Sunday Music – Summer (The First Time)

Posted on Sun 07/12/2009 by TonyfromOz

Today’s music video is ‘Summer (The First Time)’ from Bobby Goldsboro.

This beautiful song was a minor hit in the U.S. for Bobby Goldsboro but was huge in England, and also here in Australia. Bobby Goldsboro left Auburn University at the end of his second year to pursue a musical career. He started out as a session musician, a guitarist, and after two years playing in Roy Orbison’s backing band he left in 1964 to pursue a solo career. He had 25 minor songs over the next four years, two of which made it into the Top Ten before his monster hit of 1968, The Bobby Russell song ‘Honey’ which Goldsboro recorded in one take. ‘Honey’ was Number One across the World, and set Goldsboro’s career up for life. Nothing he did from that point on could match the success of Honey, but after that one, why would it need to. This song, ‘Summer (The First Time)’ which Goldsboro wrote himself was the biggest of those songs that did follow, and came out in 1973, five years after ‘Honey’.

Goldsboro had his own syndicated TV series for three years in the early to mid 70’s.

These days, a song with the overtly sexual themes as expressed in this song would be treated differently, and even then the connotations of the theme saw some radio stations not playing this song. These days it would probably be done in rap, and have an R Classification.

That’s why it’s so nice to go back to a time when a good melody, a strong piano riff, 12 string acoustic guitar, and a melodic orchestral backing backed up a wonderfully lyrical song.

A song for Summer.

This video was posted to You Tube by ruedydude