As we move into Autumn our thoughts turn immediately to the changes in the weather from the sunny days of summer to the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. The nights begin to draw in and the rain become more frequent. So today I have decided to investigate what the songwriters make of the weather.
“A Song of the Weather” is a track from the album ‘At the Drop of a Hat’ relased in 1956 by Flanders and Swann. A litany of the months of the year, with their (cold and wet) weather, sung by Flanders in a faux West Country accent.
“Bless the Weather” is the tile track from the 1971 album of the same name by John Martyn and marks his return as a solo artist having released two albums with his wife Beverley Martyn. The writing reflects their move from London to Hasting Old Town. When it was released it garnered his best reviews to date, and remains a firm favourite among fans, featuring such standards as “Head and Heart” and the title track. The album is predominantly acoustic, although it does feature Martyn’s first real ‘echoplex track’ in “Glistening Glyndebourne”.
“Weatherman” is a track taken from the 1981 studio album ‘The Pressure is On’ by Hank Williams Jr. He is the son of the the legendary Country and Western singer Hank Williams. It was his thirty third album and was Williams’ fifth consecutive Top 10 album for Curb, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
“Change in the Weather” is a Creedence-inspired single taken from Eye of the Zombie the fourth solo studio album by John Fogerty. Released in September 1986, it was his first album with a backing band. The album was not received well by critics and had lukewarm chart success despite a Grammy nomination in 1987. After the Eye of the Zombie tour in 1986, Fogerty didn’t play any material from this album in concerts until 2009, when he played “Change in the Weather” at a few shows. The song was also re-recorded in 2009 for The Blue Ridge Raiders Ride Again and performed live on several late-night TV shows to promote the album.
“John Kettley Is a Weatherman” is a 1988 novelty record by the band A Tribe of Toffs, from Sunderland. The song peaked at 21 in the UK. The John Kettley referred to in the title is a British weatherman, who at the time presented national forecasts on BBC Television. The track was played on BBC Children’s TV after being discovered by researcher Jane Louise who, on picking the single at random from the post bag commented that the ‘kids would love this one’.
“Weather with You” is a song by Crowded House. It was the third and most successful single released from the group’s third studio album Woodface (1991), reaching top 50 in ten countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number seven. The song was intended to be part of the Finn Brothers’ unreleased 1990 debut, but after Capitol Records found the recordings, they were merged with a Crowded House session to become Woodface.
“Blame It on the Weatherman” is a song by Irish girl group B*Witched. It was released as the fourth single from their self titled debut studio album in March 1999. Like the other three singles from the album, “Blame It on the Weatherman” reached number one in the UK. With this, B*Witched became the first act ever to have their first four singles all debut at number one in the UK and today remain the only girl group to do so. It slightly underperformed in Ireland, reaching number eight, and became the group’s first single to miss the top 10 in New Zealand. The song was certified Silver in the UK with sales of 200,000.
