Songs of Summer

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This page was originally published in February 2011 under the title “Summer Standards.” A few years later I began to include other songs that are not standards, and after going through various titles I eventually settled on “Songs of Summer.” The songs included in the page consist of, with a couple of exceptions, popular songs with either the word “Summer” or “Summertime,” or one of the northern hemisphere’s summer months (June, July, and August), in the title.*

1902 – In the Good Old Summer Time (George Evans, Ren Shields)

1924 – June Night (m. Abel Baer, w. Cliff Friend) – “June Night (Give Me a June Night, The Moonlight and You)”

1925 – Too Many Kisses in the Summer (Bring Too Many Tears in the Fall) – m. Harry Warren, w. Al Dubin, Billy Rose

1927 – Give Me a Night in June (Cliff Friend) — recorded by Cliff Edwards, the Ipana Troubadours, Johnny Marvin, and Norman Wisdom

1927 – Summertime Sweethearts (Where Do They Go in The Fall?) – m. Ted Snyder, w. Irving Kahal, Francis Wheeler

1929 – Same Old Moon (Cliff Friend) – aka “Same Old Moon, Same Old June,” “Same Old Moon (Same Old June, But Not the Same Old You)”

1931 – A Faded Summer Love (Phil Baxter) — 1931 recordings include those by Ben Bernie and his Orchestra, Bing Crosby, Ruth Etting, Rudy Vallée, Sylvia Froos, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, and The Savoy Hotel Orpheans (v. Jack Plant). Al Bowlly recorded the song in January 1932, as did Ray Starita and his Ambassadors.

1933 — It Was a Night in June (Harry Revel, Mack Gordon)

1934 — June in January (m. Ralph Rainger, w. Leo Robin)

1935 – Summertime (George Gershwin, Dubose Heyward)

1935 – Where Were You On the Night of June the Third? (m. Sam H. Stept, w. Charles Tobias) – copyright, 13 February 1935 (p. 681)

1936 – Summer Holiday (w.m. Larry Conley, Johnny Marks) — 1936 recordings include those by Eddy Duchin and his Orchestra, v. Lew Sherwood; Jan Garber and his Orchestra, v. Lee Bennett; Wingy Manone and his Orchestra, v. Wingy Manone; and Dick McDonough and his Orchestra

1936 – Summer Night (m. Harry Warren, w. Al Dubin)

1938 – Summer Souvenirs (m. J. Fred Coots, w. Charles Newman)

1945 – June is Bustin’ Out All Over (m. Richard Rodgers, w. Oscar Hammerstein II)

1945 – June Comes Around Every Year (m. Harold Arlen, w. Johnny Mercer)

1945 – Memphis in June (m. Hoagy Carmichael, w. Paul Francis Webster)

1946 – The Things We Did Last Summer (m. Jule Styne, w. Sammy Kahn)

1953 – June Bride (m. Gene De Paul, w. Johnny Mercer) – written for the 1954 musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

1956 – Soft Summer Breeze (m. Eddie Heywood, w. Judy Spencer)

1958 – One Summer Night (Danny Webb) – hit recordings by The Danleers (1958) and The Diamonds (1961)

The Danleers — issued on Amp 3 Records A-2115X45 (May 1958), and Mercury 71322X45 (12 June 1958), b/w “Wheelin’ and A-Dealin’ ” in each case

audio file, VBR MP3 (2.1 MB), from the collection Doo Wop Box at archive.org:

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1959 – Theme from A Summer Place (m. Max Steiner, w. Mack Discant)

1960 – The Green Leaves of Summer (m. Dimitri Tiomkin, w. Paul Francis Webster)

1961 – Surfer Girl (Brian Wilson)

From the book Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963, by James B. Murphy, p. 135:

In 1990 Brian recalled, “Back in 1961, I’d never written a song in my life. I was nineteen years old. And I put myself to the test in my car one day. I was driving to a hot dog stand and I created a melody in my head without being able to hear it on a piano. I sang it to myself. I didn’t even sing it out loud in the car. When I got home that day, I finished the song, wrote the bridge, put the harmonies together and called it ‘Surfer Girl’.”

The Beach Boys recorded several takes of the song on 8 February 1962 during one of their early recording sessions. The single version was recorded on 12 June 1963 and issued 22 July 1963 on the single Capitol 5009, b/w “Little Deuce Coupe.”

See also:

• The Beach Boys: selected songs, 1962-1965
• doc’s 60s  and 70s summer picks #1

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1963 – That Sunday, That Summer (George David Weiss, Joe Sherman) – selected recordings below

1964 – Under the Boardwalk (Arthur Resnick, Kenny Young) – 1964 hit recording by The Drifters

1964 – Samba de Verão (m. Marcos Valle, w. Paulo Sérgio Valle)

1965 – Summer Samba (aka “So Nice”) – English-language version of “Samba de Verão,” with words by Norman Gimbel

1965 – Der Sommerwind (“Summer Wind”) – (m. Heinz Meier, w. Hans Bradtke), English-language words under the title “Summer Wind” by Johnny Mercer

1968 – In the Summertime (Ray Dorset) – written in 1968, according to Songfacts.com; hit 1970 recording by Mungo Jerry

1968 – The Last Day of Summer (Howlett Smith) — recording by Spanky Wilson issued in 1968 on her single Mothers Records & The Snarf Company 1300 (also M-1300), b/w “Love is Like an Old Old Man” — also included on her 1969 debut album Spankin Brand New, Mothers Records & The Snarf Company MLPS-69; produced by H.B. Barnum

1969 – Hot Fun in the Summertime (Sly Stone)

1971 – Theme from Summer of ’42 (Michel Legrand) – adaptation: The Summer Knows (m. Michel Legrand, w. Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman)

1971 – All Day Music – written by members of the band War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Jerry Goldstein, Howard E. Scott, Lonnie Jordan, Lee Oskar, Charles Miller) — A recording of the song by War was issued in July 1971 on the single United Artists 50815 / SUA 50815, b/w “Get Down.” The same recording is the initial track on the album All Day Music, released in November 1971.

The following is a live TV studio performance of the song for Soul Train, Season 1, Episode 26, originally broadcast on 25 March 1972.

Down at the beach or party in town
Making love or just riding around
Lets have a picnic, go to the park
Rolling in the grass ’til long after dark

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1972 – Summer Breeze (Jim Seals, Dash Crofts)

1976 – Summer – written by members of the band War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Jerry Goldstein, Howard E. Scott, Lonnie Jordan, Lee Oskar, Charles Miller); 4 April 1976 recording by War issued 21 June 1976 on the 45 rpm single United Artists UA-XW834-Y, b/w “All Day Music”

1983 – Suddenly Last Summer (Martha Davis, Ronald Czajkowski)

1983 – Cruel Summer (Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Keren Woodward)

1993 – 4th of July (Aimee Mann)

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That Sunday, That Summer (George David Weiss, Joe Sherman) — 1963

Nat King Cole, with music arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael — recorded on 16 May 1963 in Hollywood, CA; issued 26 August 1963 on the 45 rpm single Capitol 5027, b/w “Mr. Wishing Well”

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Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum — live at the Vic in Santa Monica, 10 August 2006

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* There’s another page on the site, called “doc’s 60s and 70s summer picks #1” that features primarily songs that I associate with summer, regardless of the song’s title. Most of the songs in that page are from the 1970s, especially 1970 -1975, a period which includes my age 12 to 17 years, and I believe most of them were released as singles in a summer month. I first heard many of them during summer vacations at the beach, and they often remind me of those wonderful days and nights. Those songs, and many others like them, became the soundtracks of my summers.

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