"Rain"
Single by The Beatles
A-side	"Paperback Writer"
Released	30 May 1966 (US) 10 June 1966 (UK)
Format	7"
Recorded	Abbey Road Studios 14 April 1966
Genre	Psychedelic Rock
Length	2:59
Label	Parlophone R5452 (UK) Capitol 5651 (U.S.)
Writer	Lennon/McCartney
Producer	George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"Paperback Writer" (1966) "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine" (1966)

"Rain" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966. The song was released as a B-Side to Paperback Writer as a single on 30 May 1966 in the United States and 10 June 1966 in the United Kingdom (see 1966 in music). "Rain" is not featured on an original album and was not released as part of a compilation album until Hey Jude in the US and Rarities in the UK.

The two songs were recorded during the sessions for Revolver. "Paperback Writer" was sung live in concert during The Beatles' last tour in 1966, but "Rain" was only performed in the studio. It is notable for being the first song to contain backwards vocals.

Although the song is arguably not well-known to casual listeners, "Rain" is one of the group's most critically-acclaimed songs, appearing on a number of best-of lists, including Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (#463). AcclaimedMusic.net, a site which combines hundreds of such lists from around the world, ranks "Rain" at #557 on the Top 3000 Songs (as of July 31, 2007), and is The Beatles' 22nd highest-rated song on the site.^[1]

Music Video

The Beatles also created a Music video for this song which is rare and a good example of the pioneering of Music videos. The music video takes place outside at a place where the Beatles are singing and walking, towards the end, it is shown they are walking to a Greenhouse.

Facts

• Some claim that the song contains a hidden message in the last verse. However, when played backwards one can clearly hear:

Sunshine

Rain

When the rain comes, they run and hide their heads

This is simply the first verse of the song with the word rain sung in front of it (which one would hear after it when backwards).

• The song was originally recorded at a faster speed, then slowed down, giving the backing track a droning effect. The vocals were recorded at the normal speed.
• John Lennon commented that "After we'd done the session on that particular song—it ended at about four or five in the morning—I went home with a tape to see what else you could do with it. And I was sort of very tired, you know, not knowing what I was doing, and I just happened to put it on my own tape recorder and it came out backwards. And I liked it better. So that's how it happened."^[2]
• Although the videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" show Paul playing the Höfner bass, the song "Rain" was recorded with a Burns London Nu-sonic bass loaned to George by Burns. The use of the Nu-Sonic Bass adds to the pumped up sound of the bass on both tracks. However, contemporary photographs of McCartney in the studio during the Revolver sessions show him playing a Rickenbacker bass. Indeed (as photos from the sessions also show), George's Nu-Sonic was right-handed; for the left-handed McCartney to play the bass would have required some adjustment in his playing style. Also, they recorded the bass through a loudspeaker instead of a traditional mike and amp combo. Recent research has revealed that George did in fact use the Burns Nu-Sonic bass on the track "Rain". He couldn't use Paul's left-handed bass, so he used the Burns bass which was on loan to Abbey Road Studios along with two other Burns Guitars between 1964 and 1967. This Nu-sonic bass is still in the Burns London vintage collection in London, England.
• If you take a look at the "Paperback Writer/Rain" videos from 1966, you can see Paul has a busted lip and a chipped tooth. They are easily noticed in the scene where the Beatles play on a sound stage in the Rain video. This occurred in a moped accident some time before the video was shot. This same accident played a role in the "Paul is Dead" rumors from 1969.
• Ringo Starr displays what he referred to as his best performance on "Rain". Ringo used a technique in which he used the hi-hat to lead into each break or fill. This technique was also used on the song "Wait" from the Rubber Soul album and the song "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" on Abbey Road.
• The song contains some of the Beatles' first overtly psychedelic lyrics, as Lennon suggests that "when it rains and shines" it is "just a state of mind". Lennon would continue to include psychedelic imagery, themes, and allusions on his songs recorded from 1966 to early 1968.
• British rock band Oasis was originally named The Rain, after the song, before changing to their current name when guitarist Noel Gallagher joined.
• "Rain" is one of the songs featured in Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs.
• "Rain" is the fourth track on The Beatles' album Past Masters Volume Two.

Cover versions

• In 1967, Mary McCaslin, briefly with Capitol Records, released the single, "Rain"/"This All Happened Once Before".
• In 1969, Ibex, a precursor to Queen, recorded a version of the song.
• In 1972, Randy California included a cover of "Rain" on his album Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds.
• In 1975, Humble Pie covered the song on their album Street Rats.
• In 1976, a version by Todd Rundgren appeared on his Faithful album.
• In 1981, The Arizona Smoke Revue recorded a version which appeared on their album Thundering on the Horizon.
• In 1985, The Psychedelic Filberts' version was included on Yeah Yeah Noh's Temple of Convenience EP.
• In 1986, The Forgotten Rebels recorded a version that was included on their LP The Pride and The Disgrace.
• In 1989, The Allman Brothers included a cover on the boxed set "Dreams".
• In 1990, a cover by Chapterhouse appeared on their Sunburst EP.
• In 1990, Dan Fogelberg sang the refrain on his cover of John Gummoe's "Rhythm of the Rain" on The Wild Places.
• In 1991, Shonen Knife released their album 712 with a cover of "Rain".
• The Grateful Dead performed the song over a dozen times through the early 1990s, often as an encore. Jerry Garcia sang lead.
• In 1997, a cover by The Jam appeared on their boxed set, Direction Reaction Creation.
• In 2005, smooth jazz band Soko covered an instrumental version of the song on their album, Two.
• In 2006, Mojo released a special CD with the July issue of the magazine commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Revolver; each track was covered by a different artist, with Ed Harcourt recording "Rain" as a bonus track.
• It is has also been covered by U2, Of Montreal, and Robyn Hitchcock.

References

J. Dowdling, William (1989). Beatlesongs. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc. ISBN 0-671-68229-6

External links

• "Reason to Rock" review
• Rain Music Video on YouTube

Donate to Wikimedia