[FIRE & RAIN]{1} Lyrics & Music by: James Taylor Produced by: Vinny Testa Engineered by: Don Casale & Bob Colombo Performed by: Aliotta Haynes Music{2} First released:{3} Single: None Album: 1970

{1}"Fire and Rain" is a folk/rock song written and first performed by James Taylor in 1970. Moody and introspective, "Fire and Rain" became something of a prototype for the singer-songwriter genre that would boom in the years following its release, and is #227th on [Rolling Stone] magazine's list of [The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.] The origins of the song have been related by Taylor himself: In a BBC interview he stated that the song chronicled his experiences with drugs, being in mental institutions, and the suicide of a friend. On the VH1 series, [Story Tellers,] he said that the friend was Suzanne Schnerr, who died while he was away from home, but that other friends didn't tell him right away, fearing it would take his focus away from the project he was working on. In the same interview, Taylor said he had been in a deep depression after the failure of his new band, [James Taylor & the Flying Machine,] and the lyric, "Sweet dreams and flying machines, in pieces on the ground," references the name of the band, not anactual plane crash.

• {2}Personnel performing on this recording:
• Mitch Aliotta (lead vocals, acoustic guitar)
• Ted Aliotta (harmony vocals, guitar)
• Skip Haynes (harmony vocals, keyboards)

{3}Also covered by: John Adams Kenny Adamson Herb Alpert Ernie Andrews Babyface Badlands Fred Benedetti Blood, Sweat & Tears Tad Britton Jonatha Brooke Betty Buckley Jonathan Butler Randy Cannon John Cariddi Cher Clémentine Common Ground Floyd Cramer C.T.I. Allstars Dee Daniels Bobby Darin Alden David Skeeter Davis John Denver Devils Creek Andrew Diamond Dido Sheena Easton Maynard Ferguson Doug Ferony Bill Flores Chris Foster Matthew Fries The Gaylads Dan Gibson Ray Gillen Bobby Gosh Tim Hardin Richie Havens Marcia Hines Hookfoot Dick Hyman The Isley Brothers Al Jarreau Keith Jarrett Davy Jones Mat Kearney Shannon Kennedy Sammy Kershaw Gladys Knight & the Pips Russ Kunkel Celia La Julius LaRosa Hubert Laws Babatunde Lea The David Leonhardt Trio Lucifer's Friend Manoa DNA Phillip Manuel Maureen McGovern McKendree Spring John McNeil Me First & the Gimme Gimmes Nana Mouskouri David Munyon Anne Murray Willie Nelson Kelli O'Hara Tony Orlando Overtures Pippi Boots Randolph Lou Rawls Luis Represas Rezidudes Cliff Richard Johnny Rivers Thom Rotella Philippe Saisse Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Ensemble Avery Sharpe Sammi Smith Billie Jo Spears Spectrum Yevette Stewart R. Dean Taylor Linda Thompson 3D Phil Upchurch Bobby Valentín Kenny Vehkavaara Rick Wakeman Ken Watters Group Joey Welz Roger Whittaker Gerry Wiggins Andy Williams Bobby Womack et al.

{4}Released on:{*} ALBUM(s): (A) Aliotta Haynes Music: [Aliotta Haynes Music] (1) Ampex, 9-Track, Mono LP, #A-10107, US-1970{5}.

{*}The album(s) and record(s) listed here may have different versions of the song than the one that was transcribed. Also, this list is not intended to be the complete discography on which this song appears.

{5}Transcribed from the track on this album.