The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday and welcome to another imaginary time travel excursion to the beautiful world of music. With summer for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere now having arrived officially, I decided to give our itinerary a seasonal theme. Hope you’ll join me.

Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald/Summertime

Today, our trip shall start in April 1959, which saw the release of an album by jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Porgy and Bess features tracks from the George Gershwin opera of the same name. The orchestral arrangements are by Russell Garcia, who had previously arranged the 1956 jazz vocal recording The Complete Porgy and Bess. Here’s the Gershwin classic Summertime with lyrics by DuBose Heyward, who authored the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, and Ira Gershwin, George’s older brother. Gosh, what a gem!

Don Henley/The Boys of Summer

Let’s jump to the ’80s and what may be the ultimate summer song of that decade: The Boys of Summer by Don Henley. It was included on his sophomore solo album Building the Perfect Beast, released in November 1984. The song first appeared as the album’s lead single in October of the same year and became one of Henley’s biggest hits. On the recording, he had fine company: Mike Campbell (synthesizers, guitars, LinnDrum programming, percussion), Danny Kortchmar (synthesizers, guitars), Steve Porcaro (synthesizers) and Larry Klein (bass).

Seals & Crofts/Summer Breeze

Another summer song I’ve loved for many years is Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts. And, yes, I’ve featured that summer classic in a previous Sunday Six itinerary three years ago, but this time, I’m breaking my general rule not to repeat tracks, given the summer theme. The soft rock duo’s best known song became the title track of their fourth studio album from September 1972. It was credited to both Jim Seals (born James Eugene Seals) and Dash Crofts (born Darrell George Crofts). Every time I hear this upbeat song, I can literally feel a warm summer breeze. Over the past week, it’s been more on the hot side!

Sheryl Crow/Soak Up the Sun

Time to pay a visit to the current century with Sheryl Crow gem Soak Up the Sun. The song first appeared in February 2002 as the lead single of her fourth studio album C’mon, C’mon, which dropped in April of the same year. Penned by Crow with her longtime co-writer Jeff Trott, Soak Up the Sun became one of her best-selling singles of the current century. Crow and Trott wrote the song following a conversation they had about the changing weather during a flight from New York to Portland, Ore. It also fell in Crow’s recovery period from a surgery, so they wanted to write an upbeat song. And a great picker upper it certainly is!

Red House Painters/Summer Dress

Our next stop takes us March 1995 and Summer Dress, a song from Ocean Beach, the fourth studio album by Red House Painters. Formed in 1988 in Atlanta, Ga. before relocating to California’s San Francisco, this band were one of the most prominent acts associated with slowcore, aka. sadcore. Wikipedia notes it’s a subgenre of indie rock characterized by subdued tempos with typically minimalist instrumentation alongside solemn and melancholic lyrical performances. I’m new to both the subgenre and the group, so I take their word for it. Summer Dress was penned by the band’s co-founder and primary songwriter Mark Kozelek (vocals, guitar). Red House Painters broke up in 2001. Perhaps too much sadness?

The Lovin’ Spoonful/Summer in the City

And once again we’re reaching our sixth stop and, as such, must wrap up. No Sunday Six can skip the ’60s, so let’s end it on a truly high note with The Lovin’ Spoonful and Summer in the City. Co-written by band members John Sebastian  and Steve Boone, together with John’s brother Mark Sebastian, the song first appeared in July 1966 as the lead single of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s fourth studio album Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful, released in November of the same year. It became their biggest hit, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the charts in Canada, surging to no. 3 in New Zealand, and reaching no. 8 in the UK. A touring version of The Lovin’ Spoonful led by Boone exists to this day.

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist of the above summer song goodies. Hope there’s something there you dig!

Sources: Wikipedia; Acclaimed Music; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday and we’ve made it through another week. This means the time has come for a new installment of The Sunday Six, my weekly recurring feature that randomly explores music, six tunes at a time.

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Call You Mom

This week, I’d like to open the post with groovy instrumental music by Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. Featuring Hammond B-3 organist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss, the group blends organ jazz with funk and soul. I “found” and first covered them in February this year. Here’s an excerpt from their website for additional color: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat. To date, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have released three albums. Call You Mom, co-written by Lamarr (credited as Delvon Dumas) and James (credited as Jabrille Williams), is a track from their most recent one, I Told You So, which came out on January 19, 2021.

