Customer Reviews

25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs

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This rock'n'roll compilation contains 25 rock'n'roll songs from the 1960s. All of the recordings are the originals. Any person interested in buying this compilation will likely own some of the songs on other albums. For example, I already had discs with SUMMER IN THE CITY, WIPE OUT, DANCING IN THE STREET, and PALISADES PARK. But for some reason, I wanted to listen to the rarity, SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME by The Jamies. The following are a few notes.

SUMMER IN THE CITY. This is by The Lovin' Spoonful, one of the most popular groups from the 1960s. The Lovin' Spoonful occupied the same lofty realm as the Mamas and The Papas, The Byrds, The Kinks, and Simon & Garfunkel.

SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME. This song is a 1-hit wonder from The Jamies. The song closest to this in the entire rock'n'roll genre, is Martian Hop. Martian Hop is by the Ran-Dels. Both songs feature a small vocal ensemble that recites a string of nonsense syllables. In Summertime, this is, "Summertime, summertime, sum-, sum-, summertime." In Martian Hop, this is, "Buh-buh me-me-me, buh-buh me-me-me."

WIPE OUT. WIPE OUT was an original by The Surfaris, and that is the recording you find here. However, The Surfaris are not very skilled on their instruments. Therefore, I would urge all customers interested in surf music to seek out a version of WIPE OUT by The Ventures.

SUNNY AFTERNOON. This attractive song is from one of early albums by The Kinks. The song is distinguished by the motif of a descending bass line.

PALISADES PARK. PALISADES PARK is one of the all-time great moldy-oldies from the early 1960s. No collection of pre-Beatles moldy-oldies can be complete without PALISADES PARK. Of course, if you are interested in moldy-oldies, your collection should also include songs by Bobby Vinton, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Everly Brothers.

BEACH PARTY. This song, from 1963, is by Annette Funicello. Annette was the most important of the children on a Walt Disney television program (THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB), which featured a group of kids called, The Mouseketeers. Annette was America's sweetheart in an era before Meg Ryan and Reese Witherspoon. Annette's singing is fine. The song, BEACH PARTY is fine too. But during the 1960s, and certainly after that period, Annette's songs rarely made the airwaves on top 40 radio.

CRITICISM. This compilation is also distinguished by some noteable omissions. This compilation should have also contained The Zombies' excellent version of SUMMERTIME (the Gershwin composition). Also missing is Sly and the Family Stone's, HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME. Another glaring omission is the classic, SUMMERTIME BLUES by Eddie Cochrane. And then, a very unfortunate oversight is the lack of Robin Ward's anthemic, WONDERFUL SUMMER. However, it will be easy for interested customers to find these other fabulous summer songs on other compilations.

With the frost on the grass and the north wind blowing across the Nebraska Plains, this disc will quickly trasnform you back to the days of summer.

This disc rounds up the usual suspects (the Spoonful's "Summer in the City," the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" and Mungo Jerry's loopy "In the Summertime"), but it then goes beyond these obvious choices to also include Annette Funicello's "Beach Party," Gary "U.S." Bonds' "Schools Out" and Bruce and Terry's "Summer Means Fun." And this collection is just that--FUN!

Some of these were big hits ("Sealed with a Kiss," "Summer Wine," "Theme from 'A Summer Place'"), some weren't ("Summertime, Summertime" by the Jamies, "Let's Go Trippin'" by Dick Dale, "On the Beach (In the Summertime)" by the 5th Dimension). But they all evoke the feeling of joy and excitement that is summer. The only glaring omission is the absence of anything by the Beach Boys, but that is most likely due to licensing difficulties. However, at 25 tracks, the sheer enormity of music on this single-disc collection more than makes up for it. So if you're looking for the perfect soundtrack for your next beach party or you're simply looking to recapture the summer, this is the ideal collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I normally don't rate CDs, but this one is an exceptional value for those who like 50s & 60s pop music. Eight of these are on my permanent list for my MP3 player (approx 200 from this genre) and I have 14 of them rated as 4 or 5 stars on my computer favorites.

