Rainy Days And Mondays

AM 1260 Rainy Saturday
(Paul Williams – Roger Nichols) Almo Music Corp ASCAP 3:36

A&M 1260 Single released: 4/23/71
Billboard #2, 5/15/71
b/w Saturday

Original album mix:
CARPENTERS (Tan Album)LP and Remastered Classic CD
CARPENTERS COLLECTED
CARPENTERS-THE COMPLETE SINGLES
JAPANESE SINGLE BOX
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE CARPENTERS SONGS (UK)
ULTIMATE COLLECTION (NL)

A mono folddown of this mix can be found on original promo single.

1973 remix: segued from “Superstar”, wider stereo soundstage
THE SINGLES 1969-1973 Remastered Classics
THE SINGLES 1969-1973 original A&M CD, slightly sped up
– YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (84)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (UK), slightly sped up

1985 remix: stereo piano, reverb added, track starts slightly left
– A&M GOLD SERIES VOL 1
A&M NEW GOLD SERIES VOL 1 (1990)
A&M GOLD SERIES (1991) and STARTRAX (AUS)
ANTHOLOGY (89)
CARPENTERS (Tan Album) Original A&M CD and Spectrum (UK) reissue
CARPENTERS COLLECTION (Time-Life)
CLASSICS VOL 2 and YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (85)
– ESSENTIAL COLLECTION
FROM THE TOP
ONLY YESTERDAY-THEIR GREATEST HITS
REMINISCING

1985 remix, reversed stereo:
O MELHOR DE CARPENTERS-ONLY YESTERDAY (BRZ)
A ARTE DE CARPENTERS

1991 remix: bass enhanced, track starts slightly right, strings missing during sax solo
– 20/20 BEST OF BEST SELECTION
– 40/40 BEST SELECTION (JP)
– 40/40 (US)
ANTHOLOGY (97)
BEST OF BEST+
THE BEST OF CARPENTERS (Brazil)
BY REQUEST
– CARPENTERS BEST VOL. 1
GOLD (JP)
GOLD (UK)
GOLD (US)
ICON
INTERPRETATIONS (UK)
INTERPRETATIONS (US)
LOVE SONGS
– MAGICAL MEMORIES OF THE CARPENTERS
THE SINGLES 1969-1981
THE SINGLES 1969-1981 SACD on SACD stereo layer and CD Audio layer
SWEET MEMORY on and off
THEIR GREATEST HITS AND FINEST PERFORMANCES (Readers Digest)
TWENTY TWO HITS OF THE CARPENTERS
ULTIMATE COLLECTION (UK)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (98)
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (NL)

Karaoke mix: backing track to 1991 remix
– ORIGINAL MASTER KARAOKE-YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

SACD 5.1 surround mix:
THE SINGLES 1969-1981 SACD on surround layer

Quad remix:
CARPENTERS (tan album) Quad 8-track
THE SINGLES 1969-1973 Quad LP and 8-track

live version can be found on LIVE IN JAPAN and in the medley on LIVE AT THE PALLADIUM.

2018 RPO Mix: enhanced version recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
CARPENTERS WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Though not initially credited, Tommy Morgan’s harmonica  was used in the 1971 recording and all versions thereafter.

Note: the 1991 version was released in the UK on CD and vinyl singles that labelled it as a new or “Radio Remix”, but it’s just the standard 1991 remix that probably hadn’t yet been released in the UK up to that point.

Chris May says: 
Regarding the SACD surround mix: A great remix. The strings have still somehow “disappeared” during the sax solo whereas they are heard there on all of the earlier mixes.

Original promotional ad for this single:

Billboard Rainy Days Ad May 8 1971