Looks Like Rain

VINYL FORMAT. Looks Like Rain was the artistic breakthrough that Mickey Newbury knew he had coming. Songs stretched to lengths that weren't radio-friendly, but represented flowing states of mind while discrete overdubs placed in the mix provided faraway twinkles and ripples analogous to the lyrics, marking the album's path and the listener's journey. When it was done, Mercury didn't like or understand what they heard, but they put it out without complaint - and without much enthusiasm either, and the sales reflected it. At least they put it out. Forty-plus years later, Looks Like Rain is Mickey Newbury's masterpiece. The impact it made on those who listened led Newbury to his next label, Elektra Records, whose name in folk and rock circles was one of the hippest. Here, he was among people who understood his appeal and could pitch it across genre lines.