Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
Encyclopedia
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is B. J. Thomas
's #1 song, written by Hal David
and Burt Bacharach
for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score
. It was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six. In the film version of the song, B. J. Thomas had been recovering from laryngitis, which made his voice sound more hoarse than in the 7" release. The film version featured a separate instrumental break when Paul Newman
undertook stunts on a bicycle.
was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film, but turned it down. He chose instead to record the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down", written by Kris Kristofferson
. Bob Dylan
is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he too reportedly declined.
The single by B. J. Thomas reached #1 on charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It topped the Billboard Hot 100
for four weeks in January 1970 and also spent seven weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 2008, Thomas's version was ranked as the 85th biggest song on Billboards Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. His version reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart
.
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was in the film Spy Hard
, which parodied the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It is on the soundtracks to Forrest Gump
and Spider-Man 2
, in the latter accentuating Peter Parker's blissful mood after abandoning his Spider-Man
identity and its responsibilities. It was used in the Kevin Smith
film Clerks II
. The first episode of Grey's Anatomy
s second season is named after the song.
Johnny Farnham version
numerous times. It was a 1970 #1 hit (seven weeks) in Australia for John Farnham
. In 1970, it was also covered by Engelbert Humperdinck
on his album We Made It Happen, Johnny Mathis
on his album Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, Perry Como
on his album It's Impossible
, and The Four Tops on their album Changing Times.
It has been covered by French singer Sacha Distel
, whose version was a #10 hit in the UK Singles Chart
, as well as France. Bobbie Gentry
's version reached #40 in the UK chart.
The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers
maintain "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in their repertoire of live songs, playing it as part of an acoustic set during concerts. The band recorded a version of the song complete with trumpet solo by their drummer Sean Moore
. It was the first piece of music the band recorded after the disappearance of guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards, and saw release on the 1995 charity album Help
. That version also appears on their 2003 B-sides and rarities compilation album Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers). The Manics further reference the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with the B-side "Sepia".
Paul Mauriat
recorded it with his Grand Orchestra it 1973. It was the only known cover in the USSR. Delroy Wilson
recorded a reggae version of the song that does not appear on any of his official albums. Mute Beat
recorded a reggae version for their 1989 album March.
Jacques Loussier
recorded a cover on his 1987 album In Loussier's Mood. The Flaming Lips
covered it on 1996's Brainville EP. Ben Folds Five
also covered it for the 1998 Burt Bacharach tribute TV special and soundtrack One Amazing Night
. In 1998, Shonen Knife
covered it as part of Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach. In 2005, Australian band Jebediah
covered it for Triple J
's Like a Version
compilation. Dionne Warwick
has collaborated with Kelis
on a cover for her 2006 duets album, while Barry Manilow
covered it on his 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
.
B. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
's #1 song, written by Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
. It was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six. In the film version of the song, B. J. Thomas had been recovering from laryngitis, which made his voice sound more hoarse than in the 7" release. The film version featured a separate instrumental break when Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
undertook stunts on a bicycle.
History
Ray StevensRay Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film, but turned it down. He chose instead to record the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down", written by Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he too reportedly declined.
The single by B. J. Thomas reached #1 on charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It topped 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...
for four weeks in January 1970 and also spent seven weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 2008, Thomas's version was ranked as the 85th biggest song on Billboards Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. His version reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was in the film Spy Hard
Spy Hard
Spy Hard is a 1996 American spy comedy film starring Leslie Nielsen and Nicollette Sheridan, parodying James Bond films and other action films. The introduction to the song is sung by comedy artist "Weird Al" Yankovic-Plot:...
, which parodied the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It is on the soundtracks to Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
and Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
, in the latter accentuating Peter Parker's blissful mood after abandoning his Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
identity and its responsibilities. It was used in the Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
film Clerks II
Clerks II
Clerks II is a 2006 American comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, sequel to his 1994 film Clerks, and his sixth and latest feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse...
. The first episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
s second season is named after the song.
