Marvin Rainwater

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Marvin Rainwater (* 2. July 1925 in Wichita , Kansas ; † 17th September 2013 in Aitkin , Minnesota , native Marvin Karlton Percy ) was an American country - and Rockabilly - singer and -Songschreiber . In 1958 he had a number one hit in Great Britain with the song "Whole Lotta Woman" .

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Gonna Find Me A Bluebird
  US 22nd 05/25/1957 (22 weeks)
The Majesty Of Love
  US 93 December 07, 1957 (1 week)
Whole Lotta Woman
  US 60 04/05/1958 (15 weeks)
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 03/08/1958 (2 weeks)
I dig you baby
  UK 19th 06/07/1958 (7 weeks)
Half-breed
  US 66 08/01/1959 (7 weeks)

biography

Rainwater grew up in Oklahoma during the Great Depression . He taught himself to play the piano and wanted to be a pianist. But when he was 15, he lost part of his left thumb in an accident. He later studied veterinary medicine and was a pharmacist's assistant while in the US Navy. During this time he started writing songs.

Career

The Pale Faced Indian , 1959

With the song I Gotta Go Get My Baby, his brother Ray gave him a television appearance in 1953 on Arthur Godfrey , on whose show he sang. Even at that time he wore Indian clothing and maintained the Cherokee image with headband, leather jacket and the Indian name for many years; he himself had ancestors among the Native Americans. I Gotta Go Get My Baby became a US hit in a cover version of Teresa Brewer . In the 1950s, Rainwater appeared regularly on Godfrey's shows on radio and television. He was also a regular guest on Red Foley's show Ozark Jubilee for four years ; There he discovered the young Brenda Lee before a performance , introduced her to Red Foley and thus probably started her world career.

From the mid-1950s onwards he incorporated more and more elements of rockabilly and rock 'n' roll into his country songs . His first hit was Gonna Find Me a Bluebird in 1957 , which reached number 3 on the country charts and number 18 on the pop charts. A number of other songs he recorded for MGM Records hit the charts in the late 1950s; the best known were Whole Lotta Woman (the British number one only came to 60th place in the USA) and I Dig You Baby , also 19th in Great Britain in 1958. His duet with Connie Francis The Majesty Of Love reached the top 100 of the US charts for a week. In July 1959 he succeeded his last listing there with the title Half-Breed . In December 1959 Rainwater recorded a song composed by John D. Loudermilk under the title The Pale Faced Indian ("The pale-faced Indian"); it is the original recording of the lamentation about the fate of the Indians, later renamed the Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian) .

After the 1950s

After the success, demo recordings that he had made for Four Star Records appeared on cheap records in supermarkets, which damaged his reputation. Problems with the vocal cords caused a break in his career; with his brother Ray founded the unsuccessful country music magazine Trail . In the early 1960s he recorded some records with Link Wray & the Raymen and later released several records with Warner and United Artists as well as his own Brave label.

For Faron Young he wrote the song I Miss You Already , which also became a US hit for Billy Joe Royal . Other well-known songs were Tennessee Hound Dog Yodel and Albino Pink-Eyed Stallion . In 1971 he went on tour in Europe for the first time in twelve years; in Great Britain he recorded an LP with the London band Country Fever (with Albert Lee on guitar).

In the 1970s, Rainwater contracted esophageal cancer and moved to Aitkin County in northern Minnesota , where he was recovering from his illness. He died after a brief illness in September 2013.

