Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head

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Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head
BJ Thomas
publication October 14, 1969
length 3:02
Genre (s) ballad
text Hal David
music Burt Bacharach
Publisher (s) Scepter Records
Award (s) Gold record , BMI award , Oscar / best film music
album Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head
BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head (1969)

Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head is the song title of a ballad written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Two Bandits . The song was initially sung by BJ Thomas and won an Oscar for Best Song . David and Bacharach also received the Oscar for Best Film Music .

History of origin

Bacharach and David began in the summer of 1969 with the conception of the song based on the script for the film Zwei Banditen . Director George Roy Hill needed an attention-grabbing song that would fit the scene of a romantic bike ride. Burt usually wrote the music, but he also suggested the music title. Hill accepted the suggestion, now a suitable interpreter had to be found. The finished song should actually be taken over by Bob Dylan . When he declined, the choice fell on Ray Stevens , but he also refused. The decision was now made on BJ Thomas, who was still suffering from laryngitis the day before the admission . The recording for the movie opened in August 1969 in seven takes that one ukulele - Intro and trumpets included solos by Chuck Findlay, in the Bell Sound Recording Studios . The single version was created two weeks after the Bell recording in September 1969 in the A&R studios of New York City under the supervision of Phil Ramone . For this purpose, the ukulele intro, trumpet solos and Bacharach's piano arrangement were adopted.

Publication and Success

The release of the single Raindrops Keep Fallin 'on My Head / Never Had It So Good ( Scepter Records SCE-12265) was on October 14, 1969, almost synchronized with the cinema premiere on October 24, 1969. With 2 million copies sold by March 1970 it became the first million seller for Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song first received a BMI Award before it was named "Best Song" on April 7, 1970 at the 1970 Academy Awards .

The single reached number one hit status in the United States , Canada and Norway , holding number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts for seven weeks . In December 1969, the single received a gold record . In 2008, the version sung by BJ Thomas was voted number 85 on Billboard ’s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.

Cover versions

There are at least 146 cover versions . The most successful of these is the version by John Farnham (December 1969), which topped the Australian charts for seven weeks from January 1970 . This was followed by Sacha Distel (January 1970), whose French version Toute la pluie tombe sur moi took 10th place in the British single charts . Further cover versions came from Bobbie Gentry (February 1970), Nancy Wilson (February 1970), Dionne Warwick (April 1970), Johnny Mathis (LP of the same name; April 1970), Engelbert (LP We Made it Happen ; July 1970), The Free Design (LP Stars / Time / Bubbles / Love ; September 1970), The Four Tops (LP Changing Times ; October 1970), Perry Como (LP It's Impossible ; November 1970), Udo Jürgens (LP New World of Udo Jürgens ; 1973) or Texas Lightning (August 2005).

There are at least three different German versions of the song: Wenn ich die Raentropfen seh ' , with a text by Charly Niessen , was recorded by Caterina Valente (1970), Gerhard Wendland (1970) and Marion Maerz (1971) , among others . I don't mind rain or wind , with a German text by Max Colpet , recorded by Fred Bertelmann and Rex Gildo (both 1970). The third variant, Rain falls on the world today , was first sung by Heidi Brühl , who also wrote the text. She released the song as a single, but didn't have a hit with it. Horst Jankowski adopted this version in 1970 for his album For Nightpeople Only . In addition, also took Bernd Spier on this version.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jay Warner, On this Day in Music History , 2004, p. 307
  2. ↑ Jay Hodgson, Understanding Records: A Field Guide To Recording Practice , 2010, p. 43
  3. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 294
  4. ^ Entry of the song at Hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 15, 2013 .
  5. ^ Music Australia - Farnham
  6. ↑ David Roberts British Hit Singles & Albums Guinness World Records Limited, London 2006, p. 136
  7. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=When+ich+die+Regentropfen+seh&type=all
  8. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=%22Mich+st%C3%B6rt+kein+Regen+und+nein+Wind%22&type=all
  9. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=%22Regen+f%C3%A4llt+heute+auf+die+Welt%22&type=all