Summertime (George Gershwin song)

For other songs with this title, see Summertime (disambiguation).

"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based. The song soon became a popular and much recorded jazz standard, described as "without doubt... one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote....Gershwin's highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of blacks in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century."

In Porgy and Bess

Gershwin began composing the song in December 1933, attempting to create his own spiritual in the style of the African American folk music of the period. He is said to have based the tune on a Ukrainian lullaby, Oi Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon (A Dream Passes By The Windows), which he heard in a New York City performance by Oleksander Koshetz’s Ukrainian National Chorus in 1929.

It is sung multiple times throughout Porgy and Bess, first by Clara in Act I as a lullaby and soon after as counterpoint to the craps game scene, in Act II in a reprise by Clara, and in Act III by Bess, singing to Clara's baby. The song was first performed on a public stage at the opening of Porgy and Bess on 10 October 1935, by Abbie Mitchell as Clara and Anne Brown as Bess.

Musical analysis

Musicologist K. J. McElrath wrote of the song:

"Gershwin was remarkably successful in his intent to have this sound like a folk song. This is reinforced by his extensive use of the pentatonic scale (C-D-E-G-A) in the context of the A minor tonality and a slow-moving harmonic progression that suggests a “blues.” Because of these factors, this tune has been a favorite of jazz performers for decades and can be done in a variety of tempos and styles."

Recorded versions

In September 1936, a recording by Billie Holiday was the first to hit the national pop charts, reaching # 12. Other notable recordings include those by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald in 1957; Sam Cooke in 1961; and Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company on the 1968 album Cheap Thrills. The most commercially successful version was by Billy Stewart, who reached # 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.

One database lists some 15,000 different recorded versions of the song.

Recorded versions (in alphabetical order by artist)

