In The Hour Of Not Quite Rain / Buffalo Springfield

[Indiarnb]

Magic



[MegaAndreNo]

Enveloppant

[aprilglaspieable]

The string arrangement is likely by Stills and Van Dyke Parks.

[jaxterboy]

Gregatafloy Don't worry, just having fun, but I was serious about the song. It takes a lot to be creative and this song surely is, though people want to date it in the psychedelic era rather than hear it simply as an amazing recording. The strings are pretty weird, ala George Martin wouldn't you say?

[jaxterboy]

Gregatafloy ...Sorry, but you're an idiot. Too bad, cause you miss the insane magic of this song thinking there is a cracked note. What an asshole you are!

[Gregatafloy]

@jaxterboy

Just for that? I didn't say it was a poor song. I just think it sounded like a cracked note. If that makes me an "ass"hole then there is no hope for us. It seems like you are too caught up in the whole nasty youtube comment culture to reason with so I leave it there.

[harvey1954]

Curiously left off the Buffalo boxset. Was that because an outsider wrote the lyrics? One of three vynil Buffalo Springfield tunes you can't get on the box.

[Gregatafloy]

It's surprising that they didn't do a retake because his voice cracks badly on the last note of the word "sobered".

[Pippy187]

Im left speechless... what a beautiful song!

[MacGrurry]

i read that this song was from a KHJ Radio La contest winner that sent in a poem and the Boys put music to it

[TheClam88]

@MacGrurry  exactly.

[DustyDale1]

What a way for this band to go out! It is very quiet and moody LP that creeps in like the San Francisco fog and changes everything.

[Helterskelter4]

Beautiful song. Richie sings this perfectly. Ive always thought the lyrics by Michaela Callen are an excellent example of english literature full of metaphors with an empathetic emotive writing style.

This song has always been skipped by most, but it's actually one of my favourites on merit of haunting melody and atmospheric metaphoric thought provoking english writing. Some may digress that the lyrics are rubbish. But go a bit deeper and you will find it.

[MacGrurry]

@Helterskelter4 i love the end where the orchestra comes in, you can almost imagine a roll call of the band members at integral parts

[boffo1962]

Amazing song! How does Richie hold those notes for so long?! :>

[leonardinaustin]

Well Stup. we are talking about a 40 year old song contest where 15000+ song attempts were heard on local AM channel KHJ in LA.

It was great to have Neil Young and Sam Riddle, the DJ, read off the final entries.

It was a fun experience during a time of turmoil going on in the country.

The song had no hook in it like For What It's Worth. But it was a chance for a great band and their fans to come together. Who wouldn't want your song in a Buffalo Springfield album?

[Soundmixer4]

Yes, you are correct. The writer's name was Micki Callen, but that was her name from her first husband. I dated her, when she was single, and her maiden name was Phillips. That was back in 1964, when we were both in junior college. She was writing poetry back then and "hour of not quite rain" was a poem of hers. We kept in touch for a while after she got married, and I remember talking to her after she won the contest. She got divorced, remarried, and we lost touch....

[TheClam88]

@Soundmixer4 very interesting-thanks for the history.

[leonardinaustin]

This song has quite a story behind it in that it was the winning entry of a songwriting contest in LA. There were several thousand enries looking for their shot at prosperity!

It's been over 40 years but I'm glad I finally got to hear the winning song.

[stuporsession]

that's why the lyrics are so lame. great vocal by Richie, though

[phloydrix]

one of the most haunting songs ive ever ahd the pleasure to hear......i need to find my cd of last time around

[Keyboardman88]

@phloydrix Aother good song with a haunting quality is "Today" by Jefferson Airplane off of their Surrelistic Pillow album.

[byrdsmaniac]

yep

[Judafe]

truly an underrated song