Under The Covers 6-23-24

 Under The Covers 6-23-24

A weekly look into the world of cover songs. 

Week 10 

Well summer is officially here and my part of the world decided to ring in this occasion by having the temperatures in the 90’s all week long. A staple to every summer is a good summer song or playlist. My definition of a summer song is one that is easy going, lighthearted lyrics, a nice beat, and conjures images of lying near a pool or beach, smell of barbecue in the air, a cold cocktail or drink in hand, sunshine on your face, and not a care in the world. While most people's summer mixes are completely different, there are a handful of songs that seem to appear on many if not most of them. These few songs span more than 60+ years and many genres including pop, rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Country, Reggae, and others and it doesn’t hurt if it has the word summer in the song either. One of these songs is the 1972 hit “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts. 

The Original 

The lead song off of Seals and Crofts 4th studio album of the same name “Summer Breeze”, became the breakout hit of this soft rock duo, peaking at #6 on Billboard Hot 100 and is currently listed at #20 of Rolling Stones “Best Summer Songs of All Time”. Described in his own words Jim Seals said, “A very simple song about a man coming home from work and hearing the dog barking and things like that and to a lot of people the song’s about looking for security.” 

The Cover

There are quite a few well known covers of “Summer Breeze” from The Isley Bothers (74) to Type O Negative (93) to Jason Mraz (04), but today I’m turning to a couple of rock legends. Tommy Shaw of Styx and Jack Blades of Night Ranger after having both been apart of the supergroup Damn Yankees formed Shaw-Blades. With only 2 studio albums 12 years apart it is the 2nd album from 2007 “Influence”, a record of covers, which we find their cover of “Summer Breeze”. 

https://youtu.be/rx6w3j7cWa0?si=G71Lu9k5UCnheTTW

Oops wrong 70’s superstar lol! 

https://youtu.be/jbN7DaFhtzg?si=k-K_5lSrB39TR6uO

Forming over the last few years is Seals and Crofts 2 featuring Brady Seals (cousin of Jim Seals) and Lua Crofts (daughter of Darrell Crofts). 

https://youtu.be/OY69E7kqlbI?si=oAW8kOLsMoWiINDT

3 Facts

1. One of the instruments played in the background in the song “Summer Breeze” is a child’s toy piano.

2. Although known as one of the best summer songs “Summer Breeze” wasn’t released until the end of August 1972. 

3. Both Seals and Crofts were outspoken advocates of the religion Bahai Faith. A religion that believes in the unification of all God, religions, and people into a single belief.