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 referred to it as "one of those relentlessly appealing 1970s harmony-rock anthems ... appropriately ubiquitous on the radio and in the memory".[4]
A remixed version of the song was featured in a commercial for the Gap in 2004,[5] and the duo would also re-record the song for their album Traces later that year, which became a hit on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Personnel
Jim Seals – lead & background vocals, guitar, saxophone
The Isley Brothers performed "Summer Breeze" on the music TV show Soul Train in 1974. It was featured in season 8, episode 18 of The Blacklist and also in a 2014 episode of Scandal. It was sampled in the track "All in My Mind" by MC Hammer along with his newly formed rap group, Oakland Fight Club featuring Mistah F.A.B. (2014).[13]
The Ray Conniff Singers recorded a version in 1973, which appeared on the I Can See Clearly Now (a.k.a. Clair) album, and was released in the UK as a 45 on the CBS label (S CBS 1196) in January 1973.
Type O Negative released a cover of the song in August 1993 on their album Bloody Kisses altering their version to match their gothic metal style.[24] Their version was originally to be titled "Summer Girl", featuring new lyrics written by Peter Steele, but after Seals & Crofts found the lyrical content distasteful, the original lyrics were sung instead.[25]
In 1998, Mexican singer Yuri recorded a Spanish language version of the track titled "Soy Feliz" ("I Am Happy") for her album Huellas.[26] The song was released as the second single from the album and a music video was filmed.[27][28]
Peter Bjorn and John version
In 2009, the Swedish indie pop/rock trio Peter Bjorn and John released a version of the song (vocals in English).
^Molanphy, Chris (July 31, 2021). "What a Fool Believes Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 20, 2024.