Stories of Standards: “Come Rain or Come Shine”

Tune in weekday mornings for Stories of Standards to hear our favorite versions of “Come Rain or Come Shine.” Rodney Franks presents Stories of Standards Monday through Friday at 7:50 and 8:50 a.m. starting Monday, January 6!

Stories of Standards is sponsored by ListenUp.

“Come Rain or Come Shine” was written for the Broadway musical “Saint Louis Woman”, an all-black musical originally starring Lena Horne, who withdrew after the NAACP denounced the storyline as “offering roles that detract from the dignity of our race.” Horne said in her withdrawal announcement that “St. Louis Woman sets the Negro back one hundred years.” Arlen initially played the tune for Johnny Mercer, who came up with the opening line “I’m gonna love you like nobody’s loved you”, then paused. At that point, Arlen said “come hell or high water” and Mercer replied “Of course, why didn’t I think of that – ‘Come rain or come shine.’”

Harold Arlen (1905 – 1986) had his first Broadway hit in 1930 and went on to write some of America’s best-known music – “The Wizard of Oz” and “Cabin in the Sky” with Yip Harburg, “That Old Black Magic”, “One for My Baby”, “Ac-cent-tu-ate the Positive” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” with Johnny Mercer and “Blues Opera Suite” with Andre Kostelanetz.

Johnny Mercer (1909 – 1976) started off as a singer, with 29 hits between 1938 and 1952. As a lyricist, he wrote more than 1500 songs, writing “Lazybones” (1933) with Hoagy Carmichael as his first hit. With Harold Arlen he produced “Blues in the Night” (1941) and “That Old Black Magic” (1942”), among others. He also founded Capitol Records. Mercer was featured on a 1996 stamp from the U. S. Postal Service.