Summer of '69

Infobox Single
Name = Summer of '69


Artist = Bryan Adams
from Album = Reckless
B-side = "Kids Wanna Rock"
"The Best Was Yet to Come"
Released = June 1985
Format = gramophone record
Recorded = 1984
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:32
Label = A&M
Writer = Bryan Adams
Jim Vallance
Producer = Bob Clearmountain
Bryan Adams
Certification =
Last single = "Heaven"
(1985)
This single = "Summer of '69"
(1985)
Next single = "One Night Love Affair"
(1985)
Misc = "Summer of '69" is a rock song written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance for Adams fourth studio album "Reckless" (1984). It was the fourth single released from the album "Reckless". It is one of Adams' most recognizable and popular songs. The song peaked at 5 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and 40 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song has appeared on all of Adams' compilation albums.

Writing and recording

After a tour supporting his breakthrough album Cuts Like a Knife he started the recording for "Reckless".cite news
title=Album notes for Anthology by Dave Marsh (CD booklet). A&M Records (A&M 5613).
date=2005-10-18] "Summer of '69" was written on January 25, 1984 with Jim Vallance. The recording took place in Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver, Canada and was mixed in New York by Jim Vallance. The recording for "Summer of '69" started shortly after and went through the winter and was recorded three times before it was mixed on November 22, 1984.

Lyrical meaning

Adams has stated that:

"We could take the cookie cutter out and we'd be slapping them out all the time. I think 'Summer of '69' - i think it's timeless because it's about making love in the summertime. There is a slight misconception it's about a year, but it's not. '69' has nothing to do about a year, it has to do with a sexual position."cite web
url=http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/bryan_adams_2008.html
title=Bryan Adams - .
publisher=thecelebritycafe.com
accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

Co-writer Jim Vallance has always gone for the more conventional interpretation of the title being a reference to a year. He notes Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty", which contains references to 1965 and 1969, as his own influence, and recalls Adams cited the film "Summer of '42" as his."cite web | url=http://jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-adams-summer-of-69.html |title=Summer of '69 | publisher=JimVallance.com | accessdate=2008-09-18]

Reception

Barry Webber from Allmusic said "The song makes no attempt to be deep or meaningful -- just fun -- and, on that note, it succeeds splendidly. The lyrics find Adams reminiscing about his youth, proudly proclaiming "those were the best days of my life." And the lyrics, cheesy as they may be, suit the song. After all, the silliness of the single is what gives it the desired naïve charm, relating to the cliché "age of innocence" that Adams has since made a career out of exploiting to both young and old fans alike."cite web
url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:fxfixxy0ldte
title=Summer of '69
publisher=Allmusic
accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

As Adams has stated:

That song is 25 years old now so it's had that many years to incubate. A lot of songs, like that one, hit big in America but really not anywhere else. It didn't chart anywhere in Europe until at least 10 years after it was released. I remember in 1993 that someone told me, 'Hey, did you know that 'Summer of '69' is number one in Holland?' I think songs can have a life of their own regardless of the promotion."cite web
url=http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/bryan_adams_2008.html
title=Bryan Adams - .
publisher=thecelebritycafe.com
accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

"Summer of '69" has been covered by numerous artists. One of the first cover recordings was a punk rock version by MxPx on the 1995 album, "On the Cover"."cite web | url=http://jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-adams-summer-of-69.html |title=Summer of '69 | publisher=JimVallance.com | accessdate=2008-09-18] The American ska band Less than Jake gave "Run to You" a ska treatment on the album "Wood Panel Racer Wagon with Mags".cite web
url=http://www.answers.com/topic/less-than-jake
title=Less than Jake
publisher=answers.com
accessdate=2008-06-24 ] Another American band named Bowling for Soup covered "Summer of '69" on their 2000 album, "Let's Do It for Johnny!" which was heavily inspired by punk and pop."cite web | url=http://jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-adams-summer-of-69.html |title=Summer of '69 | publisher=JimVallance.com | accessdate=2008-09-18]

In 1985 the song won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for US radio airplay, the following year 1986 - Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian radio airplay and in 2000 it won a Socan Classics Award for more than 100,000 Canadian radio performances."cite web | url=http://jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-adams-summer-of-69.html |title=Summer of '69 | publisher=JimVallance.com | accessdate=2008-09-18]

Chart performance

Upon the release of the album "Reckless" in November 1984, "Summer of '69" received some airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations but was mostly overshadowed by the tracks "Run to You" and "It's Only Love", only managing to reach #40 on Billboard's Rock Tracks chart. After it was released as a single in June 1985, "Summer of '69" climbed to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped push "Reckless" to the #1 position on the Billboard 200 in August 1985.

In Canada "Summer of '69" was officially released to radio on November, 1984. The song reached the top twenty on the Canadian Singles Chart and remained in the top twenty for another month. "Summer of '69" was the highest charting single from Reckless with Heaven.

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" reached the UK top forty, while "Summer of '69" peaked at the top forty. "Summer of '69" continued the trend of higher-charting singles when it debuted and peaked at top twenty in most of the European countries it charted. Adams' previous singles had charted much weaker in Europe and "Summer of '69" would be Adams' second single to chart in mainland Europe.

Although "Summer of '69" reached the top ten in Norway and then the top twenty in the Austria, Ireland and Sweden, it was a moderate top hundred success in Germany where it peaked at 62.

Music video

The music video was directed by American director Steve Barron in 1985.cite web
url=http://skolarbete.nu/skolarbeten/bryan-adams/
title=The Life Of Bryan
language=Da icon
publisher=-skolarbete.nu
accessdate=2008-06-24 ] In 1985 it was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards in one category for Best Male Video. While the song didn't win the award, it was one of four nominated songs from Adams' fourth studio album Reckless.cite news
url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-a/bryanadams.htm
title=Rock On The Net: Bryan Adams
work=Rock On The Net
date=1986-09-05
accessdate= 2008-09-01]

Track listings

Tracklist
writing_credits = yes
title1 = Summer of '69
length1 = 4:44
writer1 = Adams, Vallance
title2 = Kids Wanna Rock
length2 = 3:28
writer2 = Adams, Vallance
title3 = The Best Was Yet to Come
length3 = 2:36
writer3 = Adams, Vallance

Personnel

*Bryan Adams - Rhythm guitar, vocals
*Keith Scott - Lead guitar
*Dave Taylor - Bass
*Pat Steward - Drums

Chart positions

References