"Early Morning Rain"

"Early Morning Rain." Song by Gordon Lightfoot. Written in the summer of 1964, it recounts a lonely man's attempts to make his way back to a faraway home. It was recorded first by Ian and Sylvia as the title song of their fourth LP (Vancouver VSD-79154); it was also a minor pop hit 1965-6 as recorded by the US trio Peter, Paul and Mary (Warner 5659) and a country hit in 1966 as recorded by George Hamilton IV (RCA 8924). Many other recordings followed, including those by Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, the Kingston Trio, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, the Travellers, and Josh White. Instrumental versions have been recorded by Guido Basso, Tony Rice and others. The composer included versions of the song on his LPs Lightfoot, Sunday Concert, and Gord's Gold. "Early Morning Rain" was copyrighted in 1964 and 1966 by M. Witmark, New York, and has been included in the Lightfoot folios Anthology I and Gord's Gold published by Warner.