The Song of the Day for September 14, 2012 is Indian Summer.
There has been quite some discussion about what really constitutes an Indian summer at the Year of Tony Bennett. One of us was born in Liverpool, UK and emigrated to Oregon as child. I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and gradually worked my west as an adult. It turns out that Indian summer means different things to people, depending on where they are from.
But, as it was quite chilly here in Portland last week and is now quite warm with temperatures in the mid-eighties, I declare it to be Indian summer.
About Indian Summer
The song was written as piano solo in 1919 by Victor Herbert. Al Dubin wrote the lyrics in 1939. The next year, Tommy Dorsey, with Frank Sinatra, recorded the song and it reached #1 on the Hit Parade. Sidney Bechet, playing the soprano saxophone, recorded one of the first jazz recordings of the song. It has also been recorded by Gene Krupa, Paul Desmond, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan.
About This Version
Tony Bennett first recorded Indian Summer in 1962 and was released on the 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. This version was arranged and conducted by Ralph Sharon. The version for today is from Perfectly Frank, released in 1992, orchestrated by Robert Farnon.
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