Candles in the Rain | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 1970 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Pop | |||
Label | Buddah | |||
Producer | Peter Schekeryk | |||
Melanie chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Candles in the Rain is singer Melanie's third album. Released in 1970, the album produced Melanie's first Top Ten single in North America, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", which was inspired by the crowd's reaction to her performance at Woodstock. The cover of the Rolling Stones' 1967 song "Ruby Tuesday" reached the Top Ten in the United Kingdom.
In their review of the album, Billboard Magazine stated that "Melanie's song creations and vocal interpretations are widely popular in Europe, and with this LP her success in the U.S. should be assured. "Lay Down (Candles In the Rain)," with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, is her current single and the most exciting cut; other outstanding originals include "Leftover Wine" and "Citiest People." Her versions of "Ruby Tuesday" and "Carolina in My Mind" are definitive." [2]
Cashbox noted that the album "offers her strongest bid to date for album success with this beautifully poetic LP....Melanie should find herself on the charts with this excellent record." [3]
Allmusic stated that "this was where she seemed to truly hit the mark for the first time...If Candles in the Rain was the album that broke Melanie to a larger audience, it did so not just because it featured her biggest hit single to date, but because it matched material and interpretation with greater skill than she had in the past, and it ranks with her finest work." [4]
All songs written by Melanie Safka except where noted.
Some versions of the album substituted "Close to It All" for "Alexander Beetle", some versions have neither song.
On the original 1970 UK release by Buddah Records (2318009), "Lay Down" is given a timing of 3:49 on both label and sleeve notes as is quoted above. On this album, the track is in fact 7:44 minutes long (from direct timing), but was 3:49 on her Very Best of album.
Chart | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Albums Chart [5] | 17 |
U.S. Cash Box Albums Chart [6] | 6 |
Australian Albums Chart | 2 |
Canadian Albums Chart | 5 |
German Albums Chart | 33 |
Norwegian Albums Chart | 20 |
UK Albums Chart [7] | 5 |
Dutch Album Charts [8] | 4 |
Chart | Title | Peak position |
---|---|---|
U.S. Cash Box Charts | "Lay Down" | 3 |
U.S Billboard Hot 100 | "Lay Down" | 6 |
Australian Charts | "Lay Down" | 2 |
Canadian Charts | "Lay Down" | 1 |
Netherlands Charts | "Lay Down" | 1 |
U.S. Cash Box Charts | "Ruby Tuesday" | 34 |
U.S Billboard Hot 100 | "Ruby Tuesday" | 52 |
German Charts | "Ruby Tuesday" | 6 |
Austrian Charts | "Ruby Tuesday" | 2 |
Belgian Charts | "Ruby Tuesday" | 14 |
Canadian Charts | "Ruby Tuesday" | 25 |
UK Chart | "Ruby Tuesday" | 9 |
Australian Charts | "Ruby Tuesday EP" | 70 |
UK Singles Chart | "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" | 39 |
Norwegian Charts | "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" | 6 |
Belgian Charts | "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [9] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1970.
Melanie Anne Safka Schekeryk, professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, was an American singer-songwriter.
Buddah Records was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding. Buddah handled a variety of music genres, including bubblegum pop, folk rock (Melanie), experimental music, and soul.
"Ruby Tuesday" is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1966, released in January 1967. The song became the band's fourth number-one hit in the United States and reached number three in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with "Let's Spend the Night Together". The song was included in the American version of Between the Buttons.
Woodstock Two is the second live album released of the 1969 Woodstock Festival concert. The two-LP set contains more material from many acts featured on the first Woodstock album with additional performances from Mountain and Melanie. The tracks by Mountain were in fact not from their Woodstock performance but rather a show recorded at New York's Fillmore East. Unlike the first Woodstock soundtrack LP, this LP does not contain any ancillary stage announcements. Like the previous album this was also packaged in a triple gatefold sleeve.
