"Summer Breeze" is a song written and originally recorded by American

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

duo

Seals and Crofts Seals and Crofts was an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938) They are best known for their hits " Summer Breeze" (1972), " Diamond Girl ...

. Released in 1972, it reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the US. In 2013, it was ranked No. 13 in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''′s "Best Summer Songs of All Time". The song also became a hit for

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

in 1974.

Original Seals and Crofts version

Released nine days ahead of their 1972 '' Summer Breeze'' album, Seals and Crofts' original version reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart in the US that same year. Bruce Eder of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

referred to it as "one of those relentlessly appealing 1970s harmony-rock anthems ... appropriately ubiquitous on the radio and in the memory". Seals and Crofts performed the song live on the ''Bobby Darin Amusement Company'' variety show in 1972. Harvey Brooks played bass on this recording.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Isley Brothers version

The song was covered in a harder rock- soulful style by

as a single in 1974. Issued also on their 1973 album '' 3 + 3'', it reached number sixty on the pop chart, number ten on the R&B chart, and number sixteen on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The Isley Brothers performed "Summer Breeze" on the music TV show '' Soul Train'' in 1974. It was featured in

season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In tempera ...

, episode 18 of ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

'' and also in a 2014 episode of ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

''. It was sampled in the track " All in My Mind" by

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

along with his newly formed rap group, Oakland Fight Club featuring Mistah F.A.B. (2014).

Certifications

Chart performance

Ray Conniff version

The Ray Conniff Singers recorded a version in 1973, which appeared on the ''I Can See Clearly Now'' (aka ''Clair'') album, and was released in the UK as a 45 on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

label (S CBS 1196) in January 1973.

Geoffrey Williams version

The version recorded by English singer Geoffrey Williams was released in 1992 as a single. It peaked at number 56 on the week ending August 16, 1992, on the

. It also peaked at number 32 on the week ending November 22, 1992, on New Zealand's Official Top 40 Singles chart.

Type O Negative version

Type O Negative Type O Negative were an American gothic metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums, percu ...

released a cover of the song in August 1993 on their album ''

Bloody Kisses ''Bloody Kisses'' is the third studio album by the American gothic metal band Type O Negative and the last recording with their original lineup, as drummer Sal Abruscato left the group in late 1993 to join labelmates Life of Agony. The album incl ...

'' altering their version to match their gothic metal style. Their version was originally to be titled "Summer Girl", featuring new lyrics written by

Peter Steele Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O N ...

, but after Seals & Crofts found the lyrical content distasteful, the original lyrics were sung instead. The song is featured in the opening of the 1997 horror hit, ''

I Know What You Did Last Summer ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely base ...

''.

Tracklist

All songs written by

unless otherwise noted.

Credits

– lead vocals, bass guitar *

Kenny Hickey Kenneth Shaun Hickey (born May 22, 1966) is an American heavy metal musician. He was the co-founder, guitarist and backing and occasional co-lead vocalist of the gothic metal band Type O Negative. He is currently the vocalist and guitarist for ...

– guitar, backing vocals *

Josh Silver Josh Silver (born November 14, 1962) is an American musician who is the former keyboardist, producer and backing vocalist of gothic metal band Type O Negative. He joined the band at frontman Peter Steele's request. He played for Type O Negat ...

– keyboards, backing vocals *

Sal Abruscato Sal Abruscato (born July 18, 1970) is an American drummer, guitarist and singer, best known as the original drummer for Brooklyn metal bands Type O Negative and Life of Agony.Hart, Josh (2011)Interview: Sal Abruscato and Matt Brown of A Pale Hor ...

– drums, percussion

References

{{Authority control 1972 songs 1972 singles 1974 singles 1992 singles 1995 singles Seals and Crofts songs Songs written by James Seals The Isley Brothers songs Warner Records singles T-Neck Records singles Roadrunner Records singles