Mar 31, 20212 min read

Rainy Night in Georgia - Brook Benton (1970) 4/1/21

Quite a few links today! Enjoy them all...and the meandering story below:

Yesterday, we discussed a 5-year gap between hits for Dionne Warwick.

Today, we'll take a look at a singer who had a SEVEN year gap between hits...and when he finally made it back to the charts, he scored his first #1--and a "Great Song of the '70s!

Brook Benton had a number of Top 10 hits in the late '50s and early '60s. His biggest was the 1959 classic "It's Just a Matter of Time" (#1 on the Soul Chart and #3 on the Hot 100). But after 1963's "Hotel Happiness" (#2 on the Soul Chart, #3 on the Hot 100), he pretty much vanished from the charts. Until 1970.

Brook signed with a new label, Cotillion Records, and released an album called "Brook Benton Today."

The first release was written by singer/songwriter Tony Joe White, who spent a number years driving a dump truck in Marietta Georgia. When it rained, he'd get the day off and would stay at home playing his guitar all day, then go out drinking at night.

One day, he heard Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" on the radio and the fact that it sounded so personal to Bobbie, it inspired him to write his own personal song.

The song was "Rainy Night in Georgia."

Brook Benton's version of the song was slow and melancholy, and if you' didn't know it was about Tony Joe White, you'd swear Brook was singing about himself. And perhaps he was.

The song resonated with radio listeners of all types, reaching #1 on Billboard's Soul Chart, #2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, and #4 on the Hot 100. In Canada, it reached #2 on the Top 40 and AC Charts.

Since then, the song has been covered by the likes of Ray Charles, George Benson, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Rivers, Conway Twitty, Aaron Neville and several others.

"Rainy Night in Georgia:" a "Great Song of 1970," written by Tony Joe White and sung beautifully by Brook Benton.