"The Things We Did Last Summer" is a popular song about nostalgia from 1946. The words were written by Sammy Cahn, with the composition by Jule Styne. The most well known version is the 1946 Top ten hit by Jo Stafford. Versions by Frank Sinatra and by Vaughn Monroe also charted that year. Shelley Fabares had a hit cover in 1962 on the pop chart. Several recordings have been made, including versions by Frank Sinatra, Vaughn Monroe, and Dean Martin who recorded different versions for his 1959 and 1966 Christmas LPs.
Jo Stafford version
| "The Things We Did Last Summer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jo Stafford | ||||
| Released | 1946 | |||
| Recorded | 1946 | |||
| Genre | Traditional Pop | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | |||
| Jo Stafford singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Things We Did Last Summer" was recorded by Jo Stafford, in a single released in 1946 on the Capitol Records label. Stafford's version of the song was a successful hit, peaking, at number 10 on the Billboard chart in the United States. Her recording of the song was conducted and arranged by Paul Weston and his Orchestra.
Chart performance
| Chart (1946) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard | 10 |
Shelley Fabares version
| "The Things We Did Last Summer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Shelley Fabares | ||||
| from the album The Things We Did Last Summer | ||||
| B-side | "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" | |||
| Released | August 1962 | |||
| Recorded | 1962 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | Colpix | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | |||
| Producer(s) | Stu Phillips | |||
| Shelley Fabares singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Shelley Fabares recorded the song in a single released in August 1962 on the Colpix label. It was the second single taken from her second album The Things We Did Last Summer. It was produced and arranged by Stu Phillips.
Reception
"The Things We Did Last Summer" charted at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Track listing
- "The Things We Did Last Summer" – 2:27
- "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" – 2:05
Chart performance
| Chart (1962) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 46 |
Other versions
- Toshiko Akiyoshi – Toshiko Akiyoshi at Maybeck (1994)
- The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys (1993)
- Richie Cole and Art Pepper – A Piece of Jazz History (2006)
- Bing Crosby – recorded August 1, 1946 with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra.
- Vic Damone – This Game of Love (1959)
- Sammy Davis Jr. & Carmen McRae – Boy Meets Girl (1957)
- Dick Farney – Noite (1981)
- Michael Feinstein – Michael Feinstein Sings the Jule Styne Songbook (1991)
- A Fine Frenzy – His Songs, Our Way (2009)
- The Four Lads – On the Sunny Side (1956)
- The Four Preps – The Things We Did Last Summer (1958)
- Eydie Gormé – Love Is a Season (1958)
- Bennie Green – Walking Down (1956)
- Richard "Groove" Holmes – Soul Message (1965)
- Ramon Jacinto – Romancing RJ (2016)
- Beverly Kenney – Snuggled on Your Shoulder (2006)
- Lesley Gore – My Town, My Guy & Me (1965)
- The Lettermen – More Hit Sounds of the Lettermen (1965)
- Dean Martin – A Winter Romance (1959) and The Dean Martin Christmas Album (1966)
- Seth MacFarlane – Once in a While (2019)
- Herbie Mann – Herbie Mann Plays (1956)
- Helen Merrill – Merrill at Midnight (1957)
- Fats Navarro – Jazz at the Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall (1949)
- Jackie Paris – That Paris Mood (1954)
- Jane Powell – Can't We Be Friends? (1956)
- Freddie Redd – Piano: East/West (1955)
- Dizzy Reece – Comin' On! (1960)
- George Shearing & Nancy Wilson – The Swingin's Mutual! (1961)
- Sahib Shihab – The Jazz We Heard Last Summer (1957)
- Frank Sinatra – recorded on July 24, 1946 for Columbia Records.
References
- Browne, Ray Broadus; Ambrosetti, Ronald J. (1993). Continuities in Popular Culture: The Present in the Past & the Past in the Present and Future. Popular Press. ISBN 9780879725938.
- Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890–1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 406. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 (10th ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 234. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
- AllMusic
- "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- Harris, Chris (July 7, 2009). "Maroon 5 Hit The Studio for New LP, Take On Sinatra for iTunes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
- "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- Amazon.com
- "Frank Sinatra Discography". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved September 11, 2017.