WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION OF BOTB!
Hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands, this is where you listen to different recordings and choose the one you prefer. There are two “Battles” per month, on the 1st and 15th. Votes will be tallied and posted the following week. (Please note: Effective July 2017, I switched to once a month on the 15th only. This will allow me more time to share other types of material with you.) Click HERE to view a complete list of my BOTB entries. See below for a list of current participants. Care to join us? Contact our host, by clicking on the above link and leaving a comment on his blog. The more, the merrier!
♫ Summertime and the livin’ is easy ♫
At least, we hope so! See previous post.
Here’s another classic show tune, but I’m going for an R&B vs Blues/Rock spin.
Coincidentally, our host, Stephen, has chosen the same song, but with different contenders. Should be interesting!
HISTORY
[for reference only – not part of the vote]“Summertime” is an aria composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin.
It soon became a popular and much recorded jazz standard, described as “without doubt … one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote … Gershwin’s highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of blacks in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century”. – WIKIPEDIA
Background info only. Now, on to the actual contest…
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BILLY STEWART
William Larry Stewart II (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970) was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist who was popular during the 1960s. In 1966, Stewart recorded the LP Unbelievable. “Summertime” was the first single released and it became a Top 10 hit on both the pop and R&B charts. It remains the most successful of more than 25,000 different recordings.
VS
JANIS JOPLIN
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American rock, soul, and blues singer-songwriter, and one of the most successful female rock stars of her era. After releasing three albums, she died of a heroin overdose, becoming a member of the fabled “27 Club”. “Summertime” is the 3rd track from the album Cheap Thrills, recorded with psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1968. Although not a chart-topper, it has been highly praised.
VOTE NOW!
Please state your preference in comments below and why you chose it.
Voting remains open until 11:59 pm, June 21st,
after which I will count the votes, add mine and publish the results.
These are the other BOTB regulars and semi-regulars.
Please cruise on by their sites and, if they have a post up, vote on their selections as well:
[Check back – there’s no set posting time]ai love music / Angels Bark / Cherdo On The Flipside / Curious as a Cathy / Jingle Jangle Jungle /
Mike’s Ramblings / Sound of One Hand Typing / HOST: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands / Tossing it Out
As always, “Sharing is Caring”. Spread this musical joy all over your social networks.
Hashtags are #BOTB and #dogladysden
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Next Battle on this site will (probably) be July 15th.
In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some favourite material that you may or may not have seen before,
starting with a glimpse of Europe in the 1960s. Stay tuned!
ROCK ON!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
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34 thoughts on “SUMMERTIME | BATTLE OF THE BANDS #BOTB”
You alwasy make me smile. ?
Thanks, I think. 🙂 Too bad you missed the battle. There’s another one coming up July 15th. In the meantime, there are other posts that might be amusing. Cheers!
I love this song so much..but not how either sang it-hahahaa. Call me old fashioned. I thought I would go for Janis Joplin but I couldn’t even find the real tune in her rendition so I vote for Billy Stewart who also died way too young.
I’m not surprised you prefer the traditional versions, Birgit. 🙂 So, we have another vote for Billy. (Looking like a landslide win!) Yes, his death was also sudden and tragic. Thanks for coming by!
Ooh, tricky this one. I’d never heard the Billy Stewart version before and I LOVE it. I love Janis Joplin more for who she was and the struggles she went through in her life. She is an essential part of our record collections because of her status as a sixties icon but I have to say, I prefer looking at all the old pictures of her than I do listening to her sing. I know I’ll probably get things thrown at me for saying that! But I have to be honest. I do love Janis’s version of summertime because it IS so iconic but, I prefer the Billy Stewart version. Sorry Janis – but I do love you, ?
I suppose Janis’ voice is an acquired taste. You feel about her the same way I do about Bob Dylan. 😀 Billy gets another one! Thanks for voting.
Janis Joplin, please.
Thank you, Myke. 🙂 Poor Janis needs all the votes she can get.
Debbie,
I enjoyed reading the history behind this song. I had no clue it is such an old song. I enjoyed both covers but I liked Billy Stewart version the best. While I listened to Janis Joplin it occurred to me for the first time who she reminds me of and that’s old friend of mine from high school. It’s the hair, big glasses, and smile I think that makes me think of my classmate, Sandy. I wonder why I never saw this before now? Great battle. Here’s to enjoying your time away from Blogosphere right alongside me if nothing else in spirit. Happy summertime to you, my friend! 🙂
Another vote for Billy! Thanks, Cathy. 🙂 I’m afraid poor Janis hasn’t much hope of catching up. Interesting that you have a friend who resembles her. I always loved Janis’ style. Not really getting away from the Blogosphere as much as I hoped. LOL How about you? I’ve been choosing and updated some old posts to revive. Enjoy your summer!
Debbie,
I won’t get away from the regular blogging grind until the first of next month. I’m going to play things out since I have posts set for the rest of June to publish, then it’ll be just once per week with 4M. Hopefully, you’ll find time to step away. Maybe, check in every other day to respond to comments or do return visits. That’s probably what I’ll do in July. This is the only hope of keeping me from having my nose buried deep in Blogosphere. lol
I’m revising and scheduling some old posts to publish automatically, in advance, then I’ll do the same. SO hard to break away! 😀
Absolutely, Billy Stewart. I love the way his sounds.
Thanks! Billy is leaving Janis in the dust, here.
