Saturday, January 5, 2019

Rain - Rain (1972 us, fine blend of soft prog and folky psych, 2008 reissue)



Though the lone record from Rain is a few stops short of a lost classic, Sunbeam's reputation is intact thanks to the solid songwriting of Frank Schallis, who passed away in 2000, and Cobb Bussinger. Cobb gives a nice rundown of the aftermath left on the wake of Rock Island (also a one album phenomena), that band's path to Rain, and the latter's disillusion and disbanding during the writing of a double LP follow-up at the hands of the usual industry ineptitude and shortsightedness. 

Though the vocals were occasionally a little corny and the production of Jeff Hest, under direction from the legendary Enoch Light, sounded more late '70s than early, the eponymous solitary album boasted a great deal of variety from early prog, power pop, and folk to psychedelic rock and even a little jazz. "To a Dreamer" alone is a dazzling mix of organ driven hard rock and ELP prog, specifically the Moog from the "Lucky Man" solo. They deserved a shot at that album. There was so much more they could have done that they never had a chance to prove. Shame on you, nameless record executives.
by Alan Ranta
Tracks
1. Can You Help Me Sing My Song - 1:53
2. To A Dreamer - 3:59
3. Mother's Evil Child - 3:02
4. Love Me Still - 4:02
5. All Your Days Are Long - 6:31
6. Let Our Hopes Run Our Dreams - 3:34
7. Song To Barbara - 5:19
8. You Take Me Higher - 2:28
9. He Could Have Known - 5:46
10.As I Played My Song (For You) - 3:19
All songs by  Cobb Bussinger, Frank Schallis

Rain
*Cobb Bussinger - Celeste, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals
*Ric Criniti - Bass, Vocals
*Michael Kennedy - Lead Guitar, Vocals
*Frank Schallis - Drums, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals

Related Act
1970  Rock Island - Rock Island 

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