In case you hadn’t noticed, this past Sunday was the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter Solstice in the Southern. Also known here as the Longest Day, as it is the one on which we get the most hours of daylight – 16 hours, 41 minutes, to be precise. I have for a number of years marked this with sets of suitable songs and thought I’d do it again this year. Over that time I have played many which have summer, sun, or sunshine in their titles, and it is becoming difficult for me to find new ones that I like but haven’t yet played. So I’ve decided to just go for a ‘greatest hits’ version this year – some of my favourites. I’m playing six, all but one of which have featured before, though another is in a different version.

Let’s get going with the changed one. I have previously played the Eddie Cochran original of this, but there is a rather well known cover:

The Who, of course, with Summertime Blues. As you may well know, Eddie Cochran wrote the song (with Jerry Capeheart): it was released in July 1958 in the States, September in the UK, and reached #8 in the US and #18 here. The Who included their version on their classic album Live At Leeds, and I think it is a worthy follow up to Eddie’s original. The album peaked at #3 in the UK and #4 in the US, selling more than 2m copies over there. This track was the only single taken from it, peaking at #38 here in the UK and #27 in the US. I thought I’d play it for a change, and it still sounds great.

Another longtime favourite of mine is up next, though I haven’t played this rather nice video before, as it only came out three weeks ago:

Homages to The Beatles and Monty Python in that, methinks. Sunny Afternoon, by The Kinks, was the biggest UK hit of summer 1966, displacing The Beatles’ Paperback Writer from the top of the charts. It was their third (and last) UK chart topper, and was also #1 in Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands, and #2 in New Zealand. It reached #14 in the US, and apart from a couple of minor hits it was the start of a three year absence from the US charts. The band had a massive falling out during a live show in Cardiff, which resulted in drummer Mick Avory being briefly hospitalised, and US radio bosses decided not to play their records for fear of setting a bad example to their impressionable kids, at the same time they were sending them off to be killed in Vietnam. Strange priorities!

By one of those coincidences that sometimes occur, today’s set features three male and three female lead vocalists: doing my bit for equality! This is the first of the females, a song I have always liked:

Sheryl Crow released Soak Up The Sun as a single in February 2002, ahead of its inclusion on her album C’mon C’mon in April of that year. The single peaked at #17 in the US and #16 in the UK – maybe they should have waited until the summer to bring it out? The album did much better, though, reaching #2 in both the US and the UK. I’ve always liked Sheryl’s records since she first burst onto the scene with Tuesday Night Music Club, and she has continued to give me music I enjoy: her most recent album, Evolution, came out in March 2024 and while it hasn’t done all that well I quite liked it (it made #90 in the UK and #24 in the US Top Album Sales chart). Her previous record, Threads, which came out in August 2019, is a series of collaborations with a wide range of artists, and there are some real gems on it.

This next one is the newbie, and I’m rather surprised that I haven’t played it before. My favourite band and one of the best female folk singers of the past sixty years here in the UK:

Mississippi Summer is the opening track on Freedom and Rain, a collaborative album by June Tabor and Oysterband. Like everything The Oysters do, I love it, and June’s wonderful vocals are a real treat as an addition. It was released in September 1990 and in keeping with usual practice didn’t trouble the people who compile the charts. As I’ve said before, some things are just too good for the mass market! They did this again in 2011, and the album from that – Ragged Kingdom – actually made the UK chart: one week at #59! To be honest, I couldn’t care less: I don’t have to consider chart placings to determine what I listen to!

This penultimate one is a perennial favourite for me – I think I play it every year! And having found an official video that isn’t region-restricted, apart from a few dictatorships, I’m going with it again:

Boys Of Summer was the opening track on Don Henley’s second solo album, Building The Perfect Beast, which was released in November 1984, reaching #13 in the US and #14 here in the UK. The song was released as a single the previous month, and got to #5 in the US and #12 here. It resonated with me: I was born and brought up in coastal towns which depended on itinerant workers for summer holiday staffing, which is also what I had relied on for holiday jobs in my schooldays, some fifteen years earlier. We were always glad to see the back of them: coming down here, stealing our girls! And in case you were wondering, the lad playing drums is Josh Paul, who was seven at the time, and later became best known as the bass player for the band Daughtrey.

I’m closing today with a song which means a lot to me, about which I have written several times before. Last year, for the first time, I played the version by my favourite covers band and as it was well-received I thought I’d give it another spin:

The original version of Summer Of ’69 was, of course, by Bryan Adams. It was first released on his album Reckless, which came out in November 1984 and reached #1 in both the US and his native Canada, and got to #7 in the UK. It then became a single in June 1985, peaking at #5 in the US, #11 in Canada, but only #42 in the UK – I guess we all had the album by then. As for First To Eleven, I have played them multiple times before and never pass up the chance to do so again. They come from Erie, Pennsylvania, and are very prolific, posting a new video at least once a week. They are hugely popular on YouTube, with more than 2m subscribers, and I think you can see why from this video: they are just so very good.

That’s all for today, though I leave you with my usual reminder of where I’m sharing this post. Firstly, at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop, and then at Cathy’s Monday’s (On Sundays) Music Moves Me. Do pop over and take a look.

I’ll see you again in a couple of days, after we have all sweltered in the predicted heatwave here in the UK. Take care, and trowel on the suncream if you’re going out 🌞