The Cascades were born in 1960 aboard the U.S.S. Jason AR-8; a ship home-ported in San Diego and when overseas, in Sasebo, Japan. This group, then known to many of the servicemen and the local inhabitants as The Silver Strands were playing at local venues all around town. Their friend, John Gummoe, also aboard the Jason was their biggest fan and soon began acting as their manager. John had the band playing 5 nights a week before long and had also been working up some duets with Dave Wilson which the group eventually had David and John do on stage as part of their performance. This was the beginning of a group which would soon go on to be The Cascades (inspired by a box of dishwashing detergent) and they would eventually have this third largest selling record in the world in 1963.
After a short time, they changed their name to The Thundernotes. A few members left the group, Gummoe joined as lead singer, and the others were Eddie Snyder (guitar), David Szabo (keyboards), Dave Stevens (bass) and Dave Wilson (drums). While their first recordings were mostly instrumentals, they were influenced by the Beach Boys, and became more interested in vocal harmony.
“Rhythm of the Rain” was written by John Gummoe, who told the story in October 2008:
I wrote “Rhythm of the Rain” over a period of time, but the lyrics began while I was serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Jason AR8. I was standing a mid watch on the bridge while we were underway to Japan. We were sailing up in the north pacific and it was raining heavily and the seas were tossing. The title came to me first and I liked the ‘ring’ of it, the way it flowed, and that night I wrote down most of the lyrics. It was like the rain was talking. It was producer Barry De Vorzon who came up with the idea of opening the song with that famous burst of thunder.
This was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, with engineer Stan Ross who was the technical know-how behind the famous Phil Spector “wall of sound”. Some of the elite west coast studio musicians played on this song, including the legendary session drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Glen Campbell. The song arrangement features distinctive use of a celesta, which looks similar to an upright piano, albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet. The keys connect to hammers that strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates or bars suspended over wooden resonators, and produces a sound that is similar to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre.
The Cascades continued to record, produced an album and several additional singles, but did not match the charm or success of their big hit. The group was active, played local San Diego clubs like The Cinnamon Cinder, and at other times, toured widely. In 1967, The Cascades appeared onscreen in the Crown International Pictures teen comedy adventure film, Catalina Caper, which included their version of a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks, “There’s A New World Opening For Me.”
Gummoe left the group in 1967 to pursue a solo career and later formed the band Kentucky Express. The Cascades stayed together until about 1975 and Dave Wilson and Eddy Snyder were still a part of the group when it disbanded. Eddy continues to tour the west as Eddy Preston doing a “one man band” show in many popular resorts. David Wilson, the original drummer lives in the north-west U.S. with his wife, Terri. John Gummoe lives in southern California and continues to compose and record in his own home studio.
Hundreds of artists have covered this song, including Lawrence Welk, Bobby Darin, Dan Fogelberg, Jan & Dean, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Neil Sedaka and Jerry Jeff Walker. A huge worldwide hit, BMI named “Rhythm of the Rain” the 9th most performed song of the 20th century. In March, 1963, the song was a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom and, in May that same year, was a number 1 single in Ireland. In Canada, the song was on the CHUM Chart for a total of 12 weeks and reached number 1 in March 1963. Billboard ranked the record as the number 4 song of 1963.
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