Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this for the film Butch
Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It
was the first million-seller for the legendary songwriters.
Thomas was recording for Scepter Records, which was also
home of Dionne Warwick, who recorded many Bacharach/David hits like "Don't
Make Me Over" and "I Say A Little Prayer." She took a copy of
Thomas' song "Hooked
On A Feeling" to Bacharach, who was working on a score for the film.
She convinced him to consider Thomas, and although he was reluctant at first,
Burt asked Thomas to sing the main theme - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My
Head." What he didn't tell Thomas was that the song had already been
turned down by Bob Dylan and Ray Stevens.
Thomas was getting over laryngitis when he recorded this. It
gave the song a raspy quality that the producers of the movie liked. A few
weeks later, Thomas recorded another version that was released as a single in
October 1969. By January, 1970 it was a #1 hit.
Thomas: "I was in the right place at the right time,
and probably got their best song ever."
This won the Oscar for Best Song From A Motion Picture at
the 1970 awards, where Thomas performed it. Bacharach also won for Best Score.
The "B.J." stands for "Billy Joe."
Thomas started singing with a church choir in Houston when he was 14. Some of
his other hits include: "Everybody's Out of Town," "I Just Can't
Help Believing," "Most of All" and "Rock And Roll
Lullaby."
This song is played in Spiderman 2, right after Peter
Parker decides not to be Spiderman anymore. Thankfully, Parker changed his mind
and became a valued superhero.
Burt Bacharach (from Record Collector magazine):
"'Raindrops' was done for the score. When you're scoring a motion picture
you service the picture and there was that scene with the bicycle. I did keep
hearing that title, I must say. That is my title, 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My
Head.' Hal tried to change it and come up with another lyric but it never
seemed to work as well. I watched the film so much when I was scoring it. It
was a convenient way to get B.J. Thomas to sing it because he was in the stable
of Scepter at the time. Our first choice was Ray Stevens. They flew Ray out to
see the picture and hear the song but he didn't like the picture and he didn't
like the song."