Genre: Memphis soul / Southern soul / R&B. I Can't Stand the Rain is the fourth studio album by Ann Peebles (born Ann Lee Peebles, Kinloch, Missouri, 1947), and the creative peak of her career: one of the great records of the Hi Records era and one of the defining albums of early-1970s Memphis soul. Peebles had been discovered by Hi Records owner Willie Mitchell while visiting Memphis in the late 1960s, and all of her Hi albums were produced by Mitchell at Royal Recording Studios. The backing band throughout is the Hi Rhythm Section: Mabon 'Teenie' Hodges on guitar, Leroy Hodges on bass, Charles Hodges on organ and Howard Grimes on drums — the same legendary ensemble that supported Al Green throughout his imperial Hi Records period. The Memphis Horns (Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love) add further colour. The album was largely written by Peebles and her partner and later husband, Hi Records staff writer Don Bryant, often in partnership with DJ Bernard 'Bernie' Miller. The title track, 'I Can't Stand the Rain', co-written by Peebles, Bryant and Miller, was born when Peebles snapped 'I can't stand the rain' one evening in Memphis as a storm broke. Bryant immediately seized the phrase. The song features Howard Grimes on timbales — placed at the very front of the arrangement at Willie Mitchell's suggestion — with Teenie Hodges overdubbing to create the signature sound of falling water. John Lennon called it 'the best song ever'. The album also includes 'I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down' (Earl Randle), later a hit for Paul Young, and a version of Joe Simon's '(You Keep Me) Hangin' On'.
Label: Hi Records (Memphis), released 1974.
Producer: Willie Mitchell. Engineer: Willie Mitchell.
Recording studio: Royal Recording Studios, 1320 South Lauderdale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Recorded 1973.
Critical reception: The album was hailed on release and has grown considerably in stature since. AllMusic's Steve Leggett described it as 'a classic album of dark, bouncy, and beautiful Southern soul', praising Willie Mitchell's 'perfect use of horns and strings' and calling Peebles 'a resilient but disappointed angel.' The Soul and Funk Historical website noted that Peebles 'was only 25 when she recorded the album, but on songs like the title track her voice simply dripped with pain and experience that seemed more appropriate for a fifty year old.' The title track is ranked at number 197 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2014, Peebles was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
Commercial success: The title single 'I Can't Stand the Rain' reached number 6 on the US R&B chart and number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 41 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached number 155 on the Billboard 200 — Peebles' highest-charting album. A disco version by Eruption in 1978 reached number 1 in Belgium and Australia and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Missy Elliott sampled the song on her 1997 debut single 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'.
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