"Summer '68" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

on their 1970 album ''

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the United Kingdom, and on 10 October 1970 in the United States. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Roa ...

''.

Recording

Written and sung by Richard Wright, "Summer '68" was recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

in July 1970. Its lyrics describe Wright's meeting with a

groupie A groupie is a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is used mostly describing young women, a ...

in 1968. On 4 December 1968, an incomplete version of this song, titled "One Night Stand", was started at Abbey Road Studios. The band kept working on it until 16 December, and it was eventually scrapped by the band on 16 January 1969 after a session at Abbey Road.

Reception

In a retrospective review for the ''Atom Heart Mother'' album, Irving Tan of ''Sputnik Music'' gave "Summer '68" a positive review, describing it as "the catchiest and most-accessible track on the album." Tan really enjoyed Wright's vocals, the "bombastic trumpet solo breaks", and believed the track had "a groovy chorus". In another retrospective review for the ''Atom Heart Mother'' album,

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described "Summer '68" as "a catchy, fast and happy pop tune written and sung by Richard Wright" that's "one of the few songs Wright has ever done for Pink Floyd and it's actually pretty fine."

Personnel

* Richard Wright – lead vocals, piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

–

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

, backing vocals *

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

– bass guitar *

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

with: * Abbey Road Session Pops Orchestra –

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

References

Songs about nostalgia Songs about groupies Pink Floyd songs 1970 songs Songs written by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by David Gilmour Song recordings produced by Roger Waters Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician) Song recordings produced by Nick Mason {{1970s-rock-song-stub