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Marvin Rainwater

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Ranked #7,001 in Music, #192,419 overall

The Versatile Music of Marvin Rainwater

Respected country song writer and performer Marvin Rainwater was born on 2nd July 1925 as Marvin Karlton Rainwater. He took stage name of Marvin Rainwater to show his love for his mother whose maiden name was Rainwater. He always showed his pride in his rich Cherokee heritage by wearing colorful and native dress while performing. His musical legacy however is not exclusively Indian; he had equal hold in every style let it be, Indian, Rockabilly, Western ballads, Honky-tonk, or Pop. There are only a few artists who can claim to be as fresh, weird, and versatile as Marvin. The result of all this talent is rapidly produced work of exceptional quality.

Mr Bluebird

Did you know that Gonna Find Me A Bluebird has been recorded by over 100 different artist?

Influences

From his early childhood, he had natural love for heritage of mystic Cherokee music. Marvin Rainwater had musical expertise. However, he excelled as a lyrist and musician. It was based upon his strong classical training as pianist. His career as a pianist was cut short due to his losing part of his thumb after a tragic accident. His next instrument was guitar. He was very passionate of his guitar and was his companion in composing and singing beautiful country music.

Music Career

Initially, Rainwater started to get recognition for his talent and creativity while performing in Washington honky-tonk music circuit. He got instant popularity due to his training. His versatile, very fresh and different approach to music was appreciated by music fans. Marvin is attributed to recognize and put the famous Roy Clark in his band as lead guitarist. His performances were always very colorful affair with traditional Indian headband, and tailored buckskin jackets.

See The Guitarist Now

The Demo

To approach the record labels and other artists, Marvin Rainwater recorded a few demo songs in Ben Adleman's small studio. This demo was not of quality work that Rainwater famous for. It was due to obvious reasons such as, equipment quality and a very low budget. Afterwards to gain benefit from the fame of Rainwater, the original demo songs were released by Adleman through small time labels like Crown.

First Record

First Record of Rainwater was released with help of Bill McCall of label "4-Star Record". Many people benefited from talent of Rainwater including, Bill McCall who sold parts master record to label, "Carol Record", and similarly he also sold his song "I Gotta Go Get My Baby" to Teresa Brewer who released it to become a Pop smash hit

Live At London Palladium

Success in Talent Scouts

Rainwater participated and won the television talent hunt show by Arthur Godfrey's called, "Talent Scouts". Marvin Rainwater soon became a household name in the television with his appearances in Talent Scouts and Morning Show. He wrote and performed many songs only for television in this period including "Tea Bag Romeo". This exposure resulted in Rainwater becoming a celebrity and everyone recognized him,

Arthur Godfrey's "Talent Scouts". Ad

Ozark Jubilee Show

In 1955 "Ozark Jubilee Show" was first program which gave financial and artistic freedom to Rainwater. This was a pioneer talent show with national tours. Through this program many talented young people get the launch pad to a successful music career. Most prominent singer of this show was the legendary Brenda Lee.

MGM Years

Rainwater signed with prestigious record label MGM, this resulted in series of hits. His work was very versatile in nature showing the flexibility of the artist. During this period, there was wonderful mix of styles in every record, every song. In his Recitations, Country weepers and Novelty items or Rockabilly songs everything was bestseller. The notable hits from this period are, "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird, Whole Lotta Woman".

Whole Lotta Marvin

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Rare Marvin Studio Soundtrake

New York

For long time Marvin Rainwater worked for "Ozark Jubilee Show". But with passage of time he found that it consume too much of his time. Marvin left Springfield and the most popular television show to work on his own music. Working in isolation was not easy. To an extent not seeing him on television also reduced his popularity. He left the popular show willingly but the desire to interact with his fans still remained very strong. This resulted in his decision to go for public appearances. This was most tiresome. His voice and health get strained so much that he became unable to record. This became the one of the reason of MGM ending their contract.

Warwick Records

After almost nine months of his leaving MGM. Warwick Record approached Rainwater for his return to music. He had rested by now and found his old desire for musical excellence. He produced a couple of singles unfortunately this time his efforts did not succeed.

Tough Top Cat

Cute Comedy Song

Going Solo

In Chicago, Marvin Rainwater made his own studio and record label "Brave Record". His friend Bill Guess worked on the projects of him. This time flying solo meant that Rainwater had to occasionally release his music. In 1964, United Artists approached for him to work. Marvin Rainwater's last major project was with Warner Brothers for one off sessions.

Later Years

Since the '70s Rainwater reduced his public appearances. He is still in good health and spirits. Rainwater is living in his farm in northern Minnesota. Still loving music he makes rare appearances on occasions like Rockabilly revival festivals.

Marvin Rainwater had an excellent musical journey. However, this journey was not an easy one for him. It took a lot of hard work and dedication. The critics and fans were fixed in their own musical boundaries. Even though he is not in the top 10 most successful music artists list today, Rainwater is still credited for creative real and original work.

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Tell Me! OK :)

So when was the first time you heard Mr Bluebird sing?

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Gene H May 28, 2011 @ 4:46 pm | delete

Looking for the song Patonia cut on crown label. had it when I was younger, but it has been misplaced. If you know where I can get a copy please email me at bign38@hotmail.com . Thanks

Reply

Sami4u May 29, 2011 @ 3:36 pm | delete

Hi,

I hope someone can help you on your quest for hunting for that song. :)

Sami

Reply

Michael LeBeau Jul 6, 2011 @ 5:49 pm | delete

That song Patonia was sung by Rex Wells. It can be down loaded on line.

Reply

June Wong May 14, 2011 @ 1:25 am | delete

I heard 'Gonna Find Me a Bluebird' when I was a young girl in the 50's. I never knew a thing about him until I read this. Thank you very much

Reply

SereneSea Feb 9, 2011 @ 5:59 am | delete

Haven't heard but would love to hear his masterpiece work.
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