![]() ![]() Tyrell left Houston to work at Scepter, where he identified talent in Houston and Memphis and signed performers to the label. Thomas today says Tyrell played an inestimable role in his subsequent success. Another Houstonian, Steve Tyrell, connected Thomas to the New York-based Scepter Records, a label that would turn the singer into a star. In the mid-1960s, Thomas covered Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” a cover he made for his honky tonk-loving father, and it grew from regional hit to national hit. “But playing in Houston, that still counted for something.” “I tell you, it was an exciting time and there were so many great artists making music who never got outside the city limits,” he says. ![]() With his band the Triumphs, he was a big draw around the Houston area, particularly west of the city in the Richmond and Rosenberg area where he grew up. Country and gospel would always be present in his work, but a young Thomas wanted to sing a buzzing mix of rock ‘n roll and R&B. He grew up singing in the church, and his father was a fervent country music fan. Thomas’ path to the song started in Houston several years earlier. It was just effective and true.” Houston roots The rain’s going to fall, but if you feel free, you don’t have that many worries. The lyrics are simple and effective and true. “There’s so much that makes the song work. “You’re talking about the greatest composer of all time, and Hal, a guy who was brilliant at writing lyrics straight from the heart,” Thomas says. Composer Burt Bacharach and his songwriting partner, lyricist Hal David, created the song together based on the titular phrase Bacharach wrote. But “Visions of Johanna” - to cite my favorite Dylan song - is a masterpiece not known among people unattuned to Dylan’s catalog.Įven pushed on the song’s familiarity, Thomas deflects attention to its composers. Those who aren’t Dylan fans likely know “Like a Rolling Stone” as a sort of shorthand. He’s penned dozens of brilliant songs that have found listeners across generations. Take Bob Dylan’s work, to name just one songwriter and recording artist. Compared to the number of songs recorded, few actually attain the cultural ubiquity of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” with a refrain known by millions. He’s correct, but he’s also being modest. “That have some perpetual meaning and importance in people’s lives.” “There are so many songs that achieved that etched-in-stone kind of thing,” Thomas says. It’s one of those tunes that extended beyond an artist’s fan base to become subsumed by the culture at large. But the song’s history sings aptly for itself. ![]() Thomas, 77, talks about the song with an understated quality. 1 on the pop charts for four weeks in January 1970 He then re-recorded it, a rendition with a cleaner vocal that was released as a single, which stayed No. That take appeared in the hit film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” released late in 1969. Thomas recorded two versions, the first a grittier cut made when he had laryngitis. Thomas’ voice presented a lovely mix of resignation and resilience as it shuffled through the song “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” ![]()
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