The Rhythm of the Rain: 30 Melodic Drops for Cloudy Days

by Various Artists

Rather than letting a smile be your umbrella on a rainy day, try Bear Family's new CD collection 'The Rhythm Of The Rain - 31 Melodic Drops for Cloudy Days' instead. It's a glowing ray of sunshine from beginning to end, even if every one of its selections celebrates different facets of falling precipitation. Opening with Dee Clark's stratospheric Chicago soul classic Raindrops, the carefully curated collection casts an uncommonly wide stylistic net encompassing R&B and blues by Billy (The Kid) Emerson, Big Maybelle, Christine Kittrell, and Irma Thomas, country by Lefty Frizzell, Merle Kilgore, and George Jones, and vocal group goodness via The Royal Jokers, The Prisonaires, and Little Anthony and The Imperials. B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, Johnnie Ray's Just Walking In The Rain, Carole King's It Might As Well Rain Until September, and The Everly Brothers' Crying In The Rain just had to be included, while rarities by 'Cile Turner, Jerry Byrne, Bill Wimberly and The Country Rhythm Boys, Dorsey Burnette, and The Hap-Cats render the set appealing to serious collectors. Come rain or come shine, this compilation makes for illuminating listening!