The breezy, blues-rocking "Strange Rain" was the B-side of Elton's third solo single, "It's Me That You Need", from 1969.
It's another searching-for-a-signature-sound attempt, again sounding a lot like Joe Cocker, Baldry or Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac; i.e., the British Blues Boom sound. As such, it's a success if a bit slight; Caleb Quaye's stinging guitar stands out, as well as Elton's fey Empty Sky-style vocal delivery.
Insofar as the subject matter goes, Taupin's lyrics are trying to emulate the Lysergic-tinged wordsmithing of the late 60's with its mention of colors and rainbows and "strange rain washing his thoughts away". In the Rare Masters booklet notes, he admits as much: "...very much an acid piece, we were trying to be part of the times. I think it was probably influenced by people like Traffic."
Lyrics/sample
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Heard this from midway through on local station this weekend. I have no recollection of ever hearing it before. not much to the tune and only vaguely recognizable as Elton. certainly still searching for his/their own sound.
I own all the Vinyl covered in solarprestige blog, and then some. When the DJ claimed this to be from Empty Sky, I knew that was not from the vinyl edition. I do now see Strange Rain is a bonus track on 2001 and later releases of empty sky. those 4 additional tunes are not essential to me.
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