Composed by the Gershwin brothers for the stage version of Porgy and Bess, with Porgy novelist DuBose Heyward. The song debuted in the 1935 opera, and soon afterward became a standard. While most pop standards fit multiple styles, they usually sound most at home in a more traditional setting. Summertime, on the other hand, sounds like it was meant to be a soulful blues vocal.
Recorded by a wide range of singers, including Janis Joplin, Doc Watson, Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Billie Holiday, Pete Seeger and Fantasia. There have also been numerous instrumental versions recorded, by Booker T. and the MGs, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, The Ventures, and many more.
Janis Joplin in 1969, not too long after she left Big Brother and the Holding Company:
Ska/rocksteady singer Lloyd Clark recorded several versions:
Of course Sam Cooke sang one of the definitive versions:
Miles Davis:
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