IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ALBERT HAMMOND
SONGWRITERS: ALBERT HAMMOND & MIKE HAZLEWOOD
COUNTRY: UK: GIBRALTAR
ALBUM: IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
LABEL: EPIC RECORDS
GENRE: POP ROCK
YEAR: 1972
Albert Louis Hammond(born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer,
songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated
with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood,
John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Carole Bayer Sager.
Hammond's son Albert Hammond Jr. is a guitarist with American band the Strokes.
Hammond wrote commercially successful singles
for artists including Celine Dion, Joe Dolan, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Leo Sayer, Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Lynn Anderson and Bonnie Tyler, and
bands Ace of Base, Air Supply, Blue Mink, Chicago, Heart, Living in a Box, the Carpenters, the Hollies, the Pipkins, Starship, and Westlife. Notable songs co-written by
Hammond include "Make Me an Island" and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman"
by Joe Dolan, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by
Starship, "One Moment in Time" sung by Whitney
Houston, "The Air That I Breathe", a hit for
the Hollies, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before",
a Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson duet, and "When I Need
You" by Leo Sayer. In 2015, he received the
British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
He
is also a solo singer in his own right. His
biggest (and only top 20) U.S. Billboard hit was "It Never Rains in Southern California",
Nº 5 in 1972. Other
songs of his include "Down by the River",
"The Free Electric Band", "I'm a Train",
and "When I'm Gone". For
a time, he was part of the Family Dogg, a vocal group with whom he had the hit "A Way of Life". He has also produced for a number
of other artists.
It Never Rains in Southern California is the
debut album by Albert Hammond released by Mums Records.
The album landed on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching #77.
The title song hit #2 on the Adult
Contemporary chart, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #51
on the UK Singles Chart in 1972. The single "Down by the River" hit #38 on the Adult
Contemporary chart and #91 on the Billboard Hot 100. The
single "If You Gotta Break Another Heart" hit #63 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. "The Air That
I Breathe" would go on to become a major hit for
British band The Hollies in 1974.
The album was produced by Albert Hammond and Don Altfeld and was arranged by Michael Omartian.
Hammond (talking about the single, It Never
Rains in Southern California): "One of my most important songs not only
because I think it's a great song and I love it and I think it tells the story
of my life in a way, but also because I was the artist, the producer, the
writer – I mean, everything was right, it was just like the right thing. If I
hadn't had that, I might have got slowly downhill, you know."
Got on board a
westbound 747
Didn't think before deciding what to do
Oh, that talk of opportunities, TV breaks and movies
Rang true, sure rang true
Seems it never rains
in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it
pours
Out of work, I'm out
of my head
Out of self respect, I'm out of bread
I'm underloved, I'm underfed
I wanna go home
It never rains in
California
But girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it
pours
Will you tell the
folks back home I nearly made it?
Had offers but don't know which one to take
Please don't tell 'em how you found me
Don't tell 'em how you found me
Gimme a break, give me a break
Seems it never rains
in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours.
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