The Marvin Rainwater Centennial

Country and rockabilly singer/songwriter Marvin Rainwater (1925-2013) was born 100 years ago today.

I first learned about Rainwater when I looked into that Paul Revere and the Raiders song “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)”, which was originally known as a “The Pale Faced Indian”. Though it was written by John D. Loudermilk, Rainwater recorded an early version in 1959, and it’s most notable because Rainwater actually was part Cherokee, or at least claimed to be. To underline the fact, he was often photographed wearing a headband and a fringe jacket. Rainwater also recorded Loudermilk’s “Half Breed”, which proved a much bigger hit for him.

Though he was born in Wichita, Rainwater’s family came from Georgia. He served in the Navy during World War Two, which may be how he wound up in Virginia, where he first began playing out as a musician. One of his early collaborators was Roy Clark. In 1955 he enjoyed his first success when he won Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and Teresa Brewer had a minor hit with his song “I Gotta Go Get My Baby”. He began appearing regularly on the TV program Ozark Jubilee, and was also featured on The Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand, and Val Parnell’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Rainwater’s biggest hit in the U.S. was “Gonna Find Me a Bluebird” which went all the way to #18 on the pop charts in 1957, and was covered by Eddy Arnold, Petula Clark, Brenda Lee, Hank Snow,Pat Boone, Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Porter Waggoner and Skeeter Davis (as a duet), and Slim Whitman, among others. “Whole Lotta Woman” (1958) went all the way to #1 on the U.K. charts, and to #15 on the U.S. country chart. He is also known for “The Majesty of Love” (1957), a duet with Connie Francis, and “So You Think You’ve Got Troubles” (1957), which was covered by Harry Nilsson, among others.

In the early ’60s Rainwater developed throat troubles that plagued him for the rest of his life, and his career lost momentum, though he continued to record for various labels for years afterward.

For more on the history of show business,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and pleasestay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.