EP 125 - 50 Years of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”

B.J. Thomas has one of the most distinctive voices in American pop music — a reassuringly masculine timbre conveyed with a smattering of unique embellishments that represent a distillation of the most influential genres in pop culture. Nothing about the identifiable sound of B.J.’s voice has changed, but there’s a re-energized commitment behind it. 

“We’ve always tried to do the right thing as far as getting our music out and encouraging people with positive music,” B.J. reflects.

Indeed, many of B.J.’s signature hits—the Oscar-winning “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” the million-selling “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” and his career-igniting cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” — invariably find the plots’ protagonists employing some level of positivity to overcome the universal battle with loneliness. 

Continuing his supportive inclinations, a series of positive-themed discs were embraced by the gospel community, giving him the first four platinum albums in gospel history. A brief-but-successful foray into country music — dotted by “Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love,” and “New Looks From An Old Lover,” written by his wife, Gloria, Red Lane and Latham Hudson — emphasized classic family ideals and commitment, as did the still-familiar theme to “Growing Pains, As Long As We Got Each Other,” sung on the tube with Jennifer Warnes.

His lyrics aren’t just words to B.J. THOMAS. He’s lived out his musical ideals, turning down career opportunities for years when he thought they might interfere with the home life he established in the Dallas area with Gloria and their three daughters: Paige, Nora and Erin.

“We weren’t really silent,” he observes, “but we weren’t really chasing the prize, so to speak.”

But an interesting confluence of events helped to recharge B.J.’s career commitment. The girls grew up and left home. The surprise emergence of Raindrops in a key scene in Spider-Man 2 underscored his continued place as an identifiable cultural touchstone. And he discovered through technology just how deep and loyal his fans’ commitment runs.

“One of the real catalysts behind this is I did an interview with an online disc jockey,” B.J. explains. “He interviewed me and then put some music together for a one-hour package that could be accessed on the Internet, and he had 3.5 million downloads in three days. So we said, ‘Hey, our people are sitting right there. We just gotta figure out a way to reach them.’”

The Best Of, a release that synthesizes the wide-ranging styles that have influenced his career, digs into Allen Toussaint’s New Orleans-flavored “Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues),” and features a Dobie Gray-penned ballad, “Stranger in the Mirror,” which finds B.J. in movingly sensitive form. 

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