Come in from the Rain

by Joe ViglioneCome in From the Rain has Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille going even deeper into the adult contemporary realm that embraced them wholeheartedly and was a natural progression for the pair, though it broke their streak of Top Five pop chart and number one adult contemporary hits, garnering their only Top 40 action in 1977 with Ray Stevens' up-tempo and cheery "Can't Stop Dancing." There is a brilliant rendition of the Melissa Manchester/Carole Bayer Sager chestnut for the title track, something that did do very well on the MOR charts, and why "Come in From the Rain" failed to be as big as "The Way That I Want to Touch You" from the first record is the mystery. It's a terrific song with a terrifically reflective reading by Tennille. Neil Sedaka's "Sad Eyes," from the Laughter in the Rain album -- the same well that spawned "Love Will Keep Us Together" -- is pure dynamite coated in its New Orleans jazz-meets-pop routine. Keep in mind that it is drummer Hal Blaine and multi-instrumentalist Dragon with only some horn players and backing vocalists behind Tennille making all this work. The heart of these A & M releases -- try finding a guitar anywhere on the early discs! -- is that this was a highly musical and pretty much self-contained unit. Song selection is key and it is pure genius going from the Phil Cody/Sedaka co-write of "Sad Eyes" straight into one of Neil's most underrated and beautiful essays, a tune he wrote for his two kids, collaborating this time with Howie Greenfield, "Let Mama Know." Originally entitled, of course, "Let Daddy Know," it is moving when performed by Sedaka alone on his Neil Sedaka and Songs: A Solo Concert and equally as touching by Tennille with strings, backing vocalists, and Gary Sims' familiar bass vocal from the hits on the Song of Joy album. There are only three Tennille originals, the interpretation of strong material by others an important facet of this third album. Dusty Springfield, Genya Ravan, Nancy Sinatra, Lulu, and others all took on the Cajun/mystical "Easy Evil" from songwriter Alan O'Day, and Captain & Tennile capture the mystifying mood that the song is all about very well. It precedes the hit "Can't Stop Dancin'," co-written by Stevens, who, along with O'Day, wrote some of the silliest songs in pop history. This album gives both songwriters serious credibility, putting them in the same setting as Bruce Johnston, Bayer Sager/Manchester, and Stevie Wonder. The hit is actually misleading, as Johnston's "Don't Be Scared" has Tennille sounding like Patti Page, while her own "We Never Really Said Goodbye" is just as mellow. Mellow is the theme of this album and maybe that wasn't the smartest of moves commercially, but artistically the album is quite an achievement. Doing a semi-instrumental version of Boston R&B band the G-Clef's hit "Ka-Ding-Dong" is a good break and is carried off quite well. Though hugely successful on TV and the charts in the mid-to-late '70s, few critics and fewer in radio understood the depth of the musicianship and songwriting skill at play. Tennille's "Circles" would have been perfect for labelmates the Carpenters and actually sounds like what Karen Carpenter could have done with the song. A strong and totally underrated musical contribution featuring the best album cover from the pair, in front of the fireplace with their dogs from the first LP cover, Broderick and Elizabeth, the family together at home on an album that quietly and exquisitely displays their talents.