""Lizzie and the Rainman" is as song written by Kenny O'Dell

Kenny O'Dell

Kenny O'Dell is an American country music singer and songwriter.Early in his career he worked with guitar legand,Duane Eddy,and his own band, Guys and Dolls. He is best known for writing the country hit "Behind Closed Doors", which Charlie Rich recorded, and "Mama He's Crazy" for The Judds...

 and Larry Henley

Larry Henley

Larry Henley is an American singer and songwriter, born June 30, 1941 in Arp, Texas. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the 1989 hit record, "Wind Beneath My Wings". The single was a U.S...

 which was a #1 C&W

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 hit for Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker

Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...

 in 1975.

A narrative song as was typical for the first phase of Tucker's career, "Lizzie and the Rainman" relates how a
rainmaker

Rainmaking

Rainmaking refers to the act of attempting to artificially induce or increase precipitation, usually to stave off drought.In the US, rainmaking was attempted by traveling showmen. It was practiced in the old west but may have reached a peak during the dust bowl drought of the American West and...

 visiting a drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

-sticken Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 town woos a skeptical local woman named Lizzie Cooper . The idea for the song came from the film The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker (1956 film)

The Rainmaker is a 1956 film directed by Joseph Anthony and adapted by N. Richard Nash from his play The Rainmaker. The film tells the story of a middle-aged woman, suffering from unrequited love for the local town sheriff; however, she falls for a con man who comes to town with the promise that he...

whose heroine is named Lizzie Curry.

Written in 1971, "Lizzie and the Rainman" had been recorded in 1972 by Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro

Bobby Goldsboro is an American country and pop singer-songwriter. He had a string of Pop and Country hits during the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature #1 classic "Honey," which sold well over one million copies in the United States.-Early life:Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida...

, Alex Harvey (composer of Tucker's breakout hit "Delta Dawn

Delta Dawn

"Delta Dawn" is a song written by former child rockabilly star Larry Collins and songwriter Alex Harvey , best known as a 1972 top ten C&W hit for Tanya Tucker and a number-one hit for Helen Reddy in 1973.-Lyrical story:The title character is a faded southern...

") and by the Hollies

The Hollies

The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

 (as "Lizzy and the Rainman") as well as Kenny O'Dell himself, who had an unsuccessful single release of "Lizzie and the Rainman".

Tanya Tucker recorded her vocal for "Lizzie and the Rainman" in a 19 March 1975 session http://countrydiscography.blogspot.com/search/label/Tucker%20Tanya in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 produced by Snuff Garrett

Snuff Garrett

Snuff Garrett is a retired American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. His nickname is a play on Garrett's Snuff, a brand of snuff....

; Tucker would recall: "the recording was so impersonal. I was used to recording live with all the musicians in the studio, and I just sang to the tracks on this one." Released as the lead single from the album Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker (album)

Tanya Tucker was the eponymous fourth album by Tanya Tucker, although it was the first for her new label, MCA Records. The album rose to #8 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and two of its singles both rose to the #1 position: "Lizzie and the Rainman" and "San Antonio Stroll." "Lizzie and the...

- which marked Tucker's MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

 debut - "Lizzie and the Rainman" became Tucker's fourth C&W

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 #1 and was also the first Tanya Tucker's single to accrue enough interest to reach the Pop Top 40 reaching #37 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in June 1975. A #7 A/C

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

 hit, "Lizzie and the Rainman" would prove to be Tucker's only Pop hit despite her later recording material more specifically aimed at the Pop market; her one subsequent Hot 100 item "Here's Some Love

Here's Some Love (song)

"Here's Some Love" is the title track from Tanya Tucker's sixth album. The single was written by Richard Mainegra and Jack Roberts would become Tanya Tucker's sixth number one on the country chart. "Here's Some Love" would also peak on the Hot 100 at number eighty-two and reach the top 30 on the...

" peaked at #82.

"Lizzie and the Rainman" has also been recorded by Billie Jo Spears

Billie Jo Spears

Billie Jo Spears is an American country music singer. She reached the top-10 of the Country music charts five times between 1969 and 1977, her biggest hit being "Blanket on the Ground", which, in 1975, became her only number one...

 and - as "Lizzy and the Rainman" - by the Cox Family

The Cox Family

The Cox Family is an American Bluegrass family group from Cotton Valley in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States.-Members:*Evelyn Cox - guitar, vocals*Lynn Cox - - bass, vocals...

.

Chart performance

Chart (1975)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	37
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	7
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	66
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	2