In the Summer of His Years (song)
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"In the Summer of His Years" is a 1963
pop song Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
with lyrics written by Herb Kretzmer and music by David Lee. Kretzmer and Lee composed the song as a tribute hours after learning that President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. "In the Summer of His Years" was first performed by English singer
Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...
during a tribute broadcast to President Kennedy that aired on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
on 23 November 1963. The show on which the song was introduced was a special broadcast of the BBC's satirical weekly news programme ''
That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pr ...
''; after the news of the assassination broke, the producers of the show discarded the week's planned scripts and sketches and decided to refashion that week's show as a somber and respectful tribute to President Kennedy.
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
later rebroadcast the programme. A soundtrack to the ''That Was the Week That Was'' broadcast was also released in the United States on Decca Records.


Other versions

After the song was performed on the BBC, several other artists recorded and released the song as a single.
Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...
recorded the song on November 29, 1963 which was released by Columbia Records;
Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...
recorded her own version on December 2, 1963, followed by its immediate release on
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
. The arrangement was provided by
Claus Ogerman Claus Ogerman (born Klaus Ogermann; 29 April 1930 – 8 March 2016) was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Michael Brecker, and Diana Krall. Life and wor ...
who also conducted the recording. Other artists to record the song included Kate Smith (for RCA Victor), Toni Arden (for Decca Records, Bobby Rydell, and Hettie Palance (for Palance Records). Of the various versions of "In the Summer of His Years," only Francis' and Martin's recordings achieved enough sales action to chart on '' Billboard''. Martin's single, released on the ABC-Paramount label, "Bubbled Under" the Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at No. 104, and Francis' version was nearly a Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 46. On the ''
Cash Box magazine ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' Top 100 chart, the sales of Francis' and Martin's singles were combined, and the song peaked at No. 31. However, no version of the song was granted a single release in the U.K., and in the United States, the song, even though recorded by major artists, was refused airplay by many major radio stations. An article in the December 14, 1963, issue of ''Billboard'' quoted station managers of several radio stations in New York and Chicago as saying they would not play the song because they felt it would be "in poor taste to capitalize on a such a tragic situation". Other station managers said they stopped playing the song after initially playing Millicent Martin's version because of apparent lack of listener interest or because they simply thought the song itself was of poor quality. All the proceeds of Francis' single and her subsequent album of the same name were donated to the family of
J. D. Tippit J. D. Tippit (September 18, 1924 – November 22, 1963) was an American World War II U.S Army veteran and police officer who served as an 11-year veteran with the Dallas Police Department. About 45 minutes after the assassination of John F. ...
, a policeman who was also fatally shot in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Francis' version of the song is considered one of the earliest
charity record A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-made ...
s.


References

{{authority control 1963 singles British pop songs Charity singles Connie Francis songs 1963 songs Songs with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer MGM Records singles Columbia Records singles ABC Records singles Paramount Records singles Songs about the assassination of John F. Kennedy