Sting & Shaggy/Just One Lifetime

Let’s stay on the groovy side with a reggae tune by Sting and Jamaican pop reggae fusion artist Shaggy. When I learned three years ago the two had teamed up for a collaboration album, 44/876 released in April 2018, I was a bit surprised at first. But given Sting’s versatility and previous reggae groove-influenced Police tunes like Roxanne and Walking On The Moon, it quickly made sense to me. Here’s Just One Lifetime, co-written by Sting, Shaggy (credited as Orville Burrell), Shane Hoosong, Shaun Pizzonia and Rohan Rankine. This is one seductive song that’s perfect for summer.

The Lovin’ Spoonful/Summer in the City

Speaking of summer, here’s one of my favorite summer tunes from the ’60s: Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful. It must have been 30 or 40 years ago when I first heard this song on the radio in Germany – most likely on an oldies show that aired on Sunday nights on my favorite station SWF3 (now SWR3). While I can’t recall the year, what I surely remember is that I loved this tune right away. Co-written by band members John Sebastian and Steve Boone, together with John’s brother Mark Sebastian, Summer in the City first appeared in July 1966 as the lead single of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s fourth studio album Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful released in November of the same year. It became their biggest hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and the charts in Canada, surging to no. 3 in New Zealand, and reaching no. 8 in the UK. After disbanding in 1969 and a short reunion in 1979, founding members Joe Butler and Steve Boone revived the band with a new line-up in 1991. The Lovin’ Spoonful exist to this day, with Butler and Boone still being part of the current incarnation.

Katrina and the Waves/Walking on Sunshine

And since we’re in the middle of summer, let’s throw in another great tune associated with the season: Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Interestingly, the catchy song went unnoticed when it first appeared as the title track of their debut album in December 1983. Things changed dramatically with a re-recorded version that became the lead single of the band’s eponymous third studio album from March 1985. Walking on Sunshine turned out to be their biggest hit peaking at no. 9 and no. 8 in the U.S. and the UK, respectively. Chart success was even bigger in Ireland (no. 2), Canada (no. 3) and Australia (no. 4). I still remember the tune seemed everywhere on the radio in Germany at the time. Walking on Sunshine was written by Kimberley Rew, the group’s lead guitarist. After 10 albums Katrina and the Waves dissolved in 1999, following the departure of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Katrina Leskanich. This is one fun tune!

Yes/Roundabout

I’ve never gotten very much into prog rock, in part because I found some of it not very accessible. I can also get impatient with tracks that last six, seven or even more than eight minutes because of extended instrumental sections. One of the few exceptions are Yes. Initially, the British band entered my radar screen with Owner of a Lonely Heart, their hit single from October 1983, which of course sounds much more like ’80s pop rock than progressive rock. While I loved that tune right away, it took me some time to explore and fully warm to the band’s earlier output. And, to be fully transparent, my knowledge of their music is still quite spotty. Nowadays, one of my favorite Yes tunes is Roundabout, in all of its 8-minute-plus mighty! 🙂 Co-written by lead vocalist Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe, the track appeared on the band’s fourth studio album Fragile from November 1971. Yes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017, remain active to this day, with Howe as the only original member. In fact, just a few days ago, Yes announced a new studio album, The Quest, scheduled for October 1 – the first in seven years, as reported by Ultimate Classic Rock and other music news outlets.

Hurry/It’s Dangerous

Let’s wrap up things with some melodic contemporary indie rock by a band from Philadelphia I recently discovered as part of my Best of What’s New new music feature: It’s Dangerous by Hurry. The band originally started as a solo project by principal songwriter Matt Scottoline. Borrowing from my previous post, according to his Apple Music profile, Scottoline, the bassist of Philly EMO band Everyone Everywhere, spent his free time writing and recording songs on his own, delving further into power pop and ’90s guitar rock than his main band ever did…In 2012, he released an eight-song self-titled record under the Hurry name, playing all the instruments himself. When Everyone Everywhere began to cut back on their schedule in the early 2010s, Scottoline decided to form an actual band, recruiting drummer Rob DeCarolis and a rotating cadre of friends on bass to play live shows. In addition to Scottoline and DeCarolis, Hurry’s current line-up includes DeCarolis’ brother Joe DeCarolis (bass) and Justin Fox (guitar). It’s Dangerous, co-written by Scottoline and Chris Farren, is the opener of the band’s new album A Fake Idea released on June 25.

Sources: Wikipedia; Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio website; Ultimate Classic Rock; YouTube