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 himself; Connie “Guybo” Smith played bass and the legendary Earl Palmer played drums. This single went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
About a decade later, the group Blue Cheer recorded a very hard rock version of “Summertime Blues.” Released in January of 1968, the Blue Cheer single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Fast forward another couple of years and the Who recorded their version of “Summertime Blues.” They actually recorded several versions of the song, but the one that gained the most transaction was a live version included on their 1970 Live at Leeds album. That version was released as a single in June of 1970 and peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Many other artists also put their stamp on the song. There were versions of “Summertime Blues” by Australian rocker Johnny Chester in 1962, Swedish rockers Hep Stars (with future ABBA guy Benny Andersson on keyboards) in 1965, French singer Johnny Hallyday in 1975, country music legend Buck Owens in 1988, country artist Alan Jackson in 1994 (his rockabilly version went to #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart), and Canadian prog rockers Rush in 2004. Whew!
