Special Encore Presentation of one of my favorite articles; hope you enjoy it! 🙂
One of the best instrumentals – and very fitting for this month 🙂 – is “Summertime” by Paul Revere & the Raiders. This original 1961 recording from their album, “Like, Long Hair”, is a work of art. 😎
Drummer extraordinaire, Mike “Smitty” Smith, leads off the song with steady, strong beats. A bash and a cymbal crash heralds the entrance of Drake Levin’s guitar strokes, played with so much soul. (I couldn’t pick out the bass, so either the bass guitar was not used in this song, or it so intricately melded with the other instruments that its sound cannot be isolated without extreme effort or equipment.) Paul Revere’s gifted piano playing adds a light breeze to the Deep South heat that the song is already conveying so clearly.
Then all stops.
Significantly.
Poignantly.
Then, at thirteen seconds in, the sultry voice of Mark Lindsay’s sax begins to sing the instrumental lyrics of the song. 😎
The other instruments rejoin the scene, each one of them adding to the ambiance of the hot, hazy, oh-so-hot summertime piece. Smitty’s cymbals are excellent! 🙂
At forty-one seconds, Mark’s sax brings a sweet touch to lift the senses from the simmering heat.
The volume rises and falls at the right moments and in the right way to paint the musical picture. 😎 The whole sound and feel of the song is conveyed with the Raider expertise.
Two verses of “Summertime” doesn’t seem like enough when you’re listening to this beautiful rendition. That must be why it gets set to “repeat” when my friends or I play it. 🙂 🙂
At 1:55, Mark’s sax sings out with great emphasis, Smitty’s shimmering cymbals shine, a soulful guitar stroke from the best guitarist in rock’n’roll soul fills the speakers, the supercool piano melody being played by Paul and more shimmering cymbals by Smitty brings the song to Mark’s sultry summer peak. Then the instruments ring out, lowering, easing its pace, giving the song a never-ending continuation of sound. 😎
Paul Revere & the Raiders: the most versatile, talented, fun, supercool group of artists you could imagine. And they’re real. How awesome is that? 🙂 😎
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