SOUNDS OF SUMMER: Sand and Key Changes in Unexpected Places

With summer dwindling, our beach days are numbered. Luckily, some songs can evoke summer year round. Sometimes this mental connection is created by the media. Summer songs, like Christmas songs, are seasonal because television commercials tell us they are seasonal, and we'd better get used to hearing them only a couple of months out of the year. Personally, I wouldn't mind listening to "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" or the Eagles doing "Please Come Home for Christmas" during all twelve months, but so be it. Same goes for summer. "Under the Boardwalk," by the Drifters, is a beautiful song even when the sun isn't shining outside.

"Under the Boardwalk," written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick, hit the charts in 1964. The group that recorded the song wasn't the original Drifters led by the great Clyde McPhatter, or the following group featuring Ben E. King. The Drifters of 1964, only one of dozens of lineups over the decades, were led by the voice of Johnny Moore. Moore sang the song only because lead singer Rudy Lewis died of a drug overdose the night before the session. By then, though, the Drifters were used to last-minute staff issues, and Moore sang the song as if he'd been singing it all his life.

It really is a great vocal, with Moore's voice smoothly navigating the longing high notes. In many ways, the song is typical of early '60s r&b, with its swooping strings and thinly veiled sexuality (they don't say what kind of fun they'll be havin', and don't need to.) The song is unique, though, for two reasons: first, "Under the Boardwalk" takes the unusual step of moving to a minor key for the chorus, then back to major for the verses. Also, it's driven by the distinctly Latin sound of the guiro. The instrument, a sort of wooden scraper, later surfaced in the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand," but in 1964 it was rare in an American pop record.

Here's a good game: make your own guiro at home and see if you can follow along with the recording. It's a hell of a lot more fun than air guitar, and you get to hit stuff. I can't believe nobody ever comes to my parties.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Under the Boardwalk" by the Drifters
AVAILABLE ON: The Drifters- All Time Greatest Hits; iTunes