The “Golden Hits Of The 50s-60s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
CREATED 1988 FOR THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF ONE-HIT WONDERS. DUE TO BOOK LENGTH RESTRICTIONS; NEVER PUBLISHED
JAMIES
“Summertime, Summertime”
(Tom Jameson, Sherm Feller)
Epic 9281
No. 26 September 22, 1958
No. 38 August 4, 1962
(Updated September 21, 2015)
.
The Jamies were four teens from Dorchester, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. There was
Tommy Earl Jameson, his sister Serena, and two friends–Arthur Blair and Jeannie Roy–acquired
while singing in their neighborhood church.
Sherm Feller, a deejay on Boston’s WEZE–and later the public adress announcer for the Boston
Red Sox at Fenway Park–heard a demo the kids had put together. Feller, in particular,
liked their fugue-like, summertime funtime number and brought them to the attention of Epic
Records.
.
While little is known of these creators, their chirpy and catchy “summertime, summertime, sum-
sum summertime” chorus, with it’s swingin’ harpschord, has been experienced by approximately
everyone; now 60 an over. Year after year, when that season approaches the diminishing number
of “Oldie” radio stations occasionally reach into their might vaults and dust their Jamie disk for
that one-more-ride.
Upon it’s issuances, Billboard’s record reviewers referred to “Summertime, Summertime” as “an
exciting blend of medieval polyphonic structure with the hormonal sound.” Got that? No one
could have guessed at the perennial stature their song would secure. Likewise, given the success of
“Summertime,” no observant would have guessed at the groups fleeting favor. Other than the
multi-re-release of “Summertime,” the Jamies only remained together for three unheard of singles,
“When The Sun Goes Down” b/w “Snow Train,” “Evening Star” b/ “Don’t Darken My Door” and
“The Evening Star” b/w “Don’t Darken My Door.”