COME RAIN OR COME SHINE-A SONG DRENCHED WITH THAT BLUES FEELING

Come Rain or Come  Shine- a Song Drenched With That Blues Feeling:  Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote a wonderful musical in 1946. In  " St. Louis Women" they were demonstrating their joint ability to write musical  material true to the Afro-American horse racing milieu in which the story is set. Growing up in Buffalo, Arlen's family shared the same house with an African American family and Arlen was always comfortable with black people. Mercer  growing up in Savannah Georgia played with black children and absorbed much of their musical traditions and unique vocabulary and modes of expression.
In " Come Rain Or Come Shine"  , Arlen  starts the song  by repeating the same note 13 times creating  a loose,insistent rhythm matched by Mercer's highly personal repeated use of the singular word " I " -" I'm Gonna Love You-Like Nobody's Loved  You"  -Come Rain or Come Shine ( this phrase is used at least 6 times to stress that fact he singer will persist in their love fixation regardless of whatever comes along ( Come Rain Or Come Shine.)
Although the song does not follow the 12 bar blues pattern of an orthodox blues song, the feeling that is generated has the same bone-weary feel as a classic Arlen blues song
like " Blues In The Night"  which has been presented in an earlier blog posting.
Like that earlier Arlen/Mercer classic sung by Frank Sinatra in his 1958 record " Only The Lonely"  with arrangements by Nelson Riddle, " Come Rain or Rain Shine" was arranged by Don Costa, a writer Sinatra started using in the 1960's. Costa was especially gifted in writing for a string section as can be ably demonstrated in this song.
Sinatra's performance leaves one convinced that he really means that he will never relent in his pursuit and capture of that special person.

LINK:  http://youtu.be/cEhnbzReC3g