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It Might as Well Rain Until September

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"It Might as Well Rain Until September"
Song
A-side"Nobody's Perfect"

"It Might As Well Rain Until September" is a 1962 song originally written for Bobby Vee by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. King recorded the demo version of the song and it became a hit for her. However, Vee's management baulked at releasing the song as a single, instead using it only as an album track. Bobby Vee recorded the song the same year for his 1963 Liberty album The Night Has A Thousand Eyes.

Background

The song was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and intended for Bobby Vee, for whom they had already written the song "Take Good Care of My Baby", a number one hit in the United States in 1961 and which remains Vee's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100. King recorded the demo version of the song[1] and this version was released as a double A-side single with "Nobody's Perfect". Although she had recorded earlier for ABC-Paramount and Alpine Records, '.....September' was Carole King's first commercial success as a singer, having already had a number of hits as a songwriter. The recording was only ever intended as a demo, and as such there is no master tape, only an acetate. This is the reason why all digital releases of this recording are of inferior quality compared to other songs of this era. However, Don Kirshner liked Carole King's version of "September" so much that even after hearing Bobby Vee's version, he decided to release King's version as a single on the Dimension label.[2] Carole King had two small children and did not have any interest in traveling the country to promote the record. Despite this, Carole King was ultimately persuaded by Don Kirshner and Gerry Goffin to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, where King lip-synched to the record (as was almost always done on the show) and, unlike many other performers who were given good ratings, was given a terrible rating of a 42 out of 100 by the Bandstand kids.[1] While King was devastated by the terribly-rated performance, the song still became popular.

The song later appeared on the album More American Graffiti.[3] However, due to the conversations between Wolfman jack and a phone listener, on the track, as well as the fact that the song fades out earlier, King was very unhappy, and sued both Wolfman jack and MCA Records for the treatment of the song.[citation needed] Both paid the damages in a settlement to King.[citation needed] It is also included on Carole King's 2005 live album The Living Room Tour, where it is performed as part of a medley along with other songs she wrote with Gerry Goffin.[4]

Song information

"It Might as Well Rain Until September" is a mid tempo pop song in a similar style as many songs written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin at this time. Through the lyrics, the singer tells a former lover that the world does not appear beautiful to him or her no matter the circumstances as he/she cannot be with him/her: It doesn't matter whether skies are grey or blue/It's raining in my heart 'cause I can't be with you/ [...] /So it might as well rain until September.[5]

The song appeared on the soundtrack of Michael Apted's Stardust.

Charts

The single was released in 1962 and made it to #22 on Billboard chart in September of that year,[2] appearing on the Hot 100 chart dated October 6, 1962 (chart dates are approximately one-and-a-half weeks ahead of their actual release dates).[6] It was Carole King's highest peaking song in the United Kingdom reaching number three in the UK Singles Chart in October 1962.

Year Chart Position
1962 US Billboard Hot 100 22
1962 UK Singles Chart 3

Other versions

  • Bobby Vee, for whom the song was originally written, recorded the song for his 1963 album The Night Has A Thousand Eyes. The song was later included on the compilation albums The Essential Bobby Vee,[7] Legendary Master Series: Bobby Vee and Best of.
  • British singer Helen Shapiro covered the song for her 1964 album Helen Hits Out.[8] It later appeared on the compilation albums The Ultimate Helen Shapiro and The Very Best of Helen Shapiro.
  • The song was covered by the 1960s studio project Marquis of Kensington and released as their third and final single.
  • Canadian pop duo Gary and Dave had it as a hit in Canada in 1974.
  • Boygroup Child covered the song as a B-side for their 1978 single "It's Only Make Believe".[9]
  • Tony Evans & His Orchestra released an instrumental version of the song under the title "It Might As Well Rain Until September (Music for Dancing)".[10] It appeared on the album Sequence Dancing Gold.
  • Susan Cowsill recorded a version of this song, released as a single in 1976.
  • The Sheena Davis Group covered the song as opening track for their 2001 album Smile.[11]
  • Swedish language versions, "Jag önskar att det alltid vore sommar" with lyrics by Bengt Palmers and Eleanor Bodel, were recorded and released by Eleanor Bodel (1969),[12] Flamingokvintetten (1982).,[13] Lisbet Jagedal & Pools orkester (1991).,[14] Lotta Engbergs orkester (1997).[15] and Drifters (2008).[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "It Might As Well Rain Until September by Carole King - Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King". Ntl.matrix.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
  2. ^ a b Dave Thompson. "It Might as Well Rain Until September - Carole King | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
  3. ^ Track 13, LP2, More American Graffiti, 1975, MCA 2-8007, (Introduced by Wolf man Jack).
  4. ^ "Official Website of Carole King - Songwriter, Performer, Author". Carole King. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  5. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Carole King - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
  7. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  8. ^ "THE HELEN SHAPIRO FAN CLUB UNITED KINGDOM UK ALBUMS 1962-1965". Aearwaker.tripod.com. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  9. ^ Steffen Hung. "Child - It's Only Make Believe". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  10. ^ [3][dead link‍]
  11. ^ [4] Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "fonogram Jag önskar att det alltid vore sommar" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 1969. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  14. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  16. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 29 May 2011.
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