Edwin Reuben Hawkins was an American gospel musician, pianist, vocalist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. As the leader of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, he was probably best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" (1968–69), which was included on the "Songs of the Century" list. In 1970, the Edwin Hawkins Singers made a second foray into the charts, backing folk singer Melanie on "Lay Down ".
"Ruby Baby" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Drifters. Their version was released as a single by Atlantic Records in 1956. It peaked at No. 10 on the US Hot R&B chart.
"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of the 1755 hymn by clergyman Philip Doddridge. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching No. 4 on the US Singles Chart, No. 1 in France, Germany, and the Netherlands and No. 2 on the Canadian Singles Chart, UK Singles Chart, and Irish Singles Chart. It has since become a gospel music standard, selling over 7 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling gospel song of all time.
Gather Me is a 1971 album released by Melanie and featuring the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart #1 song "Brand New Key". The album also features the singles "Some Day I'll Be a Farmer" and the Top 40 hit "Ring the Living Bell". The album was certified Gold in the U.S. and was arranged by Roger Kellaway.
Photograph is an album released by American singer Melanie in 1976, her only release on Atlantic Records. The album contains "Cyclone" which was released as a single.
The Good Book is a 1971 album released by Melanie and featuring the Top 40 hit "Nickel Song". The album also features "Birthday of the Sun", a track Melanie originally performed at Woodstock in 1969.
Affectionately Melanie is the second album by Melanie Safka. It contains "Beautiful People", a song that Melanie performed at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. In the Netherlands, this album was released as Back in Town.
Leftover Wine is a live album released by Melanie in 1970 on the Buddah label. Production and arrangements were conducted by her husband, Peter Schekeryk. The album was recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City, except for the closing track "Peace Will Come", which was a studio recording that was released as a single to promote the album.
Garden in the City is a Melanie album released by Buddah Records in 1972. Although marketed as an album of new recordings it was actually a compilation of "leftover" songs from Melanie's time at that label and released without her consent, after she left to form her own record label. Two of the songs had been previously released on the soundtrack album to the movie R. P. M. in 1970.
Melanie at Carnegie Hall is a 1973 double album released by Melanie and the second concert record after the release of Leftover Wine in 1970. The album contains material from Melanie's Carnegie Hall concerts of February 2 and 3 in 1973.
Ballroom Streets is a 1978 double album released by Melanie. The album is essentially a live album but recorded in the studio with a small audience. It mixed new recordings of old songs with some new songs and featured the vocals of the Persuasions. When first issued on CD in 1989, it did not contain "Holding Out", "Any Guy", "Groundhog Day" and "Friends and Company". There was a rare promotional only 12-inch single with the songs "Cyclone " and "Running After Love" [Tomato TOM 12D-0004] distributed at the time of the album's release.
What Can You Do to Me Now is a 1975 album by country singer Willie Nelson.
"Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" is the second single from Melanie Safka's 1970 album Candles in the Rain. It was her breakthrough hit in the United States, climbing to number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Cash Box Top 100. The record was ranked number 23 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970. It was released in March 1970.
American country artist Loretta Lynn released 86 singles, two B-sides and 14 music videos. Her debut single was "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" (1960) via Zero Records. Promoting the song with her husband by driving to each radio station, the effort paid off when it peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Arriving in Nashville, Tennessee, that year, she signed a recording contract with Decca Records. In 1962, "Success" reached the sixth position on the country songs chart, starting a series of top ten hits including "Wine Women and Song" and "Blue Kentucky Girl". She began collaborating with Ernest Tubb in 1964 and recorded four hit singles with him, including "Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be". Lynn's popularity greatly increased in 1966 when she began releasing her own compositions as singles. Among the first was "You Ain't Woman Enough " which reached the second position on the country songs list. She then reached the number one spot with "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' " (1967). This was followed by "Fist City" (1968) and "Woman of the World " (1969).
"What Have They Done to My Song Ma" is a song written and performed by Melanie (Safka). It was co-written by H. M. Saffer II, a notable American painter and musician who worked for Warner Brothers Productions.