If you've ever seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, you'll certainly remember the scene wherein Paul Newman and Katharine Ross are riding a newfangled (at the time) vehicle called a bicycle around her home's front yard. It's a humorous and whimsical moment in the film, made all the more so by this week's tune providing the background music....
Billy Joe (B.J.) Thomas was born in 1942 in Hugo, Oklahoma, and began his career as a teenager singing in a church choir. While in high school he joined a band called the Triumphs, and by 1966 they had their first hit, a cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Thomas went solo shortly thereafter and had a string of hits through the early eighties before finding God (he had drinking and drug problems) and beginning a quite successful transition to singing Contemporary Christian music. He would go on to win five Grammys in the Christian music categories but would incorporate many of his older pop hits into his shows. For his career, Thomas released 60 albums (the vast majority of which were religious in nature), and 71 singles (with two hitting #1, and three more reaching the top ten). Sadly, Thomas passed away last year from complications from lung cancer.
Fun Fact: Thomas holds the record for the longest-titled single to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for his song "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song."
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (written by songwriters extraordinaire Burt Bacharach and Hal David) was, as noted above, originally written for and appeared on the soundtrack to, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (and also won an Academy Award for Best Song). Thomas later included it on his own album, the ingeniously titled Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head.The single went on to become the first #1 (with a bullet!) hit of his career, while the album hit #12 on the Billboard 200.
When my sister, my brother, and myself were in grade school, there was a tragic plane crash (couldn't begin to tell you which one), and we asked our father what he would do if he was on a plane that was about to crash. He told us that he would start flapping his arms and find a way to become the first man to fly. When we questioned the wisdom of this plan, he simply stated that somehow, someway, he'd figure out how to survive. I thought of this piece of our past as I did my half-assed research this week, and it dawned on me why my father loved this song so: it's about a man who's vowing come hell or high water to make the best of a bad situation. The song opens with a brief but marvelous ukulele solo, has a nice trumpet solo during the break, and is sung with all the plaintiveness that Thomas can muster. This one is obviously a bit personal for me, but it's a hell of a pop song and a gentle reminder of just how much our memories shape our lives.
Lyric Sheet: "But there's one thing I know/The blues they sent to meet me/Won't defeat me/It won't be long 'til happiness steps up to greet me..."
JUST IN: Marjorie Taylor Greene just went on the House floor to attack COVID vaccines by claiming she has “never seen the CDC” recommend a 2nd and 3rd shot for polio. Actually, the CDC recommends FOUR doses of the polio vaccine — at 2 months, 4 months, 6-18 months, and 4-6 years.
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