Yesterday I Heard the Rain is the twenty-sixth studio album by American singer Tony Bennett, released on July 22, 1968, on Columbia Records. It features a mix of originals and covers songs of "Love Is Here to Stay", "I Only Have Eyes for You", and "There Will Never Be Another You" and includes the singles "A Fool of Fools", the title track, "Yesterday I Heard the Rain", and "Hushabye Mountain".
Tony Tamburello was the musical director, while Torrie Zito arranged and conducted their own compositions on the album. Corky Hale played the harp, John Bunch played the piano, with Milt Hinton on bass and Sol Gubin on drums.
On November 8, 2011, Sony Music Distribution included the album in a CD box set entitled The Complete Collection.
Reception Billboard believed "The arrangements and orchestrations by Tonle Zito are rich and beautifully lush, and lend the perfect touch to Bennett's smooth style". Cash Box described the album as a "warm, romantic fashion" and stated that "'The title song', 'Love Is Here to Stay', 'I Only Have Eyes For You', and 'There Will Never Be Another You' are standout efforts."
In its Album Pick of the Week section, Record World said "Bennett sings beautifully" on the album which contains a mix of "juicy and lush ballads and uptempo numbers". Variety claimed "The rest of this songalog is a solid mix of oldies and recents ballads".
In a Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, Will Friedwald believed the album was "terrific" but like Bennett's other albums from the late 1960s, it did not measure up to his "earlier long-playing projects."
Singles "A Fool of Fools" bubbled under the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the issue dated March 18, 1968, peaking at number 119, reached number 12 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart. and peaked at number 95 on the Cash Box singles chart. "Yesterday I Heard the Rain" spent two weeks on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in the issue dated April 28, 1968, peaking at number 130, and reached number ten on the magazine's Easy Listening chart.
Track listing
Side one
Side two
Personnel Tony Bennett – vocals Torrie Zito – conductor, arranger Tony Tamburello – music coordinator Frank Laico – engineer Stan Weiss – engineer Al Brown – engineer John Bunch – piano Corky Hale – harp Milt Hinton – bass Sol Gubin – drums Unidentified strings
Charts
Singles
YearSingleChartPeak position1968"Fool of Fools" US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100119 US Billboard Easy Listening12 US Cash Box Top 10095"Yesterday I Heard the Rain" US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100130 US Billboard Easy Listening10
References