Chart positions
B. J. Thomas version| Chart (1969/1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria Top 40 | 11 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 7 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 28 |
| French Singles Chart | 56 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
38 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 9 |
| German Singles Chart | 40 |
Johnny Farnham version
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
Covers
The song has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
numerous times. It was a 1970 #1 hit (seven weeks) in Australia for John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
. In 1970, it was also covered by Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...
on his album We Made It Happen, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
on his album Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
on his album It's Impossible
It's Impossible (album)
It's Impossible was Perry Como's 19th RCA Victor 12" long-play album, the 17th recorded in full "living" stereophonic sound.It's Impossible was recorded quickly to be an album to go with Como's surprise number one single, "It's Impossible"....
, and The Four Tops on their album Changing Times.
It has been covered by French singer Sacha Distel
Sacha Distel
Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
, whose version was a #10 hit in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, as well as France. Bobbie Gentry
Bobbie Gentry
Roberta Lee Streeter , professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material...
's version reached #40 in the UK chart.
The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
maintain "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in their repertoire of live songs, playing it as part of an acoustic set during concerts. The band recorded a version of the song complete with trumpet solo by their drummer Sean Moore
Sean Moore (musician)
Sean Anthony Moore is the writer, drummer/percussionist and sometime trumpet player of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.-Early years:...
. It was the first piece of music the band recorded after the disappearance of guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards, and saw release on the 1995 charity album Help
The Help Album
The Help Album is a 1995 charity album devoted to the War Child charity's aid efforts in war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina...
. That version also appears on their 2003 B-sides and rarities compilation album Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers). The Manics further reference the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with the B-side "Sepia".
Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat
Paul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...
recorded it with his Grand Orchestra it 1973. It was the only known cover in the USSR. Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
recorded a reggae version of the song that does not appear on any of his official albums. Mute Beat
Mute Beat
Mute Beat was an influential dub reggae band from Japan. Their first release was a self-titled cassette on New York's Roir label. - Members :* Kazufumi "Echo" Kodama - trumpet* Akihotp Masui - trombone* Hiroyuki Asamoto - keyboards...
recorded a reggae version for their 1989 album March.
Jacques Loussier
Jacques Loussier
Jacques Loussier is a French pianist and composer. He is well-known for his jazz interpretations in trio formation of many of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, such as the Goldberg Variations.-Early life and education :...
recorded a cover on his 1987 album In Loussier's Mood. The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
covered it on 1996's Brainville EP. Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
also covered it for the 1998 Burt Bacharach tribute TV special and soundtrack One Amazing Night
One Amazing Night
One Amazing Night is a 1998 live tribute show performed by artists such as Dionne Warwick, Elvis Costello, Luther Vandross, Sheryl Crow and others to honour the music of Burt Bacharach. It was recorded live at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City with Bacharach himself conducting the orchestra...
. In 1998, Shonen Knife
Shonen Knife
Shonen Knife, written in Japanese characters as 少年ナイフ, which transliterates as Shōnen Naifu, literally "Boy Knife," is an all-female Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka, Japan, in 1981...
covered it as part of Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach. In 2005, Australian band Jebediah
Jebediah
Jebediah is an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. The group consists of vocalist and guitarist Kevin Mitchell, guitarist Chris Daymond, bassist Vanessa Thornton, and Kevin's brother Brett Mitchell on drums...
covered it for Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's Like a Version
Like A Version
Like a Version is a segment on the Australian radio station Triple J. It was created by Mel Bampton as part of the Mel in the Morning program. Currently the segment pops up whenever artists are available and willing to do it, though mainly on the Breakfast show...
compilation. Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
has collaborated with Kelis
Kelis
Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1971 is an American musical artist. She is a BRIT Award, Q Award and NME Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She has had nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart...
on a cover for her 2006 duets album, while Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
covered it on his 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
The Greatest Songs of the Sixties is Barry Manilow's sequel album for The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. The album was another major hit for Manilow in the United States, selling nearly 50% more than his previous album in its opening week. As with its predecessor, this album was produced by Clive...
.
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1970
- List of number-one hits in Norway
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1969 (U.S.)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1970 (U.S.)