Crying in the Rain



"Crying in the Rain" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Carole King and originally recorded by The Everly Brothers. The single peaked at #6 on the U.S. pop charts in 1962.

The song was the only collaboration between successful songwriters Greenfield (lyrics) and King (music), both of whom worked for Aldon Music at the time of the song's composition. On a whim, two Aldon songwriting partnerships decided to switch partners for a day – Gerry Goffin (who normally worked with King) partnered with Greenfield's frequent writing partner, Jack Keller, leaving King and Greenfield to pair up for the day. Despite the commercial success of their collaboration, King and Greenfield never wrote another song together.

a-ha version
In 1989, the Norwegian pop band a-ha covered the song. It was the first single taken from their 1990 East of the Sun, West of the Moon album. Following its success, a-ha became closer to the Everly Brothers, who had originally recorded the song. The band members were presented a set of guitars by the Everly Brothers that a-ha continues to use.

This is one of the few commercially available songs that a-ha have covered, the only others being "Velvet", first released by Savoy, and "Dragonfly", first released by Magne Furuholmen.

Music video
The video was directed by Steve Barron. The theme of the video is a robbery gone wrong. It is actually the second version of this video. The first version did not feature any of the scenes of Morten Harket singing alone. The video was filmed entirely with a specific technique of mobile cameras, and it was filmed in Big Timber, Montana.

Chart performance
"Crying in the Rain" was a-ha's last single to go top 40 on a Billboard chart in the U.S. to date, peaking at #26 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart during the week ending April 6, 1991. It was more popular internationally, topping the charts in the band's native Norway, and peaking at #13 in the UK Singles Chart, where the band had found previous success as well. It was the 32nd most successful song of the year 2010 in Romanian Top 100, although it peaked outside the top 20.

7": Warner Bros. / W 9547 United Kingdom

 * 1) "Crying in the Rain" (Album Version) – 4:25
 * 2) "(Seemingly) Nonstop July" – 2:55

12": Warner Bros. / W 9547 T United Kingdom

 * 1) "Crying in the Rain" (Album Version) – 4:25
 * 2) "(Seemingly) Nonstop July" – 2:55
 * 3) "Cry Wolf" (Album Version) – 4:05

CD: Warner Bros. / W 9547CD United Kingdom

 * 1) "Crying in the Rain" (Album Version) – 4:25
 * 2) "(Seemingly) Nonstop July" – 2:55
 * 3) "Cry Wolf" (Album Version) – 4:05

Charts
Year-End Charts: #35 GER, #53 ITA

Other cover versions
"Crying in the Rain" was covered by many other artists. In 1972, Penny DeHaven in duet with Del Reeves released a Country version on a single only (Billboard country chart #54). Country singer Tammy Wynette covered the song in 1981, bringing it to the top 20 of the US country singles charts and #11 in the Canadian RPM Country 50 Singles. In 1989 it was covered by Blessings in Disguise, a band composed of Dave Hill and Noddy Holder of British hard rock band, Slade. The song was released as a single, backed with the Dave Hill written track, "Wild Nites".

The song was also covered by Crystal Gayle on her 1981 album Hollywood, Tennessee and by the British duo Peter and Gordon. Singer Art Garfunkel, of Simon and Garfunkel fame, covered the song in his album Up 'til Now (1993) in a duet with James Taylor. It was released in 2010 on Micky Dolenz King For a Day album.

The song was also covered by the Eurovision Song Contest winner Johnny Logan. German band Gregorian covered the song on their album Masters of Chant Chapter VI.

The song was covered by Marty Kristian of the New Seekers in 1973 "Crying In The Rain"/"A Woman Grows" (Polydor 2058 394)

Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds released a version of the song on their 1980 EP, Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing The Everly Brothers.

Carole King covered the song she co-wrote on her 1983 album Speeding Time and in a rare live performance with the group The Wallflowers in a televised performance.

Danzig covered the song on the 2015 album Skeletons.

Other songs with the same title
Whitesnake recorded a song by the same name. It was written by David Coverdale and released in 1982 on the album Saints & Sinners. In 1987, it was re-recorded for Whitesnake's self titled album.

Culture Beat recorded a different song with the same title, it peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart.