“Summertime, and the living’s easy.”
Artists have sampled and interpreted these lyrics from George Gershwin’s jazz piece “Summertime” for almost a century. From Ella Fitzgerald and Janis Joplin, to Sublime and Lana Del Rey, the effect of this song can be felt in pop culture over decades.
What once started as a jazz song in blackface minstrel shows is now sung by teenage girls. Not only have the singers associated with the song changed, but the location as well. From the South to the “L.B.C.”, the migration of a song brings with it a new audience and, likewise, a new sound.
Originally produced for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, “Summertime” romanticizes Southern living through a soothing lullaby. Gershwin wanted to create his own African-American spiritual song to be included in the sound of the opera. Within the context of late 1920s and early 1930s blackface minstrelsy, Porgy and Bess instead featured a cast of classically trained Black singers. The opera was performed on Broadway and lasted 124 shows. It was later revived in the 40s and made its way on a European tour, until it was forcefully shut down by the Nazis.
With a soulful voice, singer Ella Fitzgerald twenty years later released a recording of “Summertime” with Louis Armstrong. This single has since been certified “silver” by the British Phonographic Industry.
The most well-known version is Janis Joplin’s live cover from 1969. Joplin made the song her own by accentuating each and every syllable. Her raspy voice is uncanny in its ability to tell such a simple narrative.
With each recording, the song has adapted to its contemporary musical trends, and perhaps more palatable to white audiences with each release.
“Bradley’s on the microphone with Ras M.G./All people in the dance will agree that we’re/Well qualified to represent the L.B.C.”
A long way from South Carolina, just outside of L.A., lies Long Beach, California. Home to the musical genre of “Cali Reggae,” Long Beach is the birthplace of the band Sublime. Formed in the early 90s, Sublime took reggae songs and repurposed them. They kept the reggae beat but used post-grunge-punk instrumentals to match. Their new sound gained an underground following in the L.B.C. area and landed them a record deal with Skunk Records. It was on their final album together, the self-titled Sublime, that they released their hit song “Doin’ Time,” which tells the story of a fated relationship between a man and a woman. The woman in this case is a metaphor for band member Bradley Nowel’s heroin addiction.
Sublime, an all-white band band who blended ska, reggae, and punk gained popularity through their interpretation of what was considered “Black music,” along with their largely white audience’s fascination with the “new noise.”
The song samples the Gershwin melody, including the leading lyrics. It brings with it hip-hop type beat as well as a coastal-reggae-inspired sound. Sublime, an all-white band band who blended ska, reggae, and punk gained popularity through their interpretation of what was considered “Black music,” along with their largely white audience’s fascination with the “new noise.”
This “new noise” has attracted white audiences in recent decades.
Lana Del Ray, who released a cover of “Doin’ Time” in 2019 as a single for her sixth studio album Norman F*****g Rockwell (NFR), made it uniquely her own. The video that accompanied the song was a parody of the movie Attack of the 50-Foot Woman and features a fourth-wall break.
In a Rolling Stone magazine interview with Bud Gaugh of Sublime, Bud said that the “smoky, sexy, and iconic sound of her voice breathes new life into one of our favorite singles.”
If a cool, laid back, summer beat is what one is looking for, Lana Del Ray’s cover just might be sublime.
