Ain't Gonna Rain No More

DESCRIPTION: Verses held together by the refrain, "It ain't gonna rain no more." (Either between lines or as a standalone chorus). Examples: "What did the blackbird say to the crow? It ain't gonna...." "We had a cat down on our farm; it ate a ball of yarn...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad animal
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So) West Indies(Trinidad)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Randolph 557, "Ain't Going to Rain No More" (1 short text, 1 tune); also perhaps 275, "The Crow Song" (the "D" fragment might be this piece)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 409-410, "Ain't Going to Rain No More" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 557)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 430, "Ain't Gonna Rain No More" (5 short texts)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 430, "Ain't Gonna Rain No More" (3 tunes plus text excerpts)
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, p. 107, "'Tain't Gwine Rain No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 108 (no title) (1 text; the chorus at least goes here though the verses may be from a rabbit-hunting song)
Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag, p. 141, "Ain't Gonna Rain" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Coleman/Bregman-SongsOfAmericanFolks, pp. 102-103, "'T Aint Gwine Rain No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Finger-FrontierBallads, pp. 163-164, "'Tain't Gwina Rain No Mo'" (1 text)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 212-213, "T'ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, p. 307, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'"
Harbin-Parodology, #104, pp. 20-31, "It Ain't Goin' to Rain No More" (1 text, which lacks the key line; it looks almost like a parody of this song)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 97, 118, 175, 193, 284, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More" (notes only)
DT, AINTRAIN
ADDITIONAL: Melville J. Herskovits and Frances S. Herskovits, _Trinidad Village_ (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), p. 284, ("John Gilman want tobacco") (1 text)
Roud #7657
RECORDINGS:
The Airport Boys, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Bluebird B-11290, 1941)
Al Bernard, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Puritan 11305, 1923)
[Al] Bernard & [Frank] Ferera, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Cameo 487, 1924)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (OKeh 40204, 1924)
Ed Clifford [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart], "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Bell P-279, 1924)
Wendell Hall, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Victor 19171, 1923) (Edison 51261, 1923) (Gennett 5271, 1923) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4824, n.d.)
Ernest Hare, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (OKeh 40140, 1924)
[Billy] Jones & [Ernest] Hare "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Columbia 87-D, 1924) (Edison 51430, 1924) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4935 [as "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More"], n.d.).
Victoria Phillip and Dixon [Ebenezer] Philip, "John Gilman Want Tobacco" (on WITrinidadVillage01)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Columbia 15447-D, 1929; on GoodForWhatAilsYou)
Tune Wranglers, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Bluebird B-7272, 1937)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (tune, structure)
cf. "Ain't Got to Cry No More"
cf. "The States Song (What Did Delaware?)" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The States Song (What Did Delaware?) (File: CAFS1162)
The K26 Song (File: Tawn111A)
Tenor solo, "The Klansman and the Rain" (Special K-3, rec. c. 1924)
W. R. Rhinehart, "Klucker and the Rain" (100% K-30, rec. 1924)
Camp Days ("All winter long the days drag on, And then I nearly die") (Harbin-Parodology, #232, p. 59)
What You Waitin' For? ("You ain't gonna eat no more") (Harbin-Parodology, #262, p. 65)
NOTES [80 words]: A popular version of this piece, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'," was published in 1923 as by Wendell W. Hall. Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 348, estimates that it was the #1 song of 1924. Even the cover, however, admits that it was an "old southern melody" -- and since we have traditional versions at least from 1925, there is little doubt that the song is traditional. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: R557

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