Boring night in Georgia

Brook Benton - Rainy Night in Georgia



Apparently, it is:
(1) raining
(2) night-time
in Georgia.

I know this because Brook Benton repeats this about five thousand times in the course of Rainy Night in Georgia. I tried to count how many times he sang the word "rainy" and lost count approaching eighteen thousand. He would have made an excellent, if slightly monotonous, weatherman.

Rolling Stone say: "It's been called "one of the most lonesome songs ever to grace the Top Ten': Benton's intimate baritone set over crying violins, crashing horns, and dolorous organs and guitars. The soul ballad was written by swamp-rocker [Tony Joe] White, who had hit big with his own 'Polk Salad Annie.' 'I knew about rainy nights in Georgia,' White once said, 'because I drove a dump truck for the highway department.'"

And yet, this song leaves me cold - it's a typical soul number, sung over a backing of jazzy, slinky guitar, strings and organ, and it's beautifully sung and well-produced. But it lacks a key ingredient: soul. You get none of the emotion from ol' Brookerino that you get from a Marvin Gaye or Percy Sledge. This is soul in the Teddy Pendergrass, lounge-suit and keep-it-unemotional vein. You can never work out whether he's sad, pissed off, happy or just lobotomised (my money is on the latter). And there's no sign of a crying violin, crashing horn or dolorous organ. The instruments are emotionlessly note-perfect and elevatorial. This is elevator music - it's so inoffensive that it makes More Than A Feeling sound like something that would have the entire Christian League of Decency picketing in the streets.

Interestingly, the song was written by a garbage-truck-driving swamp-rocker, covered by Benton in 1970 and later covered by Ray Charles, Hank Williams Jr and Otis Rush. So why, in the name of all that is good and holy, was Brooke Benton version have chosen by Rolling Stone? Surely the Williams Jr or Charles covers might have conveyed the emotion in this song? This song really does have the potential to be an emotional voyage, just not when Brook "Mr Weatherman" Benton rocks it out.

Finally, if this is truly one of the greatest songs ever, why have I never heard it before?

Taxonomy: Soul-less, Only in the Most Well-Heeled Elevators

Tomorrow: Weezer - Buddy Holly