"Summer Wine" is a song written by

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

. Hazlewood originally performed it with Suzi Jane Hokom, but it was his 1967 version with

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

that would prove more successful. In 1969 Lee Hazlewood performed the song on Swedish television with Swedish singer

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany (today's Germany). She represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 and West Germany in the Eurovi ...

on the ''Together'' programme, which was also was shown at

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

festival.

Lyrics

Lyrically, "Summer Wine" describes a man, voiced by Hazlewood, who meets a woman, Hokom/Sinatra, who notices his silver spurs and invites him to have wine with her. After heavy drinking, the man awakens hungover to find his spurs and money have been stolen by the mysterious woman. He then declares a longing for more of her "wine".

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood version

The Nancy & Lee version was originally released on Sinatra's ''Nancy in London'' album in late 1966 and later as 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 her "

Sugar Town "Sugar Town" is a song written by songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood and first recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra in 1966. As a single released under the Reprise label, it peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in Decemb ...

" single in December 1966. The song itself became a hit, reaching No. 49 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in April 1967. It also reached No. 14 in Australia. In early 1968, "Summer Wine" was included on Sinatra and Hazlewood's album of duets, '' Nancy & Lee'' LP. It was the first of Sinatra and Hazlewood's string of hit duets. The original single was in mono, and the stereo LP versions had vocals only in the right channel. A new stereo remix with centered vocals debuted on the 1986 Nancy Sinatra compilation CD ''The Hit Years'', and has appeared on several other releases since then. This version runs 4:14. In May 2017, retail clothier H&M used Nancy & Lee's version in their "The Summer Shop 2017" ad campaign and as a result, the track debuted at No. 1 on ''Billboard'' magazine and Clio's Top TV Commercials chart for May 2017.

Charts

Covers

In 1968 the song was covered by Kela Gates in Spanish with the Peruvian band Los Belkings with the title ''Néctar de verano''. In 1967 the French Canadian Robert Demontigny with Claude Valade covered this song in French with the title ''Vin d'été''. A French cover called ''"Le Vin de l'été"'' was released by

Marie Laforêt Marie Laforêt (born Maïtena Marie Brigitte Douménach; 5 October 1939 – 2 November 2019) was a French singer and actress, particularly well known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, she moved to Geneva, and acquired Swiss citi ...

and Gérard Klein in 1969 (French lyrics by

Eddy Marnay Edmond Bacri (18 December 1920 – 3 January 2003), known professionally as Eddy Marnay, was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 4000 songs, including works for Édith Piaf, Frida Boccara and Céline Dion. He was joint win ...

). A Hebrew cover called also "Yen Kayitz" (=Summer Wine) was released by Chava Alberstein and Dani Litani in 1976 to the translation of Ehud Manor. The song was later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by:

Demis Roussos Artemios "Demis" Ventouris-Roussos ( ; , ; 15 June 1946 – 25 January 2015) was a Greek-Egyptian singer, songwriter and musician. As a band member, he is best remembered for his work in the progressive rock music act Aphrodite's Child, but as a ...

with Nancy Boyd,

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...

featuring

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

(on the 2002 live album '' VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin''), Ultima Thule, Gry with

FM Einheit Frank-Martin Strauß, better known as F.M. Einheit and also known as Mufti, (born 18 December 1958, in Dortmund) is an industrial and electronic musician and actor from Germany. While primarily known for his percussion work with the influentia ...

and his orchestra, Anna Hanski &

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and the frontman of the rock band the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015, Dando was inducted into t ...

& Sabrina Brooke, Scooter (on the 2000 album ''

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

''), Jack Grace and Moimir Papalescu and The Nihilists (with the male and female parts switched). A cover version by

Ville Valo Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM (Finnish band), HIM. Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish fa ...

& Natalia Avelon, recorded for the soundtrack of '' Das Wilde Leben'', was the 4th best-selling single of 2007 in Germany and was certified Platinum by the BVMI. "Summer Wine" was also covered by

Ed Kuepper Edmund Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, Singing, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (Australian band), The Saints in 1973, the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (acti ...

and Clare Bowditch on the cult Australian music game show ''

RocKwiz ''RocKwiz'' is an Australian television live music trivia quiz show, focused on rock music and featuring different guest artist musicians who perform live in each episode. The show was co-created by Brian Nankervis, Peter Bain-Hogg, and Ken C ...

''. A Flemish cover called ''Toverdrank'' (Magic Potion) (on the album ''Een man zoals ik'' (English: A man like me) was performed by Guido Belcanto and

An Pierlé An Pierlé (born An Miel Mia Pierlé on 13 December 1974) is a Belgian pianist and singer-songwriter. Career She studied classical piano and enrolled at the age of 17 at the art school in Antwerp. In her third year there she made a solo progr ...

in 2011. An Icelandic cover called ''Sumarást'' (Summer love) was released by Hljómsveit Ingimars Eydal in 1968 and by Helgi Björnsson and

Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir (born 29 April 1981) is an Icelandic actress and television presenter who is the assistant director of RÚV, the Icelandic national broadcaster. She is a former Miss Iceland. Life and career Ragnhildur was born ...

in 2007 for the movie Astrópía. American singer

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

released a cover of the song in 2013. The Canadian singer

Cœur de pirate Béatrice Mireille Martin (; born 22 September 1989), better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate (; French for ''Pirate's Heart''), is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist. A francophone from Montreal, she sings mostly in French and has ...

recorded a cover for "Summer Wine", which was used on the "Trauma" TV series soundtrack. On September 11, 2019, French singer Clara Luciani and

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT. Early life Alexander Paul Kapranos ...

( Franz Ferdinand) performed an English/French cover version of Summer Wine at Olympia in Paris. The cover was officially released in July 2020.

References

{{Authority control 1960s ballads 1967 songs Nancy Sinatra songs Lee Hazlewood songs Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Greece Reprise Records singles Songs written by Lee Hazlewood Male–female vocal duets Songs about alcohol