A Summer Song
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"A Summer Song" is a 1964 song by the English pop music duo
Chad & Jeremy Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...
. The song was written by Clive Metcalf, Keith Noble and
Chad Stuart David Stuart Chadwick (10 December 1941 – 20 December 2020), better known by his stage name Chad Stuart, was an English musician. He was one half of the duo Chad & Jeremy. Stuart has writing credits on four of the 11 Chad & Jeremy songs which ...
.


Background

Like the duo's breakthrough selection, " Yesterday's Gone", "A Summer Song" is a reminiscence of a summer romance. However, "A Summer Song" eschews the
Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British and American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle, tradit ...
sound of "Yesterday's Gone" in favour of a gentler
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
-influenced arrangement, with the lyrics also being wistful in tone. On ''The Steel Pier Radio Show'', Stuart recalled that his collaborators on "A Summer Song", Clive Metcalfe and Keith Noble, were a musical duo linked to Pink Floyd with whom he and
Jeremy Clyde Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart). Their first song was the 1963 hit " Yesterday’s Gone". The duo became mor ...
had become friendly, and that "A Summer Song" was written and composed in Stuart's flat in London: "We were sitting around jamming on four chords and we came up with 'A Summer Song'." Clive Metcalfe wrote the melody late one night and Keith later added lyrics. Metcalfe said: "We performed it one night at Tina's (a Bistro in Piccadilly London) when Chad was visiting. Chad liked the song and later re-wrote the middle, and we all reworked the lyrics, as you hear it today". "We never thought 'Summer Song' could possibly be a single," Chad recalled another time. "It was just a pretty, romantic song. Or so we thought...you never can tell, can you?" The selection was one of a number to be included on the '' Yesterday's Gone'' album recorded at CTS Studios
Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
in June 1964 under the production auspices of
Shel Talmy Sheldon Talmy (August 11, 1937 – November 13, 2024) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger, best known for his work in England in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks, and many other artists. Talmy arranged and produced hits ...
, with
Johnnie Spence Johnnie Spence, born John Spence Abrahams (4 February 1936 – 15 August 1977),Johnnie Spence
...
conducting the orchestra. "A Summer Song" was issued in both the UK and the U.S. in July 1964. The UK single version opens with Chad and Jeremy trading vocals while the U.S. single features unisonant singing throughout.


Impact

"A Summer Song" was played on ''
Juke Box Jury ''Juke Box Jury'' was a music panel show which ran on BBC Television between 1 June 1959 and 27 December 1967. The programme was based on the American show '' Jukebox Jury'', itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series. The American ser ...
'' and guest-judge
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
assessed the track as a "miss" (i.e., flop), with no U.S. hit potential. Indeed, in the UK, where Chad & Jeremy's "Yesterday's Gone" had been a mild hit, followed by the unsuccessful "Like I Love You Today", "A Summer Song" did not reach the charts; possibly because it was released on a very small label and was largely unobtainable in the shops. An article in ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...
'' complained of that fact. However in, the United States, following the near-Top 20 success of "Yesterday's Gone", the track afforded the duo their career record, reaching #7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of 17–24 October 1964. "A Summer Song" also went to #2 for six weeks on the
Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart. It is considered one of the signature songs of the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
. When Gary James asked him about it, Stuart suggested: "The American market was bigger. ..You'd never hear something that sweet in the British charts. ..For some reason in America it worked." "A Summer Song" also reached #6 in Canada and #49 in Australia. The selection is featured on the soundtracks of the films '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''
The Princess Diaries ''The Princess Diaries'' is a series of epistolary young adult novels written by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series spent 48 weeks on the New York Times Children's Series Best Sellers List. The ...
'' (2001), and ''
Men in Black 3 ''Men in Black 3'' (stylized as ''MIB³'') is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film based on the comic book series, in turn based on the conspiracy theory. It is the third installment in the ''Men in Black'' film series. Direct ...
'' (2012), and was used in the "
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's Sports Heaven" commercial that aired during
Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...
. It also appeared in a
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for
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.


