Perfect for the last Sunday of summer, today’s classic song of the day is “That Sunday, That Summer,” by the great Nat King Cole. Released as a single at the end of August in 1963, this gentle ballad hit #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on Billboard’s Middle-Road Singles chart.
“That Sunday, That Summer” was written by professional songsmiths Joe Sherman and George David Weiss. Joe, along with his brother Noel, wrote the music to “Ramblin’ Rose” for Nat King Cole, “Graduation Day” for the Four Freshman, and other classics. George was a lyricist who wrote the words for “Lullaby of Birdland” for Ella Fitzgerald, “Wimoweh” for the Weavers, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” for the Tokens, “What a Wonderful World” for Louis Armstrong, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for Elvis Presley, “A Walkin’ Miracle” for Essex, and more.
Record promoter Dick LaPalm, who worked with Nat King Cole, remembers this about the song:
“I remember Joe came backstage to see Nathaniel while he was working the Latin Casino in Philadelphia. He didn’t have a demo of “That Sunday, That Summer,” just sheet music. Nat could read music, of course, so he just read it down. He thought the song was interesting… He recorded the song on May 16, 1963, at Capitol in Los Angeles, with Ralph Carmichael’s arrangement. They recorded a couple of other songs that day—”Tell Me Your Dream” and “Don’t Forget.” But “That Sunday, That Summer” was the winner.
Indeed it was.
“That Sunday, That Summer” is about that moment in time when two people meet and fall in love:
If I had to choose just one day
To last my whole life through
It would surely be that Sunday
The day that I met you
It is a damn fine song, smoothly sung by Mr. Cole. There was nobody like him.
Today’s daily bonus video of the day, then, is Nat King Cole singing “That Sunday, That Summer” with the Cliff Adams Singers on the 1963 BBC television special, An Evening with Nat King Cole. I can listen to this all day.