While it would be easy to argue the claim that the 25 tracks included here constitute the "25 all-time greatest summer songs" AND that this is the "ultimate" summer song collection, marketing labels aside, this is a thoroughly enjoyable collection of summer-oriented songs. It contains a number of well-known titles along with some more obscure 45's and a few non-charting sides. A few once-popular hits here are a find - "Happy Summer Days", "Here Comes Summer" and a real rarity on CD - "Wombling Summer Party".

About half the cuts are in true stereo. A few songs that can be found in stereo versions elsewhere appear here in mono, such as "Dancing In The Street" and "Summer In The City". The compilers opted for the truer-to-AM-radio-sound in these few cases. Sound quality is quite good overall as Varese Vintage is usually reliable in this respect.

Lots of good fun summertime listening found here makes this highly recommended.

I bought this cd specifically to play during the weeks that my family would be staying at the beach this summer. It was not a disappointment. I was unfamiliar with many of the songs and ended up liking them. Of course there are also old standbys that everyone loves. I would highly recommend this cd to summer music lovers. Warning: the images on the cover are kind of creepy.

This fun filled release, when life was just swimming, hiking, meeting with your friends...listening to good music of the day...there are 25 collectible tunes all on one CD, thanks to Cary E. Mansfield and Bill Pitzonka from Varese Records/Varese Vintage, who put this one-of-a-kind collection together.

If you've never heard any of these songs, you're in for a real treat...get ready because you'll be hearing at least two or three during the day or week after listening...each track is a classic.

Stand outs ~ "SUMMER IN THE CITY" (The Lovin' Spoonful), "IN THE SUMMETIME" (Mungo Jerry), "THEME FROM A SUMMER PLACE" (Percy Faith and His Orchestra) this without a doubt is my favorite, couldn't go anywhere during those times without hearing this on the radio, jukebox or a friends record player (did I say record player?).

Know there are other favorites of YOURS...entire album is a compilation to end all compilations...don't let this one slip by!

Total Time: 69:11 on 25 Tracks ~ Varese Sarabande 302-266-148-2 ~ (2000)

This CD contains 25 tunes straight from summer. Feel the tingle of the noxema, and bring on the hot days, sunglasses, pool volleyball and sand between your toes. The selections are a little bit uneven, though most of them are obvious classics, a few will grow on you, and there were just a couple that were sorta "huh?" An excellent value just looking for a backyard pool party and a perfect summer day, nearly 70 minutes of pure summer. FAR better than Martha Stewart's summer selection CD, which contains only 14 songs and is a very odd mix. Beware that classics probably translates to "oldies" for the under 40 set (and don't you just hate that part?)

There's many notable summer *classics* to be found on "25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs", and a few definitely worth mentioning: "Summer In The City" (Lovin' Spoonful), "Sunny Afternoon" (The Kinks), "In The Summertime" (Mungo Jerry), "Here Comes Summer" (Jerry Keller), "Dancing In The Streets" (Martha & The Vandellas) and not forgetting the beautiful, "Theme From A Summer Place" (Percy Faith & His Orchestra). The rest of the CD, however, is rather forgettable. For this listener there's just too many 'fillers' included that *don't* deserve the 'All Time Greatest Summer Songs" tag. Most are lifted from the vintage rock n' roll period, and whereas I have a vested interest in that particular genre, some tracks haven't stood the test of time well. Some are just downright awful. There's a couple of 'novelty' songs here too that have no right being placed on a track listing with the likes of Percy Faith, The Kinks and Mungo Jerry. "Wombling Summer Party" anyone?

It's worth buying for the better songs I previously mentioned. Still, you'd be better off shopping around because this isn't the best summer CD available.

Jon.

This was more than I had bargained for- I was after a few of the individual songs, and find that the whole CD is well-worth it. Now I'm searching out others of the same genre. Thumbs-up to the maker(s) of these CD's of sings that are hard to find, but part of one's life!