1. T'Keyah Adams on her upcoming album Ms.Adams
2. Cem Adrian on his 2005 album Ben Bu Şarkıyı Sana Yazdım
3. Luis Arcaraz (released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4416, with the flip side "It's the Talk of the Town")
4. Louis Armstrong from the album "What A Wonderful World"
5. Chet Baker - on Chet Baker Quartet Plays Standards
6. Mildred Bailey on the album "The Mildred Bailey Radio Show 1944-45"
7. Fantasia Barrino on her debut album Free Yourself
8. Sidney Bechet on the album "The Sidney Bechet Collection - 20 Golden Greats"
9. George Benson on the album "It's uptown with the George Benson Quartet" (1966)
10. Art Blakey - A Jazz Message (1963)
11. Jane Ira Bloom on the album "The Nearness" (1996) (a variant entitled "Nearly Summertime")
12. Booker T. & The MG's from the album "The Best Of Booker T. & The MG's"
13. Brainbox on their debut album Brainbox (1969)
14. Billy Butterfield & Dick Wellstood from their album Rapport
15. Eva Cassidy on the 2008 release Somewhere
16. Ray Charles on the album "Porgy and Bess" with Cleo Laine
17. Charlotte Church on her self-titled album
18. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (1960)
19. Perry Como (released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4530, with the flip side "While We're Young")
20. Chris Connor on Double Exposure in 1961
21. Sam Cooke in 1957
22. Bing Crosby & Matty Malneck (originally recorded July 8, 1938 and released by Decca Records as catalog number 2147B, with the flip side "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"; re-released in 1947 by Decca Records as catalog number 24542, with the flip side "Love Walked in")
23. Bob Crosby & his Orchestra (recorded October 21, 1938, released by Decca Records as catalog number 2205B, with the flip side "I'm Free (What's New?)")
24. Billy Daniels from his album "Bubbling Black Magic"
25. Miles Davis, on his album Porgy and Bess (1958).
26. Deep Dive Corp. on their EP Summertime, 2000.
27. Doc Watson recorded 1973, appears on the album Elementary Doc Watson/Then and Now, re-released in 1997 on the Collectables label. Recorded 1987-91 Doc Watson and David Grisman and released on the album Doc and Dawg by Acoustic Disc in 1997. More recent recordings with grandson Richard Watson.
28. The Doors on their live album, Friday April 10 at Boston Arena, and an instrumental version on Live at the Matrix 1967.
29. Kat Edmonson on her 2009 album, Take To The Sky
30. Roy Eldridge on the album "The Trumpet Battle 1952"
31. Duke Ellington on the album "Big Band Bounce & Boogie"
32. Keith Emerson on the album "Changing States"
33. Bill Evans on his album How My Heart Sings! in 1962
34. Adam Faith on his album "Adam [1960]"
35. Tal Farlow on his 1969 album The Return of Tal Farlow (Prestige Records).
36. Frances Faye (recorded about 1954,released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2842, with the flip side "Mad about the Boy")
37. Ella Fitzgerald, recorded in 1960, live in Berlin, on the Verve Records album Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin
38. Ella Fitzergerald & Louis Armstrong from the album "Les Plus Belles Pages De Porgy And Bess"
39. Flowers on their album Challenge!
40. Peter Gabriel on the album The Glory Of Gershwin, produced by George Martin, 1994
41. Al Gallodoro (recorded in 1951, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39472, with the flip side "Hora Staccato")
42. Gare du Nord on their 2009 album "Love For Lunch"
43. Stan Getz on the album "Jazz 'Round Midnight - Gershwin"
44. Stan Getz / Astrud Gilberto on the album "Getz Au Go Go"
45. Dizzy Gillespie from the album "Trumpet Kings" with Roy Eldridge
46. Herbie Hancock from the album "Gershwin's World"
47. Wayne Hancock on his album Thunderstorms and Neon Signs
48. John Handy with Class on the album "Centerpiece"
49. Gene Harris on the 1989 Ray Brown album "Bam Bam Bam"
50. Herbie Mann on the album "At The Village Gate"
51. Richard Hayes (with the Eddie Sauter orchestra) (released by Mercury Records as catalog number 5833, with the flip side "Junco Partner (A Worthless Cajun)")
52. Billie Holiday (recorded July 10, 1936, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 37496, with the flip side "Billie's Blues")
53. Mahalia Jackson (appears on Bless this House, CBS Records, 1956 )
54. Anne Jamison (recorded July 14, 1939, released by Decca Records as catalog number 2876A, with the flip side "Looking for a Boy")
55. Jazzamor on their album Lazy Sunday Afternoon
56. Scarlett Johansson for Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars and later performed on Live EPs released at the time of her debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head
57. Janis Joplin released this song with Big Brother and the Holding Company. Some live versions have erroneously been credited with having Jimi Hendrix guesting on guitar, though in actuality the guitarists were James Gurley and Sam Andrew.
58. Al Jarreau on the album Tenderness released in 1994.
59. Patricia Kaas on the album Carnets de scène released in 1990. Studio and live versions exist in both Français and English.
60. Sammy Kaye's Orchestra (released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2390, with the flip side "June Is Busting Out All Over")
61. Angélique Kidjo, released on Keep on Moving: The Best of Angélique Kidjo (2003)
