“Summer Rain” (Johnny Rivers)

Today’s summer-themed classic song of the day is from the inimitable Johnny Rivers. The song is “Summer Rain,” and when it was released in November of 1967 (not in the summer, unfortunately) it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit the top ten in Canada and New Zealand.

“Summer Rain” was written by a chap named Jim Hendricks. That’s JIM Hendricks, not Jimi Hendricks. Jim Hendricks was a folkie from Nebraska, who got his big break when was one-third of the folk trio The Big 3; the other members of the group were Cass Elliott (you probably know her as Mama Cass, from the Mamas and the Papas) and Tim Rose. In fact, Mr. Hendricks married Ms. Elliott in 1963, although they annulled the thing five years later. In-between, the two of them formed the Mugwumps, which also included Denny Doherty (another soon-to-be member of the Mamas and the Papas) and Zal Yanovsky (soon-to-be member of the Lovin’ Spoonful).

The Mugwumps broke up after eight months and Hendricks moved to L.A. and formed a group called the Lamp of Childhood, which released a few records but didn’t make much of a splash. As a songwriter, he’s known mostly for writing “Summer Rain” and “Long Lonesome Highway,” the theme song for the television series Then Came Bronson. Hendricks moved to Nashville in 1970 and switched to writing and performing contemporary Christian music, which he still does today.

“Summer Rain” is all about a summer love, evoking the spirit of that year’s Summer of Love. The lyrics talk about dancing in the sand and listening to the Beatles:

All summer long
We spent dancin’ in the sand
And the jukebox kept on playin’
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

We sailed into the sunset
Drifting home, caught by a gulf stream
Never gave a thought for tomorrow
Let tomorrow be

Johnny Rivers has had a long and influential career in the music business. In addition to recording a boatload of hits on his own, many of them covers (“Memphis,” “Maybelline,” “Mountain of Love,” “Midnight Special,” “Seventh Son,” “Secret Agent Man,” “Poor Side of Town,” “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Tracks of My Tears,” “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” and “Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin'”), he started his own record company (Soul City Records) and helped to discover the 5th Dimension and songwriter Jimmy Webb. The man was a force—and, by all accounts, a dynamic live performer. He’s retired now, 82 years old.