Theme from "A Summer Place"
Theme from “A Summer Place” is the title of an instrumental piece of music based on the theme of the movie A Summer Place . It was composed by the Austrian-American composer Max Steiner in the slow swing rhythm and became a number one hit in the USA in the version of the orchestra Percy Faith .
prehistory
The film A Summer Place was produced in 1959 by the American Delmer Daves and premiered on October 22, 1959 in New York . As early as September 1959, three record companies in the USA published the main theme of the film's theme music on a single under the title Theme from “A Summer Place” : Columbia with Percy Faith, RCA Victor with Hugo Winterhalter and Warner Bros. with Don Ralke.
Percy Faith version
Of the three first versions of 1959, only the version of the orchestra Percy Faith was able to prevail in the hit lists. It was produced in New York's Columbia 30th Street Studio by Faith itself and was delivered to record stores by Columbia on September 21, 1959 under catalog number 41490. It was not until January 11, 1960 that the US music magazine Billbord added Percy Faith's Theme from “A Summer Place” to its Hot 100 hit list . The title started in 96th place, took four weeks to get into the top 10, but then landed at the top on February 22nd, which it defended for nine weeks. A Summer Place was also number one in the Billboard annual charts . Percy Faith's version topped the hit list of competing magazine Cashbox for eight weeks. Theme from “A Summer Place” became the most successful instrumental title in the USA since 1955 and was awarded a Grammy for “Record of the Year” . Percy Faith's version was also published worldwide and also took top positions in the international charts (Great Britain 2nd, Canada and New Zealand 4th). Percy Faith was only not so well received by the public in Germany, where it only came in 49th in the top 50 of the music magazine Musikmarkt .
Cover versions
After the appearance of the three first publications, numerous cover versions appeared from 1960 , both instrumental and vocal. Timely instrumental re-enactments include UK-released versions of Norrie Paramor , Bert Weedon and Billy Vaughn . In Germany, Polydor released an EP single in 1960 with Helmut Zacharias , which also contained Theme from “A Summer Place” . Also with Polydor in 1960 the long-playing record Songs Of The Olympic Years with the track theme from “A Summer Place” was released . In 1976 Percy Faith covered Theme from “A Summer Place” with a disco version .
Vocal versions of Theme from “A Summer Place” have appeared in both English and German-speaking countries . The lyrics in English were written by the New York songwriter Mack Discant , and the American a cappella girl group The Chordettes was the first to publish a sung version in 1961. They were followed in 1962 by Dick Roman and Joanie Sommers , who also sang A Summer Place with the lyrics of Discant in the USA . Dick Roman was also the first to get on the Billboard Hot 100 with the vocal version (# 64). It wasn't until three years later that the US trio The Lettermen achieved the best placement for the text version with 16th place in the Hot 100.
The successful author Hans Bradtke , who by then had already written the text for some number one hits (most recently Calcutta is on the Ganges ) , provided a German text . Polydor released two singles with Maureen René and Lolita . Only Maureen René's version made it into the top 50 of the music market and, like Percy Faith, landed on 49th place. While Lolita's song was only released on one EP, in the USA the record company Kapp had the idea to also sing Lolita there in German A Summer Place to let. It was hoped for a similar success as with Lolita's German song Seemann , which came fifth on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. However, A Summer Place only landed at the unofficial 112th place.
Discography (singles)
| Interpreter | Catalog no. | released |
|---|---|---|
| instrumental | ||
| Percy Faith | Columbia 41490 | USA 9/1959 |
| Don Ralke | Warner Bros. 5108 | USA 9/1959 |
| Hugo Winterhalter | RCA 7599 | USA 9/1959 |
| Bert Weedon | Top Rank 300 | UK 2/1960 |
| Billy Vaughn | London EP 1248 | UK 11/1960 |
| Percy Faith | Philips 322 529 | Germany 3/1960 |
| Helmut Zacharias | Polydor EP 21083 | Germany 1960 |
| vocal (Text Mack Discant) | ||
| The Chordettes | Cadence 2609 | USA 1961 |
| Joanie Sommers | Warner Bros. 5275 | USA 5/1962 |
| The lettermen | Capitol 5437 | USA 5/1965 |
| The Ventures | Liberty 56115 | USA 6/1969 |
| vocal (text by Hans Bradtke) | ||
| Maureen René | Polydor 24279 | Germany 6/1960 |
| Lolita | Polydor EP 21572 | Germany 1960 |
| Lolita | Kapp 370 | USA 2/1961 |
literature
- Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , Billboard Publications New York 1988, p. 66, ISBN 0-8230-7545-1