"Rainy Days and Mondays" is a song by the Carpenters from their self-titled third album, with instrumental backing by the Wrecking Crew. It was written by Paul Williams (lyrics) and Roger Nichols (music), who had previously written "We've Only Just Begun", another hit for the duo. The B-side on the single is "Saturday", a song written and sung by Richard Carpenter.
A demonstration for the song was initially sent to Richard Carpenter by Williams and Nichols. Upon hearing it, Richard felt that the song was perfect for Karen Carpenter and him to record. The song was recorded a few weeks before Karen’s 21st birthday. Richard wanted to keep the song’s arrangement sparse to showcase her vocal talent.
“Rainy Days and Mondays” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending seven weeks in the top 10, and was kept from number one by "It's Too Late"/"I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King. It also became Carpenters' fourth consecutive top-five single in the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also the duo's fourth number-one single on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. However, the song failed to chart in the United Kingdom until it went to number 63 in a reissue there in 1993. "Rainy Days and Mondays" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for 500,000 copies sold in the United States.
Personnel Karen Carpenter - lead and backing vocals Richard Carpenter - backing vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, orchestration Joe Osborn - bass guitar Hal Blaine - drums Tommy Morgan - harmonica Bob Messenger - tenor saxophone
Chart performance
Weekly charts Chart (1971)PeakpositionUS Cash Box Top 1002Canada RPM Top Singles3Canada RPM Adult Contemporary1New Zealand (Listener) 19Australia35Japan (Oricon)71Quebec (ADISQ)3 Chart (1993)PeakpositionUnited Kingdom63
Year-end charts Chart (1971)RankAustralia 122Canada42US Billboard Hot 10037US Easy Listening (Billboard)US Cash Box Top 10033
Compilations Yesterday Once More From the Top Interpretations Love Songs The Essential Collection Carpenters: Gold 35th Anniversary Edition
See also List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1971 (U.S.)
References
External links