I’ve never heard the Billy Stewart version but I vote for that. I’ve mainly heard versions by opera singers and I think singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
Thanks for coming by to vote, Roland! 🙂 Another one for Billy. Yes, this song has been covered by many people in the original ballad form. Billy certainly gave it a unique twist.
I love this song and I have always loved Janis Joplin singing it, so she gets my vote. I listened to Billy Stewart, though. His arrangement has too many embellishments for me. I was put off by the la la laaaaaa right at the beginning.
Love,
Janie
Hi Janie; Thanks for coming by to vote and for choosing Janis! At this point, she needs all the support she can get. Hoping to stave off another (surprising) blowout.
I’ve always liked this song, but had never heard Billy Stewart’s version until now. I really like what he did with the song. It just makes me feel so happy inside, there is no way that I can deny him a vote. Great battle!
Hi Mary! I’m surprised you haven’t heard Billy Stewart’s version before. It gets a lot of airplay, here. Definitely, go with that happy feeling! 🙂 Billy is running away with this battle, so far. Thanks for voting!
Happy Summer to you!! I like Billy’s version better and it gets my vote as it is funky and very upbeat.
Happy Summer to you, as well! 🙂 Another vote for Billy. This is starting to look like another blowout! 😮 Thanks for coming by.
This is my favorite Janis Joplin song cover, so the others didn’t really have a chance. Option #1 was too soprano-y (I just invented that word…she’s almost doing a falsetto at times) and Option #2 was just too zip-a-dee-doo-dah for the vibe of the song.
But Janis nails it! Great battle, Debbie!
Soprano-y sounds about right. Good thing that one was for reference only and not part of the contest. 😉 Oops! Didn’t I mention that? Sorry! Janis certainly did a good job. Thanks for your vote. First one for Ms. Joplin.
DEBBIE ~
Hokey-Smoke! What a trip!! I read your introductory background info and thought to myself: Not only have I never heard Billy Stewart’s version of this song, but I have never even heard of Billy Stewart.
But then at the 42-second mark into the song, I had an epiphany. It was like being shoved into Mr. Peabody’s Waybac Machine and instantly transported back to 1966! Just like Lee said, I also probably haven’t heard this song in about 50 years, but I remember it.
Other than Billy Stewart’s rendition, I have never heard ‘Summertime’ sung as anything but a ballad. Wow! He sure did a number on that number!!
Truthfully, I’ve never been a Janis Joplin fan. Too much screeching. However, ‘Summertime’ is one of her few songs that I DO like. It’s a great treatment in the traditional ballad style. But… I’m gonna have to give the nod to BILLY for his unique approach, the high-energy fun of it, and because of the wonderful blast of nostalgia it provided me, taking my mind back to a far simpler, more innocent era. Great stuffs!
Debbie, thanks for the trip down Amnesia Lane!
LASTLY: Joplin’s version of ‘Summertime’ always makes me think of one of my favorite non-Disney animated movies. If you’ve never seen Ralph Bakshi’s ‘AMERICAN POP’ (1981), I recommend it to you to the same degree I recommended ‘Crossroads’ to ya!
Here’s the official movie slogan:
ALL THOSE YEARS
ALL THOSE DREAMS
ALL THOSE SONS . . .
ONE OF THEM IS GOING TO BE A STAR
That movie has great sentimental value to me, as it’s tied in with my late acting buddy, Marty Brumer, who was killed by a car thief in 1989. I’ll spare all the details about that, for now, anyway. And just say that the movie is filled with excellent scenes, and one of the really emotionally moving scenes is when the female rocker (a kind of Grace Slick / Janis Joplin amalgamation) sings ‘Summertime’ (Joplin’s version) to a little blonde Kansas boy named Pete. (Pete later becomes a total bad-ass on the streets of New York, but I won’t spoil it for ya.)
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
This is the one Janis Joplin song that I really dig, brudder. LOL.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the battle, Stephen! 😀 That’s another vote for Billy Stewart. It surprises me that so many people didn’t know his version. It gets a lot of airplay around here. Equally surprising is that he’s running away with this battle. 😮 I do hope there will be some additional votes for Janis in the coming days.
It must have been devastating to suddenly lose your actor friend, especially in such a tragic manner! My sympathies. Thanks for the tip about “American Pop”, though. I’ve never heard of it, but hubby and I did see “Fritz the Cat” way back when. Pretty off-the-wall! 😀 I will watch it and let you know what I think. Loved Crossroads, so I trust your judgement. Have a good week!
I love Billy Stewart! No brainer for me…
Okay; thanks! Billy Stewart is on a roll. 🙂
Well, I am a Janis Joplin fan but Billy Stewart took ownership in his version. What a fantastic production!
Thanks for your vote, Eugenia. Another one for Billy Stewart. 🙂
Gosh, I hadn’t heard that Billy Stewart version for maybe 50 years. I apparently didn’t appreciate it back then, but I sure like it now. I was never the biggest Joplin fan, but I did like her bands. Big Brother is great on this tune.
Maybe it seems wrong for me to say, but I think I’d have voted for Big Brother & Co with another lead singer. In the match we have here, my vote goes to Billy Stewart. What a band! What a production!
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Interesting! I hear the Billy Stewart version on the radio fairly often, here. Since you’re not really a Joplin fan, I can see where you’d prefer another singer. First vote goes to Billy Stewart. Thanks!