It's Gonna Rain!

The Sensational Nightingales - It's Gonna Rain Again

The Sensational Nightingales' glory years of the 1950s found the legendary gospel group being one of the hardest-driving groups in the business, with Rev. Julius "June" Cheeks tearing down churches (and wrecking his own voice) in the process. By the early '60s Cheeks left the group to seek his fortunes elsewhere, but the group perservered, eventually becoming one of the longest-tenured acts in the business. By the early 1970s the Nightingales had changed their approach under lead singer Charles Johnson and producer Ira Tucker to feature a calmer, cooler sound. "It's Gonna Rain Again," from 1974, features a very conversational lead vocal despite the song's subject matter (the Great Flood and God's promise of "fire next time"), nice background work and a nice, bluesy guitar line. It's a great song.