“Elenore” (The Turtles)

Turtles, Elenore

Celebrating the return of the Turtles to SiriusXM radio, today’s classic song of the day is “Elenore.” Released by the Turtles in September of 1968, this single peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Cash Box Top 100. You might not have noticed, but for many years the Turtles’ music was effectively banned from SiriusXM…

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“Summer Rain” (Johnny Rivers)

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.…

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“Summertime Blues” (Eddie Cochran/Blue Cheer/The Who)

Summertime Blues, Blue Cheer

Still celebrating the songs of summer, today’s classic summer song of the day is “Summertime Blues.” Written by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart, this one was a hit for three different artists—and covered by many more. The first version of “Summertime Blues” was released by Eddie Cochran, the song’s co-writer, in July of 1958. Eddie played all the guitar parts…

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“Summer” (War)

Summer, War

It’s a full week of summer songs here at the Classic Song of the Day blog, and today’s classic summer song of the day is the aptly named “Summer” by the band War. “Summer” was written by the entire band—Lonnie Jordan (keyboards), Howard Scott (guitar), Lee Oskar (harmonica), Papa Dee Allen (percussion), Charles Miller (sax), B.B. Dickerson (bass), and Harold…

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