Remakes

The Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio whose trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contemporary chart (i ...
recorded "A Summer Song" for their August 1965
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
album release ''The Hit Sounds of the Lettermen'', produced by Steve Douglas. The Lettermen made a second recording of the song for ''"Alive" Again...Naturally'', a 1973 Capitol Records release which the group self-produced with
Ed Cobb Edward Cornelius Cobb (February 25, 1938, South Pasadena, California – September 19, 1999, Honolulu, Hawaii) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s. He is notable for writing the song ...
. Both versions of "A Summer Song" by the Lettermen abridged the original three word title to "Summer Song."
Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis ...
's
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
album release, ''Singin' in the Summer Sun'', which
Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...
and
Felton Jarvis Charles Felton Jarvis (November 15, 1934 – January 3, 1981) was an American record producer and singer. Career As an RCA Victor record producer, Jarvis was responsible for most recordings of Elvis Presley in the years 1966–1977. He also rele ...
produced, included Davis' version of "A Summer Song". The album was recorded in January 1966 at RCA Victor Studio in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, for release that June. In the summer of 1967,
the Doodletown Pipers The Doodletown Pipers (also known as The New Doodletown Pipers) were a 1960s and 1970s easy listening musical vocal group founded by Ward Ellis, George Wilkins, Bernie Brillstein and Jerry Weintraub. The Doodletown Pipers made numerous appearance ...
had an
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
hit with their remake of "A Summer Song", produced by Stu Phillips. The
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
release reached No. 29 on the Easy Listening charts, affording the group their only chart appearance. Also in 1967, the Memories, an Irish group, who became a top
showband The Irish showband () was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the 1950s to the 1980s, with its peak in the 1960s. These bands typically had seven to ten members, including a rhythm section and a brass section with various combinations o ...
attraction and scored eight domestic chart hits, remade "A Summer Song" as their debut single, released on Rex Records. A version of "A Summer Song"1 by
Laila Kinnunen Laura “Laila” Annikki Kinnunen (8 November 1939 – 26 October 2000) was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 1960s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, the first time Fi ...
was issued by Mediamusiikki in 2000 on the compilation CD ''Muistojen Kyyneleet'', which featured selections Kinnunen had recorded with the Erkki Melakoski ( fi) orchestra for the
Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...
TV series ''Kuukauden Suositut''. Kinnunen's performance of "A Summer Song" was prepped to air in that series' 1966 season. A French rendering of "A Summer Song", entitled "Souviens-toi des nuits d'été", was released in 1965 by
Frank Alamo Frank Alamo (born Jean-François Grandin; 12 October 1941 – 11 October 2012) was a French singer. He achieved his greatest success in the 1960s. Biography He was born in Paris. He sang in a leading French children's choir, "Les Petits Chanteu ...
on the Rivièra label. The
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
of Alamo's single "Qu'est-ce Que Peut Bien Faire Un Garçon", "Souviens-toi des nuits d'été" was also included on a four track EP and was subsequently included on the singer's 1966 self-titled album release. "Souviens-toi des nuits d'été" was also recorded by
Line Renaud Line Renaud (born Jacqueline Ente on 2 July 1928) is a French singer, actress and AIDS activist. In her 80 year career, she has appeared in 86 films and TV films, released 25 albums and 114 singles. She has also appeared in 12 plays and written ...
, her rendition being included on a four-track 1966 EP, released by Disques Line. A Finnish rendering of "A Summer Song", entitled "Kesämuisto",1 was recorded by (with
Jussi Raittinen Jussi Raittinen (15 September 1943 – 13 February 2024) was a Finnish musician known for his solo career and, in addition to the band The Boys, as well as the lyricist-composer and arranger of many songs. He was the brother of musician Eero ...
and
Eero Raittinen Eero Raittinen (born 6 October 1944, Helsinki) is a Finnish pop, rock and blues singer and drummer. Starting in 1960, Raittinen performed in various bands, initially alongside his older brother Jussi Raittinen, but has mostly had a solo career ...
) for their 1991 Audiovox Records album release '' 3 Kitaraa'' ( fi), and the selection was one of several on the album recorded at Ogeli Recording Studio between January and February 1991.


References

;Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summer Song, A 1964 songs 1964 singles Chad & Jeremy songs Song recordings produced by Shel Talmy Songs written by Chad Stuart