"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Single by Ann Peebles
from the album I Can't Stand the Rain
ReleasedJuly 1973[1]
Recorded1973
StudioRoyal Studios, 1320 South Lauderdale, Memphis, Tennessee
GenreSoul, Memphis soul
Length2:31
LabelHi Records
Songwriter(s)Ann Peebles, Don Bryant & Bernard "Bernie" Miller
Producer(s)Willie Mitchell
Ann Peebles singles chronology
"I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down"
(1973)		 "I Can't Stand the Rain"
(1973)		 "(You Keep Me) Hanging On"
(1974)
Official audio
"Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand the Rain (Official Audio)" on YouTube

"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 notable versions were later recorded by Eruption, Graham Central Station, Tina Turner and Lowell George. The original version is ranked at 197 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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 "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."[2]

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'."[3] The organ is played by Charles Hodges, who later said: "We wanted to catch a sound like water dripping. Willie pulled the timbales out and Howard [Grimes] did the low part and Teenie [Hodges] did the high part. It was an overdub."[4] Peebles said: "I have to give Teenie a lot of credit, because he added a lot of licks and details to make it right."[4]

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 in April 1974. It was one of John Lennon's favorite songs; he called it "the best song ever".[2] Ian Dury made the song one of his choices when he was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in December 1996.[5] Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott samples Ann Peebles version of the song on her debut solo single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)".

Personnel

[4]

Charts

Chart (1973–1974) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 79
U.S. (Billboard Hot 100) 38

Eruption version

"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Single by Eruption
from the album Eruption
B-side"Be Yourself"
ReleasedJanuary 23, 1978
Recorded1977
Genre
Length3:12
LabelHansa Records
Songwriter(s)Ann Peebles, Don Bryant & Bernard "Bernie" Miller
Producer(s)Frank Farian, Rainer M. Ehrhardt
Eruption singles chronology
"I Can't Stand the Rain"
(1978)		 "Leave a Light"
(1978)

In 1978, Eruption 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[7] and reached 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
12" single
  1. "I Can't Stand the Rain" – 6:24

Charts

Weekly 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] 8
Dutch Top 40 4
Belgian Singles Chart[9] 1
French Singles Chart 5
Italian Singles Chart 3
Norwegian Singles Chart 2
Swedish Singles Chart 2
Finnish Singles Chart 15
New Zealand Singles Chart 4
Australian Singles Chart 1
South African Singles Chart 5

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "I Can't Stand the Rain"
Chart (1978) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 15

Tina Turner version

"I Can't Stand the Rain"
Single by Tina Turner
from the album Private Dancer
B-side"Let's Pretend We're Married" (live)
ReleasedFebruary 1985 (UK)[11]
Recorded1984
Genre
Length3:41
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Ann Peebles, Don Bryant & Bernard "Bernie" Miller
Producer(s)Terry Britten
Tina Turner singles chronology
"Private Dancer"
(1985)		 "I Can't Stand the Rain"
(1985)		 "Show Some Respect"
(1985)
Licensed audio
"I Can't Stand the Rain (2015 Remaster)" on YouTube

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" (live version) – 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)[12] 6
Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 9
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 20
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 15
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 57

Year-end charts

Chart (1985) Rank
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 30

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Billboard July 28, 1973
  2. 1 2 Dorian Lynskey, "Ann Peebles: the girl with the big voice", The Guardian, 20 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014
  3. ↑ Miss FunkyFlyy, "Ann Peebles". Retrieved June 30, 2014
  4. 1 2 3 Graeme Thomson, "The Making of 'I Can't Stand the Rain'", Uncut, No.290, July 2021, pp.82-84
  5. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Ian Dury". BBC. December 15, 1996. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 231. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 91.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Eruption feat. Precious Wilson - I Can't Stand The Rain". hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Eruption feat. Precious Wilson - I Can't Stand The Rain". Ultratop.
  10. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 8, 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  11. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 847. ISBN 9780862415419.
  12. ↑ "Tina Turner – I Can't Stand the Rain" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Tina Turner - Top Titel" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Tina Turner". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Tina Turner – I Can't Stand the Rain". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tina Turner: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Jahreshitparade Singles 1985" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
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