2:37
single, 1956
Written by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley, 1952
This song has an interesting origin. It was written by two convicts in Tennessee State Prison, or, more precisely, composed by one convict, Bragg, who gave Riley songwriting credit for writing the lyrics down for him. Bragg recorded the song in 1953 with his band, the Prisonaires. Lyrically, the song is a plaint of a man walking around missing his lost love: "Just walkin' in the rain / Gettin' soakin' wet / Torturin' my heart / By tryin' to forget." Ray's version has a crisp vocal over Ray Conniff's strings, a catchy whistle, and a male chorus that echoes his lines. I guess it's not Ray's fault that he would become one of the first of many white artists to get rich and famous popularizing black music while the original artists stayed obscure.
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