Rain

Believe it or not, this is a song that somehow managed to fall through the cracks for me.  I do not recall even hearing this B-side when it was originally released in May of 1966; it must not have gotten much airplay, though it did hit number twenty-three on the Billboard chart.  I had already stopped buying many singles by the Beatles once I noticed that Capitol Records was in the habit of putting most - but not all - songs from singles onto albums shortly after their initial release.  Thus, I did not purchase a copy of Paperback Writer.  It was only several years later when a friend gave me some singles that he no longer wanted (yes, really!) that I discovered this mind-bending B-side.

The group began work on this composition by Lennon on the evening of April 14th, 1966, after spending the afternoon session finishing up the A-side Paperback Writer.  They only needed five takes of the backing track of Rain before arriving at the master.  This master was achieved by recording the group playing at a quicker tempo than what we know, then slowing the tape down to create a different aural texture.  The opposite was done with John's lead vocal, speeding it up on playback to make it sound slightly faster.

Much has been made over the years of the drumming on the track, most notably by Ringo himself.  Max Weinberg of the E Street Band interviewed him when compiling his book The Big Beat about drummers and their work, and Ringo told him, "I know me and I know my playing, and then there's Rain."  He proudly considers it to be the best of his career.

What happened at the end of this day's work is the stuff of legend.  As was customary at the time, John was given a tape of the track to take home, so he could listen to it and decide what more might be added.  He mistakenly played the tape backwards and was mesmerized.  (Contrary to this version, producer George Martin naturally knew that voices and instruments sounded different when played backwards, and claimed that he made this known to John.) 

At any rate, the group reconvened two days later on April 16th, with John suggesting that the entire track be played backwards.  Martin appeased him by reversing his lead vocal during the final verse as the song fades out.  Among the many overdubs added on this day were tambourine from Ringo, backing vocals by Paul and George, and double-tracking of John's vocal in the refrains.  One major overdub was of Paul's bass, replacing his bass line from the backing track in the new and improved manner that they had used for the first time only days earlier on Paperback Writer.  Before the session ended, the song was mixed for mono and ready for release.

As it turned out, neither side of the single appeared on the August 1966 album Revolver, nor on the US compilation album Yesterday...and Today.  It was not until the end of the group's career, when new manager Allen Klein struck a deal with Capitol allowing that company to assemble a compilation entitled Hey Jude, that the song made it onto an album.  For this February 1970 release, Rain was finally mixed into stereo.  This stereo version was also used when the group's catalog was issued on CD for the first time in 1988, on the collection Past Masters Volume Two.

Promotional films and videos were made for both sides of the single, with Michael Lindsey-Hogg directing.  On May 19th, 1966, a color performance video of Rain was shot specifically for the Ed Sullivan Show, then a similar black and white video was made for British television.  The next day, May 20th, a color film was produced in the gardens of Chiswick House.  Ringo gets the most exposure here right from the top as he walks toward the camera coming from an archway featuring a sign which reads "Way Out."  This film, as well as a re-edited version of the black and white video, can be viewed on the excellent collection 1+.

Though they never played the song live, the Beatles did make a rare live TV appearance on Top of the Pops on June 16th, 1966, miming to both sides of their latest single.  

The song has only gained in stature over the years, even serving as the title of a long-running touring and Broadway show - Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles.