I Can't Stand the Rain" at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee for his album of soul classics, The Memphis Album, with many of the original Stax music band members, including Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn, Lester Snell, Steve Potts.
• Seal recorded a version of the song for his 2008 album Soul.
• Willie Clayton recorded it on his 2008 album Soul and Blues.
• In 2010, German classical bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff recorded a version for his crossover album Tell It Like It Is.
• In 2012, The Flashbulb remixed this song to "The History Of Rain" on the album Opus at the End of Everything.
• Classic rock singer Paul Rodgers included his version of the song on his 2014 cover album of soul classics The Royal Sessions.
• "I Can't Stand the Rain" has been utilized as a sample by the hip hop duo Reflection Eternal (a collaborative group comprising conscious hip hop artist Talib Kweli, and producer Hi-Tek) for their song "Memories Live" on their debut album Train Of Thought.

External links

• Template:MetroLyrics song