Discography

Singles

  • 1955: I Gotta Go Get My Baby / Daddy's Glad You Came Home * CORAL 9-61342
  • 1955: Albino (Pink-Eyed) Stallion / Sticks And Stones * MGM 12071
  • 1955: Tea Bag Romeo / Tennessee Hound 'Dog Yodel * MGM 12090
  • 1955: Dem Low Down Blues / Where Do We Go From Here * MGM 12152
  • 1956: Mr. Blues / Hot And Cold * MGM 12240
  • 1956: What Am I Supposed To Do / Why Did You Have To Go And Leave Me * MGM 12313
  • 1956: Get Off The Stool / I Feel Like Leaving Town * MGM 12370
  • 1956: Gonna Find Me A Bluebird / So You Think You've Got Troubles * MGM 12412
  • 1957: My Brand Of Blues / My Love Is Real * MGM 12511
  • 1957: The Majesty Of Love (with Connie Francis) / You, My Darlin ', You * MGM 12555
  • 1957: Look For Me / Lucky Star * MGM 12586
  • 1957: Whole Lotta Woman / Baby, Don't Go * MGM 12609
  • 1958: Two Fools In Love / Because I'm A Dreamer * MGM 12625
  • 1958: I Dig You Baby / Moanin 'The Blues * MGM 12665
  • 1958: Nothin 'Needs Nothin' / A Need For Love * MGM 12701
  • 1958: Can I Count On You / Let Me Live Again * MGM 12728
  • 1958: Lonely Island / Born To Be Lonesome * MGM 12739
  • 1959: A Song Of Love / Half-Breed * MGM 12803
  • 1959: The Valley Of The Moon / Young Girls * MGM 12829
  • 1959: The Pale Faced Indian / Wayward Angel * MGM 12865 First version of Indian Reservation
  • 1960: Hard Luck Blues / She's Gone * MGM 12891
  • 1960: Yesterday's Kisses / You're Not Happy ('till I'm cryin') * MGM 12938
  • 1961: Boo Hoo / I Can't Forget * Warwick 666
  • 1962: Tough Top Cat / Honky Tonk In Your Heart * Warwick 674
  • 1963: Do It Now / Hey Good Lookin '* Star-Dale 337
  • My Old Home Town / It Wasn't Enough * United Artists 837
  • Indian Burial Ground / The Black Sheep * United Artists 917
  • Troubles My Little Boy Had / Sorrow Brings A Good Man Down * United Artists 50023
  • These Thoughts Of You (+ Bill Guess) / Love's Prison (+ Bill Guess) * Brave 1003
  • That Little House / It Wasn't Enough * Brave 7001
  • The Old Gang's Gone / Run For Your Life Boy * Brave 1017
  • Wedding Rings (+ Sister Patty) / Oklahoma Hills * Brave 1028

Albums

  • 1957: Songs by Marvin Rainwater (MGM)
  • 1958: Sings With a Heart - With a Beat (MGM, re-released 1985, Bear Family)
  • 1962: Gonna Find Me a Bluebird (MGM)
  • 1977: Especially for You (Westwood)
  • 1985: Rockin 'Rollin' (Bear Family) (also as Whole Lotta Woman on MGM)
  • Marvin Rainwater (Crown)
  • Country's Favorite Country Singer (Mount Vernon)

literature

  • Donald Clarke (ed.): The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music , p.376, London 1989/1990, ISBN 0-14-051147-4 .
  • David Roberts (ed.): Guinness World Records - British Hit Singles , 14th edition, London 2001, ISBN 0-85112-156-X .
  • Tim Rice / Jo Rice / Paul Gambaccini / Mike Read: The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits , Enfield 1982, ISBN 0-85112-250-7 .
  • Rice / Rice / Gambaccini: The Guinness Book of Number One Hits , 2nd edition, Enfield 1988, ISBN 0-85112-893-9 .
  • Joel Whitburn: Top 40 Hits , New York, Billboard Books

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Have You Heard the News ... Marvin Rainwater, best remembered for the # 18 hit "Gonna Find Me A Bluebird" in 1957, died ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oldiesmusic.com
  2. ↑ Marvin Rainwater in the US charts
  3. ↑ Marvin Rainwater in the British single charts
  4. ↑ Marvin Rainwater on Allmusic (English)
  5. ↑ US catalog number: MGM 12412. The single reached number 18 in the “Juke Box Hits”, number 19 in the “Best Seller Charts” and number 22 in the “Top 100”, compare: Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 484
  6. ^ US catalog number: MGM 12609
  7. ↑ The record came in at number 93 for a week. US catalog number: MGM 12555
  8. ↑ US catalog number: MGM 12803; the single reached number 66.
personal data
SURNAME Rainwater, Marvin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Percy, Marvin Karlton (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Wichita , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 2013
Place of death Aitkin , Minnesota