Mandolin Rain

"Mandolin Rain"
Single by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
from the album The Way It Is
B-side	"The Red Plains"
Released	January 1987
Genre	Piano rock, adult contemporary
Length	5:19
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Bruce Hornsby John Hornsby
Producer	Bruce Hornsby Elliot Scheiner
Bruce Hornsby and the Range singles chronology
"On the Western Skyline" (1986) "Mandolin Rain" (1987) "Every Little Kiss" (1987)

"Mandolin Rain" is the third track of The Way It Is, the debut album and commercial zenith for Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The song, released in late 1986, was a #4 hit single for the band in March 1987, following on the success of their previous single, the #1 hit and title track of their debut album, "The Way It Is". It also reached #1 on the adult contemporary chart for three weeks,^[1] and #2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks, also in early 1987. The song even reached the Top 40 on the Country chart, hitting number 38.

The song was co-written by Bruce Hornsby and his brother John and featured Range member David Mansfield on the title instrument.

In popular culture

• A cover was recorded by Pam Tillis on her 1995 album All of This Love.
• A minor-key bluegrass ballad of the song appears on the 2007 album Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby.
• The song was used in the 2009 movie, "Worlds Greatest Dad", with Robin Williams. Hornsby made a cameo appearance in the film and played an alternate acoustic version of the song, which had been previously arranged but never released until the film's soundtrack.
• Funk super-group Cameo occasionally performs the song while touring.
• American Idol eight season finalist Scott MacIntyre performed it with rave reviews.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	14
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	70

Sources

• Bruce Hornsby Artist Biography

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 118. 

Preceded by "You Got It All" by The Jets

Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single March 21, 1987 (3 weeks)

Succeeded by "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship