Date With the Rain

It was recorded in January 1972 at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit for Eddie Kendricks’s second solo album, People...Hold On. The track’s album credits name Bobby Miller as producer, with Leroy Fleming, David Leacraft, David Van dePitte, the Funk Brothers, and Cal Harris also credited on the recording. Released on Tamla in 1972, the song appeared on the album that broke Kendricks out as a solo artist and helped define his move from Temptations balladry toward a more urban, dance-oriented sound. Critics and later writers have treated it as one of the album’s standout proto-disco cuts. The track has endured as a sample source, most notably in Lil Wayne’s “Let the Beat Build,” and it remains a favorite in soul and dance reissue circles. Later covers and DJ use have kept it in circulation well beyond its original release.