Song · Big Brother & The Holding Company
“Summertime” by Big Brother & The Holding Company
From the album Cheap Thrills (1968)
“Summertime” by Big Brother & The Holding Company appears on 5 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2009 and 2020. It was first released in 1968 on the album Cheap Thrills. Its best result is #138 on the WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,271 indie & aaa song of all time.
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George Gershwin wrote "Summertime" as an aria for his 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, with words by DuBose Heyward, and by the time Big Brother & the Holding Company got hold of it for Cheap Thrills in 1968 it had long been a jazz standard. They didn't treat it like one.
Sam Andrew arranged it, and he, Peter Albin and James Gurley tangle their guitars and bass into something woozy and smoldering while Dave Getz keeps a patient pulse. Then Janis Joplin pours in every ounce of ache she's got, and the stately old aria turns into something closer to a wail. John Simon produced it, and it remains an unlikely, scorching thing to do with Gershwin.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 138 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 669 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2011 | 971 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 1021 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2020 | 368 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
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