The Rain, the Park & Other Things

"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" is a psychedelic pop song with music and lyrics co-written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff. It was recorded by the pop band The Cowsills, and included on their 1967 album The Cowsills (MGM E/SE-4498). Released as a single, the song reached #2 on the Billboard charts.[1] It was kept from the #1 spot by "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees.[2] The single cemented the group's international popularity and sold some three million copies over the years. It ties with 1969's "Hair" as the group's biggest hit, as both reached #2 in the U.S. It reached #1 in Canada's RPM Magazine charts. This song epitomizes “psycodelia” as it brilliantly reflects the colors, and surrealism, of the times in which it was produced. Ironically, it was a psycodelic song performed by a straight laced family, who were not part of the drug culture. The Cowsills also inspired the idea for the creation of“The Partridge Family”. Writter Artie Kornfeld, also went on to become the main promoter of the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

"The Rain, The Park & Other Things"
US release
Single by The Cowsills
from the album The Cowsills
B-side"River Blue"
ReleasedSeptember 1967
RecordedAugust 17, 1967
StudioA&R Recording Studios, New York City
GenrePsychedelic pop
Length2:57
LabelMGM
Songwriter(s)Artie Kornfeld, Steve Duboff
Producer(s)Artie Kornfeld
The Cowsills singles chronology
"A Most Peculiar Man"
(1966)		 "The Rain, The Park & Other Things"
(1967)		 "We Can Fly"
(1968)

Recording

The song was written by Kornfeld and Duboff specifically for the Cowsills; Bob Cowsill said Kornfeld told him they had written it in two hours.[3]

The Cowsills did not play on their earliest recordings. Studio musicians were brought in to provide the music for this song and many of the earlier singles. For this record, the arranger was Jimmy Wisner, musicians included Gene Bianco on harp,[4] Vinnie Bell, Charles Macy and Al Gorgoni on guitar, Joe Macho on bass, Artie Butler on organ, Paul Griffin on piano, George Devens on percussion, and Buddy Saltzman and Al Rogers on drums.[5]

Kornfeld had planned to use the sound of a rainstorm as the song's intro, but recordings of real rain proved to be too faint to hear on record; instead he used a stock sound of sizzling bacon to emulate rain.[3]

Originally recorded in late 1966, Barbara Cowsill's backing vocals were added onto the finished product after the initial sessions, at Kornfeld's suggestion.[3] The song was originally recorded at A&R Studios in New York with Brooks Arthur engineering the session.

The song is known by many as "The Flower Girl".[6] That was its original title, but MGM Records president Mort Nasatir suggested that the title be changed in order to avoid confusion with Scott McKenzie's contemporaneous hit single, "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)".[3] The new title was coined by Kornfeld.[3]

Lyrical content

In the song, the narrator states that he saw a flower girl sitting in the rain, said hello, and took a lovely walk in the park until, when the rain stops and the sun breaks through, she disappears. However, the narrator still feels happy about the flower girl, and asks in the final verse: "Was she reality, or just a dream to me?"

The song was used in the Lloyd fantasy scene in the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber.

Chart performance

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 149.
  2. https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1967-12-02
  3. Gibbs, Ryan. "Name that refrain: 'The Rain, The Park & Other Things' turns 50". NewportRI.com l News and information for Newport, Rhode Island. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  4. http://bapresley.com/silverthreads/transcripts/jimmy.html
  5. https://www.afmsagaftrafund.org/covered-rec-artist_SR_20190430.php?a=MDI3Mzk0&b=UkFJTiwgVEhFIFBBUksgJiBPVEhFUiBUSElOR1MsIFRIRQ%3D%3D&c=Q09XU0lMTFM%3D&s=Rg%3D%3D
  6. "The Rain, The Park And Other Things by The Cowsills Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  7. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  9. "Cash Box Top 100 11/25/67". Tropicalglen.com. 1967-11-25. Archived from the original on 2016-10-02. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  10. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  11. "Top 100 Hits of 1967/Top 100 Songs of 1967". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  12. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1967". Tropicalglen.com. 1967-12-23. Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
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