I Wish It Would Rain was recorded by the Temptations in Hitsville USA’s Studio A in Detroit in two sessions, on April 22 and August 31, 1967, and released on the Gordy imprint on December 21, 1967. David Ruffin sang lead with Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams and Otis Williams behind him, the Funk Brothers played, and Norman Whitfield produced. Staff writer Roger Penzabene wrote the lyrics with Whitfield and Barrett Strong while he was learning that his own wife was having an affair, so the song’s man begging for rain to hide his tears was drawn from his life at that moment.
Billboard called the single an easy beat blues rocker, and Cash Box praised its Bacharach-like strings and hard percussion, with neither dwelling on the lyric. Penzabene also wrote the follow-up, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You). On New Year’s Eve 1967, about a week after the release, he took his own life. The song went on to reach No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spend three weeks at No. 1 on the R&B chart in early 1968, and it anchored the album The Temptations Wish It Would Rain.
- The B-side, I Truly, Truly Believe, featured Melvin Franklin on lead.
- Studio A was a converted photography studio and garage.
- Gladys Knight and the Pips’ cover reached No. 41 pop and No. 15 R&B.
- New Zealand singer John Stevens released a 1994 cover to raise money for drought-hit farmers, reaching No. 49.
- Bruce Springsteen recorded the song for his 2022 album Only the Strong Survive.
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