62. Jerry Kruger and her Orchestra (recorded April 25, 1939, released by Vocalion Records as catalog number 4927, with the flip side "Rain, Rain Go Away")
63. Cleo Laine on the album "Porgy and Bess" with Ray Charles
64. Leona Lewis on her 2006 debut UK CD single "A Moment Like This"
65. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (recorded November 10, 1937, released by Victor Records as catalog number 25716, with the flip side "I'll See You in My Dreams")
66. Julie London from the album "Gershwin Songbook Collection"
67. Love Sculpture from the album "Blues Helping" that was recorded in early 1968.
68. Gordon MacRae (Recorded 1959) from the album 'Fascinatin' Rhythm: Capitol Sings George Gershwin.
69. Paul McCartney on his 1988 album Снова в СССР
70. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their album Are a Drag, 1999
71. The Marcels as a Colpix and Pye single, 1961
72. Kitty Margolis on the album "Heart and Soul: Live in San Francisco", 2004.
73. Colin Meloy on his album Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke
74. Yehudi Menuhin and Stéphane Grappelli- Menuhin and Grappelli Play Gershwin, (1988)
75. Marcus Miller on his live album "Live & More," 1998
76. Charles Mingus on Mingus Three, 1957
77. Joni Mitchell & Herbie Hancock on a Gershwin's 100th anniversary birthday tribute album Gershwin's World.
78. Richie Monroe on his album "Reunion" (2003) from the independent label (Bard Wire Productions)
79. Marion Montgomery on the album "Live at Ronnie Scott's Club"
80. Morcheeba on Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove, 1998.
81. Cida Moreira on her 1981 debut album, Summertime
82. Ricky Nelson on the flip side of "Young World"; recorded in 1962
83. Caecilie Norby on her self-titled debut album; released in 1995.
84. Willie Nelson on Revolutions of Time...The Journey 1975/1993, 1995.
85. Charlie Parker String Ensemble (recorded November 30, 1949, released by Mercury Records as catalog number 11038, with the flip side "I Didn't Know What Time It Was")
86. Art Pepper from his album "Art Is The Art Vol I" recorded 1957-58 in Hollywood
87. Oscar Peterson trio on Night Train vol.3, released by Verve Records as catalog number 711 071, 1969.
88. Jane Pickens (recorded June 19, 1940, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 35580, with the flip side "Negro Spirituals")
89. Courtney Pine on the album The Glory Of Gershwin, produced by George Martin, 1994
90. The Porgy & Bess All-stars on the album "The Jazz Soul of Porgy & Bess"
91. Original Broadway Cast on the album "Porgy & Bess"
92. Boyd Raeburn and his Orchestra (released by Guild Records as catalog number 111, with the flip side "March of the #oyds")
93. Joshua Redman on the 1998 album "Timeless Tales (For Changing Times"
94. The Residents on their 1984 Gershwin/James Brown tribute album George & James.
95. Spike Robinson on the album "The Gershwin Collection"
96. Sonny Rollins on the album "All The Things You Are (1963-1964)"
97. Red Saunders and his Orchestra (recorded December 31, 1953, released by Blue Lake Records as catalog number 101, with the flip side "Riverboat")
98. B.B. Seaton on the Bread record label Catalog # BR- 1116B, 1973
99. Artie Shaw and his Orchestra from the album "Blues In The Night
100. Wayne Shorter; Michel Petrucciani; Stanley Clarke; Lenny White; Gil Goldstein; Pete Levin on the album " The Manhattan Project"
101. Zoot Simms on the album "And The Gershwin Brothers"
102. Nina Simone, 1999 album, "The Amazing Nina Simone/Nina Simone at Town Hall"
103. Skamp on their 1999 album Angata
104. Nathalie Soles, on her 2007 album Deeper on Milan Records.
105. Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra (recorded December 19, 1944, released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number RCA201500, with the flip side "I Got Plenty of Nothin'")
106. Stereophonics on their "A Thousand Trees" EP
107. Billy Stewart, 1966, released as a single.
108. Sublime on their song "Doin' Time" from their self-titled album.
109. Maxine Sullivan on her album Moments like this.
110. Erik Sumo (band) on their album My Rocky Mountain, Pulver, 2006.
111. Ten Years After on their album Undead, 1968.
112. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra from their 2001 album "Live" on Sony records.
113. Os Tornados, a portuguese twist, garage rock and surf rock revival band, on their album "O Twist do Contrabando", with lyrics in portuguese.
114. The Twilight Singers on their 2004 album "She Loves You"
115. Sarah Vaughan (recorded in December, 1949, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38701, with the flip side "I'm Crazy to Love You")
116. The Wailin Jennys on their 2009 album Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House.
117. Bob Walsh, Guy Belanger and Claude Fradette on the soundtrack to the film Gaz Bar Blues.
118. Brian Wilson on his album Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2010).
119. Millicent Wood on her album Moonglow
120. The Zombies on their 1965 debut album, Begin Here

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards

External links

• "A Languid Look Back To Gershwin's 'Summertime'", NPR Music, October 23, 2008
• The site of The Summertime Connection with a list of all covers
• A second site of TSC with texts in different languages